Resource information
In order to inform the 2010 Strategy,
and suggest what role the World Bank Group (WBG) can
realistically play in strengthening environmental
institutions and governance, this paper takes stock of WBG
operations in this area since the 2001 Strategy. Looking
across the spectrum of lending and nonlending operations,
the first task is to identify the approaches which have been
used to engage with clients. The analysis then evaluates
whether these approaches have incorporated lessons from past
WBG experience, and reflect current understanding of how
best to enable environmental institutions and governance
reforms. The analysis indicates that the WBG has undertaken
two main types of activities in the area of environmental
institutions and governance: assessments (of environmental
conditions, and institutional and governance structures) and
lending operations geared towards technical capacity
development. The chief point of entry for these operations
has been government ministries, and secondarily civil
society organizations.The analysis also indicated that a new
approach would be needed to ensure a long-term commitment on
the part of the WBG, particularly when undertaking capacity
development operations. The average length of environmental
institutions and governance projects in the period under
study was five years. While such a length is appropriate for
reforms of formal rules, activities such as capacity
development have been argued to require longer-term
engagements. It is recommended that the WBG consider
utilizing instruments such as Adaptable Program Loans (APL)
and Additional Financing which allow for sustained
engagement. Forming strategic alliances with bilateral and
multilateral partners will also be critical in this area.
The results of the content analysis indicated that the
critical institutional ability of accountability requires
more attention in WBG. Development Policy Loans (DPLs) could
be applied more directly to strengthen institutional
accountability. These loans could also be made more
effective by fully incorporating recommendations from
Country Environmental Assessments (CEA) and Strategic
Environmental Assessments (SEA).
