A two-day training programme on Environmental and Social (E&S) Responsibility in Project Financing was conducted by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), New Delhi, India in collaboration with the IIM, Kashipur and the World Bank Group. There were 50 participants from various banks, financial agencies, research institutes and universities, and consulting firm, all of whom were trained during the programme. The overall objective of this two-day training programme was to build capacity of Banks and Financial Institutions on environmental and social (E&S) risks associated with project financing and the ways in which they can avoid unwanted delays and financial burdens by identifying and addressing these gaps in a timely manner.
Shri R. P. Sharma (Consulting Advisor, CSE) gave the welcome address and inaugurated the programme. Shri. Sharma highlighted why this training is necessary for the banking and financial sector officials. This was followed by a presentation on “Brief overview on Environmental Clearance Process and international best practices in project financing" by Mr. Sujit Kumar Singh (Programme Manager, Center for Science and Environment). The next presentation was from Vaideeswaran. S (representative from the World Bank) who presented on “E&S Policies and Practices adopted by the World Bank to finance ‘A’ category projects”, followed by a presentation by Mr. Sujit Kumar Singh on “Applicable Acts, Rules and Guidelines for E&S risk management in project financing”.
In the post lunch session, Dr. Anil Kumar Singh (WWF) presented on the topic of “Biodiversity Assessment – Case studies from linear projects”. The last session of the day was on a presentation titled “Environmental and Social Risk Management – A case study from Kalinga Nagar Steel Plant” by Shri R. P. Sharma and Mr. Sujit Kumar Singh followed by a class exercise.
Day two was started by Mr. Alok Dayal’s (National Credit Head, Large Corporates & Environment Risk Head Risk, IDFC Bank) presentation on “E&S risk management practices adopted by IDFC Bank”, and was followed by a presentation on “Environmental and Social risk management – A case study from road and highway projects” by Mr. Rajnish Kadambar, (Director, Environment Risk, IDFC Bank). After that, Shri R. P. Sharma and Mr. Sujit Kumar Singh delivered a presentation on “Environmental and Social Risk Management – A case study from Sompeta Thermal power plant” followed by a class exercise and group presentation on the same. The post tea session was started by Mr. Yash Arora (Environmental Specialist, IFC) on the topic of “E&S Policies and Practices adopted by the IFC to finance high impact projects”. The last session of the day was on “Project Participation (Steps where the banks can participate/intervene in order to monitor the project) and Post-project Compliance Assurance” by Mr. Sangeet Shukla (Former Deputy Managing Director, State Bank of India). That was followed by feedback session and certificate distribution.
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