The company’s environmental policy commitments are consistent with international standards.

• Does the company endorse internationally recognized and verified standards on environmental impacts such as IFC Performance Standards, relevant elements of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises?
• Does the company endorse international corporate protocol such as the United Nations Global Compact and Global Reporting Initiative?
• What other international standards on sustainable development or sustainable hydropower development does the company publicly endorse or use?
• Does the company make use of standardized procedures and measurements such as the ISO at the corporate headquarters level?
• Does the company have a company-wide Environmental Management System (with a standardized certification) in place?
• Does the company undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility?

The company’s policy commitments incorporate environmental and social standards set by Chinese law as a minimum.

• Does the company’s overseas investment policy commitment incorporate environmental and social standards set by Chinese law as a minimum? This should include consideration of transboundary impacts, opportunities for public participation, allowance for environmental flows, fish protection, and rare animal and plant protection measures.

• Where the host country requirements are lower, does the company conduct an EIA and resettlement in accordance with Chinese standards, as established under Chinese law?
• Does the company always conduct EIAs even when not required by local law?
• At a minimum, is the resettlement package on par with the Chinese resettlement compensation standards?

Prepares and implements Environmental Management Plans (EMP).

Does the company’s environmental management system enable the company to develop and implement policies and objectives, which take into account legal requirements and other requirements?

• Does the project have an EMP in place?

• Does the EMP address construction related waste, noise, air quality, land disturbance, and rehabilitation

• Have the key associated management plans been publicly disclosed?

Carries out rigorous and verifiable EIAs.

• Does the company carry out an EIA for projects that are likely to have significant adverse effects on the environment and affected communities with a view to avoiding, reducing, mitigating or offsetting such effects and, where appropriate, allow for public participation throughout the entire project cycle? E.g. information should be disclosed in a transparent and culturally-sensitive manner, with grievance mechanisms installed to allow the affected community to have access to justice and recourse

• Does the EIA include information of the impacts on biodiversity, forests and vegetation, aquatic species, sedimentation, water quality, quantity, abstraction and withdrawal, cultural heritage and property, and cumulative, indirect and interactive impacts

• Are the EIAs based on factual information appropriate for the size and nature of the project, and based on consultations with local stakeholders, project-affected communities, and regulatory authorities?

• Does the EIA establish baseline data and alternative actions (including the option of no dam, and multiple siting options)?

• At a minimum, is the EIA made publicly available upon request?

Consistent basin development or water resource management plans, and Integrated Resources Plans.

• Does the company assess basin development, water resource management plans, or energy plans, and promote the coordinated development and management of water, land, and related resources?

• Is the project consistent with basin-wide assessments and relevant plans?

Seeks to avoid impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem services, and supports conservation and biodiversity efforts related to the impacts on natural habitats by its hydropower projects.

• Does the company promote ecosystem protection, rehabilitate and restore degraded ecosystems, promote the recovery of threatened species, and establish guidelines for the selection, establishment and management of protected areas or areas where special measures need to be taken to conserve biological diversity?
• Has the company adopted the policy of avoidance first, mitigation second in its biodiversity impact policy?

• Does the project impact critical habitats with high biodiversity value?
    What are the number of IUCN Red List Species and the number of the national conservation species with habitats in areas affected by project operations, by level of extinction risk?
    What’s the status, size and biodiversity value of water bodies and related habitats significantly affected by the company or contractors?
• Does the project construction introduce more illegal logging in the surrounding area?

• Does the company develop a management and monitoring plan for biological impact mitigation?
• If the project impacts critical habitats with high biodiversity values, does the company assess other viable alternatives to the project in order to avoid measurable adverse impacts on critical biodiversity values and net reduction in the population of a critically endangered or endangered species?

• Examples of efforts by the company to avoid and mitigate its negative impact on biodiversity.

Seeks to avoid impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem services, and supports conservation and biodiversity efforts related to the impacts on natural habitats by its hydropower projects.

• Does the company endorse national standards of pollution discharges and environmental quality?
• Does the company’s policies include requirements to monitor and manage waste, noise, dust, air quality, water quality, and hazardous materials?

• Does the company develop a management and monitoring plan for water quality, air quality, waste and noise impacts, and public health risk mitigation?

• What efforts has the company made to avoid and mitigate pollution and protect public health during construction and operation stages?
    Has the company optimized the dam design and taken measures to ensure the water quality?
    Does the company manage and monitor the water and air quality during site preparation, construction and operation stages?
    Does the company properly manage the waste and noise impacts?

Carries out cultural resources assessments, and develops plans and processes to avoid, minimize, mitigate, and compensate negative impacts on cultural heritage.

• Does the company assess physical and non-physical cultural heritage and ensure management of identified cultural heritage issues?

• Has the company conducted assessments to identify potential inundation of important sites or artifacts under the new reservoir, damage or destruction to important sites or artifacts due to construction activities, and loss of access to important sites due to changes in access routes?

• Has the company avoided, minimized, mitigated and compensated the negative impacts?

Addresses erosion and sedimentation issues

• Does the company assess erosion and sedimentation issues caused by project construction and other implementation activities, and undertake measures to avoid, minimize, mitigate and compensate the impacts?

• Does the project have plans to address erosion and sedimentation issues for preparation, construction and operations?

• What measures has the company taken to address erosion and sedimentation issues?
    Has the company integrated any design features into the dam design in order to address erosion and sedimentation issues?
    Has the company carried out any reforestation and re-vegetation activities?
    Has the company adopted good land-use practices?
    Has the company included any consideration of cumulative impacts?

Adopts healthy downstream flow regimes, taking into account environmental, social and economic objectives, and where relevant, agreed transboundary objectives.

• Does the company protect environmental flows and minimize downstream impacts?

• Has the company conducted an Environmental Flows Assessment and created benchmarks for flow regime?

The company has a policy on involuntary resettlement and indigenous people.

• Does the company commit to the rights to place-based livelihoods, adequate housing, land-for-land compensation, transparency and access to information, participation in decision-making, access to justice, and livelihood improvement and benefit sharing?
• Does the company endorse the principle of Free, Prior and Informed Consent for indigenous peoples?

• Has the company conducted assessment of the livelihoods, living standards, the nature of the impacts of the project on the local communities’ livelihoods and living standards, and the degree of economic displacement?

• Has the company taken measures to protect downstream riparian lands and enable sustained livelihoods for downstream communities?

• Does the project provide opportunities for project-affected communities?

• Does the resettlement provide improvement of livelihoods and living standards, and appropriately compensate for economic displacement?

Social Impact Assessments (SIAs) are routinely conducted for major projects.

• Do the company’s policies require a social impact assessment and, where appropriate, allow for public participation, when projects are likely to have significant adverse effects on local communities and indigenous peoples?

• Does the assessment include discussion of displacement of affected people, health impacts, gender impacts and impacts on women, cumulative, indirect and interactive impacts?

• Are the assessments based on factual information, appropriate for the size and nature of the project, and based on consultations with local stakeholders and regulatory authorities?

• At a minimum, are the assessments made publicly available upon request?

Meaningful and accountable stakeholder communication and consultation across all stages.

• Has the company adpoted policies to ensure institutional transparency, grant access to information, hold proper consultations, and ensure the participation of affected communities in decision-making?

• Is a community consultation system in place?
• What is the number of public consultation sessions and events conducted for the project?

Establishes a clear framework for filing complaints and dispute resolution.

• Does the company have systems and processes for the filing of grievances and complaints?

• Is a disputes and complaints mechanism in place at the project site?

• How many major disputes with local communities have been reported and solved through the mechanism?

Benefits sharing commitment.

• Does the company have general commitments to project benefits sharing? Project benefits sharing examples include: equitable access to electricity services, project affected communities receive enhanced local access to natural resources; project affected communities share the direct monetary benefits of hydropower.

• Does the project have benefit sharing beyond one-time compensation payments or resettlement support

The company practices do not breach relevant rights established under international human rights instruments.

• Does the company have a company wide human rights policy?
• Does the company endorse international human rights standards and respect the rights to equal pay for equal work, right to organize and participate in collective bargaining, right to equality at work, right to non-discrimination, right to just and favorable remuneration, and freedom of association?

• Instances of documented direct and indirect abuse of international human rights for projects where the dam company has a BOT or EPC contract.
• Number and size of labor related fines and non-monetary sanctions.
• Number of documented conflicts between the company and its employee over local labor conditions, including non-payment of salaries and instances of discrimination.

• How many complaints have the workers filed? How were they solved?

• How do the workers rate the living conditions, salary and working conditions?

Occupational safety and health program to foster a safe and healthy work environment.

• Does the company have policies or programs for protecting the safety, health and welfare of people engaged in work or employment?

• Number of work site accidents or incidents.

• Does the company have programs and targets to reduce safety violations and workplace incidents?

Promotes local employment and related training.

• Does the company have policies to encourage local employment and provide relevant trainings?

• Break-down of local and non-local employees engaged at the project site.

• Does the company have relevant training programs for local employment and programs for skills management and lifelong learning that support the continued employability of employees?

Evidence of a company wide policy on corruption and bribery.

• Does the company have policies to mitigate the risk of corruption and bribery in high-risk countries?

• Has the company abstained from improper involvement in local political processes?

• Does the company analyze corruption related risks in the business?

• Does the company train their employees in the company’s anti-corruption policies?

Compliance with local and national laws.

• Does the company have systems and processes to ensure legal compliance with local regulations and national laws?

• Is there a survey of relevant laws and regulations included in the feasibility study?

• Is there a responsible manager in charge of legal compliance at the project office or host country representative office?

• Are there any legal issues or reported incidents of violence during the project process, construction and operation?

• Are there any legal issues or reported incidents of violence during the project process, construction and operation?

• Do the company’s policies oblige to prevent, control and reduce transboundary impact and use transboundary waters in a reasonable and equitable way?

• Has the company assessed the transboundary impacts and risks, entered into specific agreements and establish joint bodies?

• Does the company establish a monitoring, warning and alarm system and exchange information with upstream and downstream countries?

Plans and processes for dam and other infrastructure safety management.

• Do the company’s policies undertake infrastructure safety risk assessment, establish and implement safety monitoring mechanisms, safety management plans, and emergency response plans?

• Does the company have safety management procedures and incidents response plans?

• Does the company provide training to its employees?

Systematic risk reporting and information sharing with local communities.

• Does the company have systems and processes to establish and implement risk reporting and information sharing?

• Does the company regularly report to the communities on the most important risks and opportunities it faces, particularly arising from the environmental and social impacts of its project activities?