Annual Report on the Environment and Natural Resources 1999

This Annual Report details the Bank's activities in environment and natural resources during 1999. Overall in 1999, the Bank's environmental and natural resource activities were focused in three priority areas of action: 1) identifying and implementing loans specially designed to solve environmental problems; 2) designing and implementing strategies, good practices, and action plans related to environmental and natural resource management; 3) performing quality control of the environmental impact assessments (EIA) performed at the Bank. Most of these Bank loans in the environmental sector were for the urban environment, drinking water supply, and pollution control. The emphasis on loans for drinking water and sanitation conforms with the mandate established in the Eighth General Increase in the Resources of the IDB (1994), which directs the Bank to achieve greater efficiency in benefiting low-income groups.