Improving the effectiveness of environmental assessment in the world bank

Environmental assessment (EA) has been a standard procedure for the preparation and implementation of World Bank projects since 1989. The experience with using EA procedures was the subject of two internal reviews in 1995 and 1996. This article presents the main findings and recommendations of these reviews, emphasizing that whereas considerable progress has been made in integrating EA into Bank practice, much remains to be achieved both “upsteam” (through the development of sectoral and regional EAs) and “downstream” (through the preparation and more effective use of environmental management plans).