the ESCP as part of the legal agreement ESS2 Labor and working conditions Definition and necessity of and requirements for managing labor employed by certain third parties (brokers, agents and intermediaries) Application and implementation impacts of certain labor requirements to contractors, community and voluntary labor and primary suppliers Constraints in making grievance mechanisms available to all project workers Referencing national law in the objective of supporting freedom of association and collective bargaining Operationalization of an alternative mechanism relating to freedom of association and collective bargaining where national law does not recognize such rights Issues in operationalizing the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) provisions/standards The Bank should ensure that the safeguards will protect labor rights including freedom of association. ESS3 Climate change and GHG emissions The relation between provisions on climate change in the ESF and broader For projects with more than 25,000 tons of CO2-equivalent annually, Borrowers should disclose the information on GHG emissions.
Role of national law with regard to protecting and conserving natural and critical habitats Criteria for biodiversity offsets, including consideration of project benefits Definition and application of net gains for biodiversity Biodiversity offset is difficult to verify and achieve. A cautious approach should be taken for biodiversity offsets. The relations between the sections on “critical habitats” and “legally protected area” are unclear. The Bank is requested to review the appropriateness of “anticipated” used in ESS6, para 24 (e) for no net reduction. The standard should be clearer and stronger. It is positive that the coverage of ESS6 is broader than the current policy on forests. However, the Bank should not forget the importance of forests, as has been confirmed in the Paris agreement on climate change. ESS7 Indigenous Peoples Implementation of the Indigenous Peoples standard in complex political and cultural contexts Implementation of ESS7 in countries where the constitution does not acknowledge Indigenous Peoples or only recognizes certain groups as indigenous Possible approaches to reflect alternative terminologies used in different countries to describe Indigenous Peoples Circumstances (e.g. criteria and timing) in which a waiver may be considered and the information to be provided to the Board to inform its decision Criteria for establishing and implementation of Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) Projects that impact Indigenous Peoples' lands and resources will be required to secure their free, prior, informed, consent (FPIC). The Bank should clarify whether this requirement still applies when recipient country does not recognize the affected communities as Indigenous Peoples. ESP, para 51, provides that “the Bank may follow the Borrower’s framework for identification of IPs during project screening, when that framework is consistent with this Policy (ESS7)”. However, the definition of IPs by Borrowers may have a significant risk, when there is a political tension between the Borrower and affected IPs. Thus, the Borrower’s framework for identification of IPs should not be used.