Work Teams shall use the Equator Principles as a guide for the conduct of SIA and EIA. The Equator Principles is a risk management framework, adopted by financial institutions around the globe, for determining, assessing and managing environmental and social risk in project finance, evaluation and management. It is primarily intended to provide a minimum standard for due diligence to support responsible risk decision-making. Further information is available at http://equator-principles.com.
The Equator Principles categorize projects based on the magnitude of their potential environmental and social risks and impacts. The categories are:
a) Category A - Projects with potential significant adverse environmental and social risks and/or impacts that are diverse, irreversible or unprecedented.
b) Category B - Projects with potential limited adverse environmental and social risks and/or impacts that are few in number, generally site-specific, largely reversible and readily addressed through mitigation measures.
c) Category C - Projects with minimal or no adverse environmental and social risks and/or impacts.
The Assessment Documentation should propose measures to minimize, mitigate, and offset adverse impacts in a manner relevant and appropriate to the nature and scale of the proposed Project.
The Assessment Documentation will be an adequate, accurate and objective evaluation and presentation of the environmental and social risks and impacts, whether prepared by the client, consultants or external experts. For Category A, and as appropriate, Category B Projects, the Assessment Documentation includes an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA). One or more specialized studies may also need to be undertaken. Furthermore, in limited high risk circumstances, it may be appropriate for the Work team to complement its Assessment Documentation with specific human rights due diligence (for example, if a project will require significant resettlement of affected residents). For other Projects, a limited or focused environmental or social assessment (e.g. audit), or straight-forward application of environmental siting, pollution standards, design criteria, or construction standards may be carried out.
The Assessment Documentation should propose measures to minimize, mitigate, and offset adverse impacts in a manner relevant and appropriate to the nature and scale of the proposed Project and in compliance with the applicable standards. For Category A projects the potentially significant adverse environmental and social risks and/or potential impacts that are diverse, irreversible or unprecedented shall be explicitly identified and highlighted, to include identification in the Executive Summary of the Third File, so that they may be considered by the Supervisory Committee and CEDA as part of the File review and approval process.