Department of the Bank focusing on research/policy for environmentally and socially sustainable development.
Organisationally part of the Vice Presidency for Environmentally Sustainable Development (ESD). The Environment Department is itself subdivided into four divisions:
(1) Division for Pollution and Environmental Economics (ENVPE): focusing on urban-industrial pollution management, and sustainable development / environmental economics. Produces a Decision Support System for Pollution Control (see separate entry), and a Pollution Prevention and Abatement Handbook (available via PIC). Division provides support for environmental assessments and production of the National Environmental Action Plans (NEAPS) series.
(2) Division for Land, Water and Natural Resources (ENVLW): promotion of sustainable natural resources management, focusing on best practice recommendations, valuation, physical areas of special environmental concern.
(3) Division for Social Policy and Resettlement (ENVSP): focusing on the social soundness of projects, including issues related to resettlement, indigenous people and cultural heritage
(4) Global Environmental Coordination Division (ENVGC): focal point for management of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and Montreal Protocol operations (see separate entries for GEF and Montreal Protocol)
Information services include:
(a) WWW server: background information on the Department; publications list; full text of some publications (including the Dissemination Notes, Annual Report on the Environment, Environment Bulletin, and some of the Environment Department Papers); short descriptions of research themes. Also includes the full text of Monitoring Environmental Progress and Global Approach to Environmental Analysis, with associated statistical files (see separate entry).
(b) Environmental impact documents, for which the Department provides support: environmental assessments (for specific projects, most have abstracts available online); national environmental action plans (NEAP: abstracts only online); environment data sheets (prepared and updated quarterly for each project: full text online); industrial pollution prevention and abatement handbook (summary and introduction available online). These are available via the WB’s Public Information Centre (PIC: see separate entry)