MANILA â The Asian Development Bank will finalize its new long-term strategy in July, but Strategy 2030 still needs plenty of tweaking, according to civil society organizations present at ADBâs 51st Annual Meeting in Manila.
At the bankâs 50th anniversary last year in Yokohama, an activist handed ADB President Takehiko Nakao a photo book titled âA Visual Testimony of Asian Development Bankâs 50 Years of Destruction.â This year, the focus of exchanges between CSO actors and the bank centered around Strategy 2030 and its inclusion of âa lot of nice candy words like âeco-sensitive approach,ââ said Titi Soentoro, executive director of Indonesia-based NGO Aksi. âWhat does that mean?â
ADB presented a multilateral institution determined to remain relevant in a rapidly changing region. From China, to sustainable energy, to private sector engagement, here are some of the key conversations that took place at ADBâs annual meeting in Manila.
The CSO community has worked with ADB for years to streamline formal structures of seeking redress to grievance or citing safeguard issues on environment, explained Rayyan Hassan, executive director at the NGO Forum on ADB. âBut once you go down to the project level, we have challenges still.â
Nakao received applause when he extended the time for questions in the CSO and ADB management meeting, a regular feature of the annual meetings when he addresses a crowd of INGO and CSO representative and community members affected by the bankâs projects. But a few more minutes with the president likely isnât enough to appease activists worried about what they see as the bankâs lack of oversight on co-financed projects, a move toward a less clear communication policy, and a new high-level strategy they say leaves many of their questions unanswered.
Devex spoke with civil society actors present at the bank to find out what they think should top ADBâs agenda.
1. Ensure safeguards, especially for growing private sector and co-financed work
ADB will continue to expand its assistance for private sector development. âA key measure of ADBâs success will be the volume and quality of additional resources it mobilizes on top of its own financing,â the Strategy 2030 draft document reads. But the concern is that these projects ultimately receive less oversight from the bank. Information disclosure to communities is much murkier in these deals, too, civil society members tell Devex.
Joe Athialy, executive director for the Centre for Financial Accountability, pointed to the bankâs $450 million investment in the Mundra Ultra Mega Coal plant in the Indian state of Gujarat, operated by Tata Power and co-financed with the International Finance Corporation and others. The bankâs own compliance review panel later determined a lack of consultation with local communities and a failure to comply with waste and pollution management strategies.
In the meantime, coal dust from conveyor belts feeding the power station threaten local residentsâ health and contaminate agriculture, while infrastructure has damaged groundwater systems, Athialy said. The ADB has conducted several studies following these findings, but the plant continues to operate.
âNow they are doing studies on air quality. Does the project stop because of that? No. I think the project should stop until all the studies are done and there is a proper assessment of the impact so remedial actions could be planned,â Athialy said.
Overall, CSOs want the bank to more closely monitor co-financed projects and come down harder on partners who shirk safeguards: âThe Private Sector Operations Department does not have enough strength to cover the oversight role for the intermediariesâ projects,â Soentoro said.
Michael Barrow, head of the bankâs Private Sector Operations Department, said during a session with CSOs that he is open to the discussion, but reiterated that his department applies the same safeguard policy as any other in ADB â and that he has also increased his safeguard staff by 13 in the past year as private sector operations continue to grow.
2. Finalize a stronger communication policy
A new communication policy for the bank is still under review, but CSO members are worried about a move from prescriptive to principle-based regulations. The ADBâs current Public Communications Policy is procedural, Hassan explained, meaning there are procedures of consultations and of information disclosure.
âIf there are violations, you can file a complaint,â he said.
The new regulations, named Access to Information, are principle-based, with a principle called âproactive disclosure.â But principles can be interpreted differently by management or individual departments, Hassan noted, which may leave less room for official complaints.
Thatâs not how the bank is interpreting the changes, according to Amy Leung, director general of ADBâs Sustainable Development and Climate Change Department.
âIt has already been ingrained in us, we are so used to disclosing [information],â Leung told Devex. âAnd even other ADB policies would have required us to do that anyways. I donât think it will affect [us] at all.â
But civil society is still concerned that the wording of the new Access to Information leaves too much room for interpretation. âPrinciples are not enough,â said Soentoro. âYou need a set of provisions. For example, is there any provisions that documents will be translated into the language of affected people? No.â
3. Connect the dots between reforms, and issue more detailed operational plans for Strategy 2030
The Strategy 2030 should be viewed in the context of its relationship with the other existing policies, strategies, and operational plans of ADB, Annabel Perreras, program manager for NGO Forum on ADB, told Devex. Right now, it âfeels isolated in how they drafted it,â she said.
ADBâs commitment to the sustainable development goals and to the Paris agreement, for example, is acknowledged in the strategy, but âitâs not enough to acknowledge that they recognize global agreements. What we are asking is how they are going to support these kinds of agreements. That piece is still lacking into the Strategy 2030,â Perreras said.
Perreras also noted what she sees as disconnects in the strategy, such as a commitment to the Paris agreement but a lack of commitment to phasing out coal, while Soentoro pointed out the promotion of âeco-sensitivityâ despite ongoing financial support for environmentally damaging geothermal projects in Indonesia.
As for providing the more detailed operational aspects of the strategy, âthis is a strategy document to show strategic direction. If we talk about how to implement, how to resource ⊠it becomes [an] operational document, which we donât want,â Tomoyuki Kimura, director general of ADBâs strategy, policy, and review department, told Devex.
The bank will be preparing detailed operational-level documents covering three to five years, he added, and will disclose them publicly when they are complete â something CSOs are clearly anxious to see.
âThe question is if you donât know how you want to do it, how can we believe them?â Soentoro said. âThey say the operational plan will be later; we say itâs better right now so we can see if they want to do something, how they want to do it.â
The article, published originally at Devex, can be accessed here.