Environmental and social strategy

PROPARCO, a responsible investor

Our Environmental and Social strategy

Manage the environmental and social risks linked to the operations financed

This is a question of implementing our Environmental and Social Risk Management (ESRM) approach for all operations financed by Proparco, from the identification stage up until retrospective evaluation.

 
Encourage/promote better project quality in terms of environmental and social aspects; develop innovation
 
 Beyond the “strict” notion of the management of environmental and social risks of a given operation, our objective is to accompany clients:
 
-  towards a better quality project by prioritising the positive impacts of the projects on a social and environmental level (e.g. environmental quality of the buildings, improvement of living and working conditions, biodiversity compensation,…)
 
-   towards obtaining certification in these areas (ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001, FSC, RSPO, …) which constitutes a guarantee of good practices and which represents a commercial advantage as well as providing a competitive edge for our clients.
 
Analyse and report on the efficiency of the approach
 
This is a question of carrying out an analysis of the ex-ante approach adopted by Proparco and its results (prior analysis of the risks and definition of the risk management and quality improvement objectives for these projects), setting up a system to monitor the respect of commitments by our clients so as to enable an overall analysis of Proparco’s role in reducing the environmental and social risks and improving the performance of the financed undertakings.
 
Provide environmental and social support to Proparco agents
 
In order to implement the ESRM approach and improve the quality of projects, it is necessary to develop internal tools and procedures and to train Proparco agents (head office and agencies).
 
Develop partnerships
 
This is a question of developing partnerships with other bi and multi-lateral financing institutions (EDFI, IFC, EIB, …), environmental specialist networks, NGOs… in order to harmonise practices among financing institutions and to keep watch for any practices which evolve and to develop partnerships with organisms which can provide complementary expertise or knowledge to Proparco.
 
Develop intellectual production at the level of social and environmental risks
 
This is a question of showing what Proparco does in terms of social and environmental responsability, of evaluating the efficiency of its actions and presenting the main results thereof, of putting feedback from experience to good use and passing on knowledge about social and environmental aspects.