Sustainability Standards

Sustainability standards are important to ensure that each project is assessed, approved and monitored with due regard to environmental, social, labor, health and safety concerns, and that all project-related impacts and risks are adequately mitigated or controlled.

To approve high-risk projects such as the Belém Sanitation Project requires an impact evaluation assessment in line with IDB sustainability standards. With a US$68 million IDB loan, the municipality of Belém in the state of Pará, Brazil, will undertake a sanitation project for urban and environmental restoration around the Estrada Nova watershed. The loan will help finance drainage works, including water supply and wastewater collection, treatment, and disposal around this city of almost 1.5 million people. However, approximately 150 small businesses and 1,100 families living in hazardous areas will be resettled to new areas with better living conditions. Thus, sustainability standards matter to protect the communities and the overall environment.