| Performance Standard | Description and Potential Impact | Mitigation |
|---|
| PS 2. Labor and Working Conditions | The primary risks are associated with inadequate occupational health and safety practice during construction or operation, by the concessionaire or its contractors. | PS2 risks will be addressed in the transactions that might result from the Phase 0 work (and subsequent phases), with specific provisions in the draft Project Agreements related to: (i) compliance with national laws and IFC PS2 on labor and working conditions, including internal grievance mechanism, (ii) management of OHS issues according to relevant national legislation, GIIP as in WBG EHS General and Wind Guidelines, also pertaining to sub/contractors of the concessionaire, (iii) representation of woman and minorities in the workforce, (iv) code of conduct to address risk of GBV at the worksite and in host communities. |
| PS 4. Community Health, Safety and Security | It is expected that PS4 will be applicable. Communities may be impacted by inadequate health and safety practices and hazards during construction and operation, poorly managed workers influx, exposure to excessive noise, exposure to shadow flickers, safety risks (e.g., blade throw if structures are located too close to turbines), traffic/pedestrian risks due to vehicle movement, risk of gender-based violence in affected communities, and risks to priority ecosystem services. Security arrangements may also be an issue. | In the Phase 0 work, the site selection process will aim at avoiding and minimizing impacts on communities.
As with PS2 and 3 above, PS4 risks will be addressed in the transactions that might result from the Phase 0 work, with specific provisions in the draft Project Agreements related to IFC PS4 requirements and the relevant provisions of the WBG EHS Guidelines (General and Wind). |
| PS 6. Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Management of Living Natural Resources | Overall, biodiversity risk will likely be primarily driven by the widespread distribution of threatened and/or restricted range bat species at collision risk and habitat-related impacts. With respect to birds, there are no vultures in Timor-Leste and no raptors with elevated conservation status. The country has an extensive protected areas network, with Important Bird Areas covering 20% of the land area. The approach to site screening will consider the location of protected areas, forests, coasts, and hotspots for restricted range and Critically Endangered (CR) and Endangered (EN) species. The highest risk areas will need to be avoided. | The site selection process will consider biodiversity risk in order to avoid and minimize risks to biodiversity and eliminate candidate sites with high risk to biodiversity.
Given the country-context, it is likely that sites, even following the Phase 0 screening, may host natural habitat and/or species of conservation concern. If a TASA is signed for subsequent Phase 1 E&S scoping work, the E&S scoping study will assess biodiversity risks and will include baseline risk characterization surveys for birds and bats that will conducted at intervals over a 12- month period. Phase 1 will likely also include critical habitat screening due to the presence of restricted range species and the localized distribution of CR/EN birds and bats, and other forest-affiliated species.
See PS1 above for a description of how risks will be addressed in the transactions that might result from the Phase 0 work. |
| PS 3. Resource Efficiency and Pollution Prevention | Major risks are related to waste and hazardous material management during construction and operation as well as, during operation, noise due to turbines functioning, visual pollution, shadow-flickers. Other risks are typical of construction works, not only for the WPP but also for ancillary/associated facilities such as roads and powerlines. Construction risks include impacts related to fugitive emissions, air and water pollution, noise, waste generation. | As with PS2, PS3 risks will be addressed in the transactions that might result from the Phase 0 work, with specific provisions in the draft Project Agreements related to IFC PS3 requirements and the relevant provisions of the WBG EHS Guidelines (General and Wind). |
| PS 5. Land Acquisition and Involuntary Resettlement | The contextual risk screening indicates that overlapping land claims, low levels of land registration (5%), and limited resources at the national level managing land disputes present a material risk. In addition, there is the potential for economic displacement of informal land users, including women and other vulnerable groups. There are also gaps between national legislation and PS5 requirements. | The Phase 0 E&S Screening will consider potential impacts from land acquisition, including impacts associated with physical and/or economic displacement. This high-level screening of social aspects will identify main social risks based on demographics (population density), land tenure and land use, including legacy resettlement, prevalent economic/livelihood activities, social organization and security context.Candidate sites presenting the highest PS5 risks will be eliminated.
If a TASA is signed for subsequent Phase 1 E&S scoping work, a land framework will be developed to help to build client capacity on resettlement matters in a gender-responsive way, highlight gaps between PS5 and national legislative requirements, and guide any future land acquisition activities by the government or concessionaire. |
| PS 1. Assessment and Management of Environmental and Social Risks and Impacts | Site selection is key to avoiding and minimizing E&S risks and impacts of each project and its associated / ancillary facilities (e.g., roads and transmission line).
In addition to the application of PS1 to PS3 (considered to be applicable to all wind projects regardless of the site), it is expected that PS4, PS5 and PS6 will be applicable. The applicability of PS7 and PS8 will be assessed once more information is gathered for each site. However, IPs are present in the country and the potential triggering of FPIC was flagged as a contextual risk with respect to land acquisition and potential resettlement and livelihood restorations for IP communities.
Sector risks include biodiversity-related impacts associated with birds and bats, such as collisions with turbines and powerlines.
Key contextual risk relevant for the program: Stakeholder engagement and grievance mechanisms (GM) that are inclusive for vulnerable populations (including women, LGBTI, minorities) confidentiality in GM for GBV consideration the use of customary justice in addressing grievances. | In order to improve macro-level siting and de-risk future WPP development, the Phase 0 work will involve a site selection process which aims to identify sites with high technical potential and reduced E&S risks, screening candidate sites against technical, financial, and E&S criteria.
The Phase 0 consultant will develop an integrated technical and E&S screening methodology that will be applied to develop and rank a list of sites. As part of the methodology each of the four factors (technical, commercial, environmental and social) will be equally weighted. Environmental aspects will largely relate to biodiversity as that data could be represented spatially.
It is expected that, through the this work, sites with the highest biodiversity and social risks will be removed from the pool of candidate sites. At the same time, will be used to build the clients understanding of the E&S risks associated with WPPs and what is needed to bring WPP projects in line with IFC PS requirements.
Should the prospective sites be located in the same area of influence or close to other power installations, the Phase 0 consultant will screen the sites for impacts related to cumulative effects.
If a TASA is signed for subsequent Phase 1 work, a general E&S scoping study will be conducted for the top-ranked site(s), with a particular focus on social aspects/land and biodiversity, including bird and bat baseline risk characterization surveys. The results will be used to: (i) confirm that there are no red flags preventing the project from proceeding, (ii) inform the design of the project (including powerlines and other ancillary/associated facilities), (iii) identify any critical steps that need to be undertaken by the client ahead/in parallel to the bidding process, and (iv) define the E&S obligations and the responsible party that IFC will recommend to include in the draft Project Agreements. E&S obligations will include, among others, requirements for an ESIA, Wildlife Curtailment Strategy, installation of bat acoustic monitoring equipment in turbine nacelles, bird and bat fatality monitoring, Resettlement Action Plan / Livelihood Restoration Plan, and Stakeholder Engagement Plan. |
