The World Bank is the single largest source of development finance, with wide‐reaching influence. The Bank's safeguards aim to minimize the negative impacts of the projects it funds. These policies have recently been updated in a new Environmental and Social Framework. For conservation, the key changes include a mechanism for the use of biodiversity offsets and borrowers’ own frameworks to manage impacts. Concerns have been raised that these changes may weaken protections as there is substantial flexibility about when offsets or borrowers’ frameworks can be used, and uncertainty around the efficacy of offsets. The project‐by‐project nature of these mechanisms and the lack of clear criteria may also hinder future efforts to hold the Bank to account. Concerns about these changes were raised by conservation organizations during the consultation process, but the framework's formulation does not fully reflect recommendations made. Although elements of the new policy have the potential to benefit conservation, the flexibility presents a risk to biodiversity. It is vital for conservation organizations to engage effectively to ensure that any negative impacts arising do not go unchallenged.

中文翻译：

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世界银行的环境和社会框架对生物多样性的影响

世界银行是发展资金的最大单一来源，影响广泛。世行的保障措施旨在最大程度地减少其资助项目的负面影响。这些政策最近在新的环境和社会框架中进行了更新。在保护方面，关键的变化包括使用生物多样性补偿的机制和借款人自己的框架来管理影响。有人担心这些变化可能会削弱保护，因为在何时可以使用抵消或借款人的框架方面存在很大的灵活性，并且抵消效率的不确定性。这些机制的逐个项目性质以及缺乏明确的标准，也可能阻碍今后要求世行承担责任的努力。保护组织在磋商过程中对这些变化表示了担忧，但该框架的制定并未完全反映所提出的建议。尽管新政策的内容有可能使保护受益，但灵活性会给生物多样性带来风险。保护组织必须有效参与，以确保产生的任何负面影响都不会受到挑战，这一点至关重要。