This study examines how the Bank approached environmental concerns in several large projects in Brazil, so as to draw lessons for future Bank operations involving environmental protection, assessment, and management for the guidelines and procedures that shape these activities. The study also illustrates the evolution of environmental awareness both in the Bank and Brazil, and the growing integration of environmental concerns into Bank-assisted projects over the past two decades. The report traces the direct and indirect impacts of the investments involved on both the natural resource base and existing communities, new settlements, and productive activities and to assess the adequacy and effectiveness of planned mitigatory measures. The report draws lessons in three overlapping areas: environmental protection; environmental assessment and management; and Bank activities and procedures. Preconditions for effective environmental protection are: policy, legal, and regulatory framework; institutional and technical capacity; political commitment and accountability; public awareness and community participation; regulations and economic incentives. It concludes with lessons for environmental assessment and management and recommendations for Bank operations.

Ending poverty and stabilizing climate change will be two unprecedented global achievements and two major steps toward sustainable development. But the two objectives cannot be considered in isolation: they need to be jointly tackled through an integrated strategy. This report brings together those two objectives and explores how they can more easily be achieved if considered together. It examines the potential impact of climate change and climate policies on poverty reduction. It also provides guidance on how to create a “win-win†? situation so that climate change policies contribute to poverty reduction and poverty-reduction policies contribute to climate change mitigation and resilience building. The key finding of the report is that climate change represents a significant obstacle to the sustained eradication of poverty, but future impacts on poverty are determined by policy choices: rapid, inclusive, and climate-informed development can prevent most short-term impacts whereas immediate pro-poor, emissions-reduction policies can drastically limit long-term ones.