Projects financed by CAF comply with environmental legislation

(Lima, August 29, 2007).- All projects financed by the Andean Development Corporation comply with the environmental legislation of the country where they are executed and with applicable international agreements and commitments. Additionally CAF always requires environmental and social safeguards or selects internationally accepted technical references when considered necessary.

This was the message of the head of the CAF Environmental Office, María Teresa Zsauer, during a regional tour of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela and Peru in which she presented the "Environment Strategy" of the organization in Lima. The strategy establishes the lines of action and the strategic programs required for responsible institutional action and effective support for strengthening the environmental sector of member countries.

After recalling that CAF has financed major infrastructure projects in Peru such as the South Inter-Oceanic Highway, Zsauer said that the multilateral organization had designed an Environmental and Social Management System for Operations, which integrates a set of safeguard guidelines, methodological approaches, procedures, instruments and resources aimed at integrating responsible environmental and social management into each phase of the credit process.

"Our organization has made an important commitment to the environment in the framework of its institutional mission to promote sustainable development and regional integration, generating specific strategies and implementing programs and initiatives by developing innovative financing schemes which increase the benefits of investment in environment in the population served."

The CAF official presented the "Environment Strategy" to the authorities of the Peruvian ministries of Economy, Agriculture, Industry, Fisheries, Energy and Mines, Housing, Construction and Sanitation, and to officials from the Natural Resources Institute (Inrena), National Environment Commission (CONAM), and representatives of national and international NGOs.

As part of her working tour of Peru, Zsauer took the opportunity to inspect the environmental projects executed by CAF in Cuzco and Madre de Dios departments.

CAF supports the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, sustainable management and preservation of environmental services provided by ecosystems, reduction of industrial and urban pollution, prevention and mitigation of disaster risks, and improvement and dissemination of territorial and environmental information.