ADB to help Azerbaijan improve environmental performance

The President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved the provision of technical assistance not exceeding the equivalent of $1,000,000 on a grant basis for Sustainable Safeguard Policy Applications in the Central and West Asia Region, including Azerbaijan, Report informs, citing the bank.

The technical assistance (TA) will improve the environmental safeguard performance of the Central and West Asia Department developing member countries (CWRD DMCs) to foster effective infrastructure development in Central and West Asia by developing a region-wide strategy and plan for sustainable environmental safeguard capacity strengthening, and providing targeted training and sector- and/or project-specific consulting services in Central and West Asia.

The assistance will be financed on a grant basis by ADB’s Technical Assistance Special Fund. The technical assistance will be implemented over 3 years. The amount of assistance may increase later.

“Gaps remain in environmental safeguards implementation. Weak capacity of government agencies, inadequate legal frameworks, lack of coordination, weak enforcement of regulations, limited availability of local experts, and the need for experienced consultants on environmental thematic areas are the key constraints on safeguards implementation in CWRD DMCs. There are still gaps in country safeguards systems, compounded by shortages of comprehensive guidance products and implementing regulations, despite past positive efforts in this area. ADB’s TA for Supporting Environmental Safeguards in the Central and West Asia Region supported DMCs in solving administrative bottlenecks; improving coordination; providing technical guidance and capacity building; and problem-solving during project preparation and implementation. However, the TA still highlighted gaps such as the inability of ADB or the executing and implementing agencies to rapidly undertake technical studies during project preparation and implementation,” reads the ADB report.

The project envisages deploying international and national consultants to provide technical expertise to executing and implementing agencies and achieve high project readiness in safeguards and strengthen safeguards implementation. A pool of international consultants will be engaged through framework agreements and the individual consultant selection method to address environmental safeguards issues in the second half of 2023. A safeguards coaching program and an on-the job training program for executing and implementing agencies will be implemented from the first quarter of 2024 through the fourth quarter of 2025.

Country assessments on occupational health and safety, cultural heritage, waste management, biodiversity conservation, pollution prevention, and labor working conditions will be undertaken in the first three quarters of 2024.

Country-specific guidance notes on occupational health and safety, cultural heritage, waste management, biodiversity conservation, pollution prevention, and labor working conditions will be prepared in the last quarter of 2025 and the first two quarters of 2026.

Training on the implementation and monitoring of environmental safeguards in projects and on the preparation of environmental monitoring reports will be undertaken in the third quarters of 2023, 2024, and 2025.