ADB holds U.S. consultation on safeguards policy; NGOs do not attend

2 April 2008 | Washington, DC

As part of its North America leg of consultations, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) held a half day event in Washington, DC on April 1 to seek feedback on its draft Safeguard Policy Statement. Several NGOs declined attendance in support of the position taken by the NGO Forum on ADB which calls for a "halt" in consultations given the weakness of the consultation draft.

In addition to Bank Information Center, groups such as Center for International Environmental Law, Environmental Defense Fund, E-Law Network, International Accountability Project, National Wildlife Federation, and World Resources Institute sent their regrets to the ADB citing the weakness of the October draft and referencing the NGO Forum position on the draft SPS.

The NGO Forum network, of which BIC is a member, had hoped the ADB would take the opportunity to consult with them on a draft policy that reflected the review objectives set out in the October 2005 Discussion Note. These were (i) that the ADB would not dilute or weaken the existing ADB safeguard policies, (ii) that it would seek to harmonize with its peer institutions, and (iii) that it would provide clarity, coherence and consistency. The draft SPS, however, fails to meet these basic objectives, hence the decision by Forum members to not participate in the current round of consultations although many groups have provided extensive written comments. The ADB has thus far declined to stop its regional consultations and issue a revised draft on which to seek inputs.

Comments sent recently to the ADB:

BIC Comments On ADB draft SPS (October 2007), April 2, 2008. (Acrobat pdf, 141 KB)

Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide’s Comments on ADB draft SPS (October 2007), April 2, 2008. (Acrobat pdf, 86 KB)