The World Bank Quality Assurance Capacity Building for the Off-Grid Solar Sector (P171037) Concept Environmental and Social Review Summary Concept Stage (ESRS Concept Stage) Public Disclosure Date Prepared/Updated: 08/15/2019 | Report No: ESRSC00773 Aug 27, 2019 Page 1 of 8 The World Bank Quality Assurance Capacity Building for the Off-Grid Solar Sector (P171037) BASIC INFORMATION A. Basic Project Data Country Region Project ID Parent Project ID (if any) World OTHER P171037 Project Name Quality Assurance Capacity Building for the Off-Grid Solar Sector Practice Area (Lead) Financing Instrument Estimated Appraisal Date Estimated Board Date Energy & Extractives Investment Project 9/30/2019 Financing Borrower(s) Implementing Agency(ies) Collaborative Labeling and Collaborative Labeling and Appliance Standards Appliance Standards Program (CLASP) Program (CLASP) Proposed Development Objective(s) Public Disclosure The objective of the small grant is to provide Quality Assurance (QA) for technical standards and specifications of off- grid solar products, as energy access solutions to national governments. Financing (in USD Million) Amount Total Project Cost 0.80 B. Is the project being prepared in a Situation of Urgent Need of Assistance or Capacity Constraints, as per Bank IPF Policy, para. 12? No C. Summary Description of Proposed Project [including overview of Country, Sectoral & Institutional Contexts and Relationship to CPF] The objective of the small grant is to provide Quality Assurance (QA) for technical standards and specifications of off- grid solar products, as energy access solutions to national governments. The following technical assistance components will be financed by this grant: Test Methods & Standards, Market Surveillance, National Policy Support and Capacity Building, and Research. D. Environmental and Social Overview Aug 27, 2019 Page 2 of 8 The World Bank Quality Assurance Capacity Building for the Off-Grid Solar Sector (P171037) D.1. Project location(s) and salient characteristics relevant to the ES assessment [geographic, environmental, social] This project is designed to support the quality assurance of off-grid solar products (pico-solar products and solar home system kits) in Haiti, Kenya, Madagascar, Nigeria, Rwanda and Uganda. The project geographical scope may extend to other countries based on the availability of the funding. The project includes only Technical Assistance activities focusing on test methods and standards, market surveillance, national policy support and capacity building and research. The scope of policy and standards supported by the Technical Assistance of the project is strictly limited to technical specifications of the off-grid solar products to function properly. The Project does not involve any physical works as described above. The project is, therefore, likely to have minimal environmental and social impacts. At the concept stage, activities relevant to environmental and social assessments are a) hiring workers (likely to be consultants) to deliver technical assistance and b) engagement with stakeholders related to technical standards of off- grid solar products in client countries. D. 2. Borrower’s Institutional Capacity The implementing agency, CLASP (Collaborative Labelling and Appliance Standards Program) has no experience with the World Bank Environmental and Social Framework. However, this should not be critical given the minimal environmental and social impacts anticipated from the listed activities. If the scope of the project changes, the need and capacity to implement Bank’s ESSs will be assessed during the preparation period (prior to the project appraisal) and an institutional strengthening plan will be suggested and agreed upon accordingly and included in the design of the project. II. SCREENING OF POTENTIAL ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL (ES) RISKS AND IMPACTS A. Environmental and Social Risk Classification (ESRC) Low Public Disclosure Environmental Risk Rating Low The environmental risk classification for the project is low under the World Bank ESF based on the nature and scale of the activities proposed in the draft project concept note, that will exclusively be focused on a few technical assistance components, such as test methods & standards; market surveillance; research and national policy support; and capacity building activities. The scope of policy and standards supported by the Technical Assistance of the project is strictly limited to technical specifications of the off-grid solar products to function properly. The project will include no physical works that could potentially generate adverse environmental and social impacts and risks. Anticipated risks and impacts related to staff health and safety are expected to be negligible. No civil works or other activities that could potentially generate adverse environmental and social impacts and risks are envisaged under the project. There are negligible or minimal environmental risks or impacts associated with the project and negligible impacts likely to be generated from the project activities. The risk rating will revised whenever there are changes in the project scope to warrant an updating of the project risk. Social Risk Rating Low The social risk classification for the project is low under the World Bank ESF based on the nature of the activities which are focused on technical support which will not include any physical or civil works. The project will have a positive social impact by contributing to an improvement in the quality of the off-grid solar products. This will be promoted by adopting the standards, by following up with the manufacturers to address cases of suspected non- compliance and delisting the products that no longer comply with the quality standards. Due to the likely nature and scale of the workforce issues related to labor and working conditions are anticipated to be negligible but will be Aug 27, 2019 Page 3 of 8 The World Bank Quality Assurance Capacity Building for the Off-Grid Solar Sector (P171037) addressed through the requirement for ESS2 to be met for all workers employed by the project. Minimal or negligible social risks or impacts are expected as a result of the technical assistance activities or from activities that will be supported by the project in the future. B. Environment and Social Standards (ESSs) that Apply to the Activities Being Considered B.1. General Assessment ESS1 Assessment and Management of Environmental and Social Risks and Impacts Overview of the relevance of the Standard for the Project: The project includes standalone technical assistance activities funded by a small grant from a recipient executed trust fund. At the concept stage, no specific environmental and social impacts are expected based on the activities described above. The aim of this project is to provide quality assurance for off-grid solar products as energy access solutions. In general, the off-grid solar product sector has several potential environmental and social implications. However, the activities of the project do not involve any installation of off-grid solar products or use of them. Rather, the project scope is limited to upstream activities of the off-grid solar sector by providing technical assistance for client countries to adopt technical standards for better quality and durability of products in the market. The technical standards promoted by this project define detailed specifications of solar products such as physical, optical, electrical, durability aspects, etc. as well as procedures to test such functions properly work, which do not cover any environmental and social aspects. Also, the only activity related to actual off-grid solar products is testing a product to determine whether it is properly functioning as per the product description. Expected outcomes after the completion of the project are 1) influence consumers’ decision making for off-grid solar products due to more reliable Public Disclosure information about products; and 2) motivate industrial behaviors to provide transparent information on products and improve quality in the longer term. Such changes in decision-making and behaviors are not financed by the Bank or are not directly subject to the World Bank Environmental and Social Policy for Investment Project Financing. Therefore, general environmental and social risks linked to the technical assistance components of the project proposed activities are mostly irrelevant to this project. Areas where “Use of Borrower Framework” is being considered: The use of environmental and social (E&S) country systems is not anticipated at this stage. It is unlikely that the need or rationale for using Borrower E&S systems will arise, given the scope of the project. ESS10 Stakeholder Engagement and Information Disclosure The recipient will prepare a Stakeholder Engagement Plan (SEP) which will involve all identified stakeholder of the project in four (4) countries. Direct stakeholders of this project are likely to be the off-grid solar industry and governments. The current scope of engagement planned by the project includes the borrower focusing on adopting the international standards of off-grid solar products and engaging with manufacturers on market surveillance and compliance. The stakeholder engagement will also cover consumers (on a limited scale) to estimate the relative size of quality verified and non-quality verified markets. The draft SEP will be disclosed as early as possible and prior to Bank Board Approval. The client will seek stakeholder feedback and opportunities for proposed future engagement, ensuring that all consultations are inclusive and accessible and through channels that are suitable in the local context. If major changes are made to the SEP, a revised SEP will be publicly disclosed as soon as possible. Aug 27, 2019 Page 4 of 8 The World Bank Quality Assurance Capacity Building for the Off-Grid Solar Sector (P171037) The Borrower will provide stakeholders with timely, relevant, understandable and accessible information, and consult with them in a culturally appropriate manner, which is free of manipulation, interference, coercion, discrimination and intimidation. The project will develop a project specific Grievance Mechanism (GM), proportionate to the potential risks and impacts of the project. The GM will be designed at an early stage and will be formally established B.2. Specific Risks and Impacts A brief description of the potential environmental and social risks and impacts relevant to the Project. ESS2 Labor and Working Conditions Working conditions for the implementing agency will be assessed to ensure alignment with ESS2. The project may require hiring a few consultants. However, the number of workers is unknown at this stage, but is expected to be very limited (two or three people). The timeframe is also unknown. Labor management procedures will be prepared prior to the employment of direct workers of the implementing agency working in this project (CLASP – Collaborative Labelling and Appliance Standards Program, an international NGO selected competitively) or hiring of consultants and will set out how the project will meet the requirements of ESS2 for direct workers and consultants. ESS3 Resource Efficiency and Pollution Prevention and Management Public Disclosure While this standard is relevant, no instruments are required for the project. As described above, the off-grid solar product sector has several implications related to resource efficiency and pollution prevention and management. It has positive impacts of energy saving and pollution reduction related to energy use since the off-grid solar products reduce reliance on fossil fuels for operating small appliances. Meanwhile, the disposal of solar products at the end of their life span, which are defined as e-wastes, can cause pollution posing serious environmental and health risks if not managed properly. However, the focus of this project provides technical assistance for increasing technical quality assurance of solar-products in the market. In this perspective, the project may have a positive environmental and social impact of reducing the number of the malfunctioning product disposals and associated risks. Such impacts are indirect and can be achieved in the long term. Therefore, the activities of the project do not cause any environmental and social impacts related to resource efficiency and pollution prevention and management. However, considering that the implementing agency is well positioned to engage government stakeholders relevant to the off-grid solar sector, it is recommended to support capacity building to increase awareness and efforts to address these risks in client countries if possible. ESS4 Community Health and Safety As no construction or infrastructure development activity is envisaged under the project and there will be no interaction with communities, there is no potential health and safety risk or impact on communities. ESS5 Land Acquisition, Restrictions on Land Use and Involuntary Resettlement Aug 27, 2019 Page 5 of 8 The World Bank Quality Assurance Capacity Building for the Off-Grid Solar Sector (P171037) The project activities do not envisage any land acquisition, restrictions on land use or involuntary resettlement. ESS6 Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Management of Living Natural Resources The project does not envisage any activities that affect biodiversity or natural habitats. ESS7 Indigenous Peoples/Sub-Saharan African Historically Underserved Traditional Local Communities Despite the presence of communities that meet the criteria of ESS7 in some of the countries where the assistance will be provided, interactions with these communities is not anticipated. In the event of engagement with such communities or peoples special considerations to meet the needs of these groups would need to be considered. ESS8 Cultural Heritage Project activities do not involve any physical works so impacts to cultural heritage sites are not envisaged. The project also does not involve any components related to the use of cultural heritage. ESS9 Financial Intermediaries The project is not a financial intermediary operation. Public Disclosure B.3 Other Relevant Project Risks The implementing agency has no experience of the World Bank Environmental and Social Framework. If any potential environmental and social risk arises in the later phases of project, appropriate capacity building would be needed. C. Legal Operational Policies that Apply OP 7.50 Projects on International Waterways No OP 7.60 Projects in Disputed Areas No III. WORLD BANK ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL DUE DILIGENCE A. Is a common approach being considered? No Financing Partners No financing partners are being considered at this time. B. Proposed Measures, Actions and Timing (Borrower’s commitments) Actions to be completed prior to Bank Board Approval: Aug 27, 2019 Page 6 of 8 The World Bank Quality Assurance Capacity Building for the Off-Grid Solar Sector (P171037) The following documents will need to be prepared prior to the Country Director Approval (no Appraisal ESRS is required as the project is a stand-alone small recipient executed trust fund):: 1) Development of the Environmental and Social Commitment Plan (ESCP) for the Project. 2) Development of the Stakeholder Engagement Plan covering all the target countries. 3) Development of labor management procedures outlining how ESS2 requirements will be met for direct employees and consultants. Possible issues to be addressed in the Borrower Environmental and Social Commitment Plan (ESCP): The ESCP will need to include measures to demonstrate monitoring of the Project implementation against the requirements of the ESF in particular in relation to the Stakeholder Engagement Plan, Grievance Mechanism and the Labor Management Procedures in relation to direct workers and consultants. C. Timing Tentative target date for preparing the Appraisal Stage ESRS 30-Sep-2019 IV. CONTACT POINTS World Bank Public Disclosure Contact: Dana Rysankova Title: Senior Energy Specialist Telephone No: 458-9514 Email: drysankova@worldbank.org Borrower/Client/Recipient Borrower: Collaborative Labeling and Appliance Standards Program (CLASP) Implementing Agency(ies) Implementing Agency: Collaborative Labeling and Appliance Standards Program (CLASP) V. FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT The World Bank 1818 H Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20433 Telephone: (202) 473-1000 Web: http://www.worldbank.org/projects VI. APPROVAL Task Team Leader(s): Dana Rysankova Aug 27, 2019 Page 7 of 8 The World Bank Quality Assurance Capacity Building for the Off-Grid Solar Sector (P171037) Practice Manager (ENR/Social) Africa Eshogba Olojoba Recommended on 15-Aug-2019 at 14:36:6 EDT Public Disclosure Aug 27, 2019 Page 8 of 8