An instrument that examines impacts and risks when a project consists of a program and/or series of subprojects and the impacts cannot be determined until the program or subproject details have been identified. The ESMF sets out principles, rules, guidelines, and procedures to assess the environmental and social risks and impacts. It contains measures and plans to reduce, mitigate, and/or offset adverse impacts and to enhance positive impacts; provisions for estimating and budgeting the costs of such measures and determining the schedule for implementation of the measures and plans; and information on the agency or agencies responsible for addressing project impacts and risks, including capacity for environmental and social risk management (ESRM). It includes adequate information on the area in which subprojects are expected to be sited, including any potential environmental and social vulnerabilities of the area, the potential impacts that may occur, and the mitigation measures that might be expected to be used.
Adapted from Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), "Environmental and Social Framework," 2021, View the PDF; World Bank, "World Bank Environmental and Social Framework," Washington, DC, 2016, View the PDF.