Sustainable finance
Safeguards (Environmental and Social)
Mandatory policies requiring development projects to identify, avoid and mitigate harm to people and the environment.
Definition
Environmental and social safeguards are the mandatory policies of development finance institutions requiring that financed projects identify, assess, avoid, minimise, mitigate and compensate for adverse environmental and social impacts. Landmark systems include the World Bank's Environmental and Social Framework (ten standards covering labour, communities, biodiversity, resettlement, Indigenous peoples and cultural heritage) and the IFC Performance Standards, which function as the de facto private-sector benchmark through the Equator Principles.
Overview
The overview for this term is being prepared.
Review
Help keep this definition useful and accurate.
Submitted reviews stay private until an editor decides whether to accept and attribute them.
Contribute to this entry
How would you like to contribute?
Every endorsement and suggested edit is checked by an editor before anything changes publicly.