EBRD organizing public consultation on good governance policies in Belgrade on February 28

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is organizing a public consultation on its good governance policies – the Environment and Social Policy, the Public Information Policy, and the Project Complaint Mechanism Rules of Procedure – in Belgrade, Serbia on February 28, the Bank has announced.

The EBRD’s three major good governance policies are being updated in 2019. The Environmental and Social Policy (ESP), the Public Information Policy (PIP) and the Project Complaint Mechanism Rules of Procedure (PCM RPs) are revised every five years, with the previous update having occurred in 2014.

In accordance with the EBRD’s Public Information Policy (2014), the Bank invites civil society organizations (CSOs), its clients, partners, and all interested stakeholders to contribute to the revision of its good governance policies.

Interest in participating in the public consultation can be confirmed, and written feedback provided, by email:

Environmental and Social Policy: ESPReview2019@ebrd.com

Project Complaint Mechanism: PCMReview2019@ebrd.com

Public Information Policy: PIPReview2019@ebrd.com

The three draft policies are available at the link, while public feedback can be provided either via written submissions by March 6 or through participation in-person at a series of public consultation meetings.

Eight consultation meetings will be held across the EBRD’s countries of operations, taking place in Kiev (February 5), Tbilisi (February 7), Almaty (February 11), Istanbul (February 13), Cairo (February 21), Casablanca (February 26), Belgrade (February 28) and London (March 5).  A total of two hours will be allocated to each of the three governance policies at each public consultation meeting.

Overview of EBRD’s good governance policies

The Environment and Social Policy (ESP) guides the EBRD’s commitment to promoting environmentally sound and sustainable development in the full range of its investment and technical cooperation activities. The policy outlines how EBRD will address the environmental and social impacts of its projects by: defining the respective roles and responsibilities of both EBRD and its clients in designing, implementing and operating projects in line with this policy and the Performance Requirements; setting a strategic goal to promote projects with high environmental and social benefits; and mainstreaming environmental and social sustainability considerations into all its activities.

The Public Information Policy (PIP) embodies the Bank’s commitments to enhancing the transparency of its activities and promoting good governance. The PIP sets out how the EBRD discloses information and consults with its stakeholders so as to promote better awareness and understanding of its strategies, policies, and operations.

The Project Complaint Mechanism (PCM) offers an independent assessment and review of social, environmental and public disclosure concerns raised regarding Bank-financed projects, which have allegedly caused, or are likely to cause, harm. The PCM seeks to enhance the EBRD’s accountability through two functions: the problem-solving function, which seeks to support dialogue between the concerned parties and the Client to resolve the environmental, social and public disclosure issue(s) underlying a Request without attributing blame or fault; and the compliance function, which seeks to determine whether the EBRD has complied with the Environmental and Social Policy and/or the project-specific provisions of the Public Information Policy in respect of an approved Project.