The UN Environment Management Group (EMG) established three new work streams under the
“Consultative Process on Advancing the Environmental and Social Sustainability
in the UN system“. This was basically a call for UN agencies to work towards a
common approach to environmental and social policies and standards in its work.
Many UN agencies are currently in the process of developing
or rolling out their own social and environmental policies and procedures into
their projects and programmes. In order for all UN agencies to go forward in
joint or co-financed projects, they must build towards a common UN-wide
safeguards system. A common approach reflects the UN's commitment to support
country partners to implement their duties and obligations under international
conventions and environmental agreements.
IFAD is committed to enhancing environmental sustainability
and resilience in small-scale agriculture in all of its projects and
programmes. Promoting a focus on the sustainable use of natural resources and providing
livelihoods for rural people that are more resilient to climate change, environmental
degradation and market transformation is at the core of delivering IFAD's poverty
reduction and sustainable agriculture mandate.
IFAD launched its new Social, Environmental and Climate
Assessment Procedures (SECAP) in 2015 which address the social, environmental
and climate impacts associated with its projects and programmes and bring it in
line with other UN agencies. These include a range of issues, from relocation,
dams and finance to indigenous rights. It also launched a Complaints Procedure
to receive and facilitate resolution of environmental and social concerns in
the context of its-supported programmes.
The UN system operates in areas of constantly increasing and
shifting levels of risk, impact, and conflict. This makes it all the more
imperative that robust safety measures are in place to avoid or alleviate harm
to people and the environment. Based on this shared need, there are a number of
benefits to developing a common approach to safeguards. Several of these
agencies highlighted that if we don’t move towards a more common approach, we
may face challenges of policy coherence due to different standards in projects
and programmes.
A major benefit to the shared approach is that the UN will
be seen to be ''Delivering as One''. The principles of the UN are always put
into practice in its projects and in order to avoid different environmental and
social safeguards/procedures being implemented simultaneously, sometimes within
the same project, a common approach is needed.
Another benefit is that this would enable shared training,
learning, and guidance materials benefitting from relevant expertise from
across the system to be used by all agencies. With a common framework, the
implementation of projects would become easier. Different agencies would then be
able to pool resources and relevant expertise to jointly screen, assess and
manage potential social and environmental impacts and jointly handle grievances
related to UN country programming where possible.
With development funding becoming more and more scarce, and
constrained, agencies that can actively demonstrate that they are ''fit for
purpose'' in helping countries achieve their sustainable development goals are more
likely to get funding and create projects. IFAD is already publicly showing
that it is conforming with the international norms and best practices through
its SECAP. A common approach will help to ensure continued access to financing that
is increasingly tied to social and environmental safeguard and accountability
policies (e.g. Green Climate Fund, Global Environment Facility, Adaptation
Fund, bilaterals). Having a shared approach can also translate into increased
international recognition and reputational value for IFAD and the UN as a whole.