Türkiye: Istanbul Seismic Risk Mitigation and Emergency Preparedness - 2

OBJECTIVE

The objectives of the Project are to improve the disaster resilience of critical public facilities and to enhance emergency preparedness and resilience of the City of Istanbul.

DESCRIPTION

Building on the highly successful program initiated and implemented by the World Bank after the devastated Marmara earthquake in 1999, the program has since received support from many International Finance Institutions (IFIs) including AIIB which has financed two projects, Istanbul Seismic Risk Mitigation and Emergency Preparedness (ISMEP) and ISMEP-Additional Financing (ISMEP-AF) with the total amount of USD465 million since 2020. The proposed Project will finance structural retrofitting and reconstruction of recently identified high priority public buildings, found to be vulnerable to seismic risks.

Rationales for Repeat Financing:

1. The Istanbul Education Directorate in collaboration with Istanbul Project Coordination Unit (IPCU) has further identified 40 public schools that were found to be unsafe and not in compliance with the seismic resilient building code. These buildings were either demolished or closed for safety reasons after the 2023 earthquake. This has resulted in reallocating students and teachers from these schools to continue their studies at nearby schools resulting in two-shifts due to limited space. Therefore, returning these affected students to safe and normal learning environment as soon as possible is one of the highest priorities of the government.
2. As the preliminary assessment recently conducted shows that only 16 out of the 40 schools are suitable for retrofitting while the other 24 schools require reconstruction which requires substantially higher level of investm�ent. As most of the resources provided by the ISMEP and ISMEP-AF projects have already been committed, the government needs additional funding to complete the reconstruction and retrofitting of these 40 public schools as soon as possible. The government has first turned to AIIB for continued support of the program due mainly to the fact that AIIB has been able to provide timely support with value addition including implementation support and advice on nature-based solutions and climate resilience. Since the financing gaps to support other priority public buildings are substantial, the government has also been in discussion with other multilateral development banks including European Investment Bank (EIB), Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB), and Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), to secure potential support to bridge any financing gap. Feasibility study reports for these additional buildings are being carried out and funded by the ISMEP-AF project.

Components of the Project:

• Component A: Enhancing Emergency Preparedness. This component aims to enhance the emergency preparedness of the City of Istanbul by strengthening the capacity of Istanbul’s Provincial Directorate of Disaster and Emergency and other first responders. Specifically, the component will support: (i) the provision of emergency equipment such as IT and emergency communications equipment, medical rescue and search and rescue equipment, and specialized emergency vehicles, etc.; (ii) public awareness and training; and (iii) any technical assistance to enhance emergency preparedness and responses.
• Component B: Seismic Risk Mitigation for Public Facilities. This component aims to reduce the risk of future earthquake damages to critical public facilities in order to save lives and ensure their continued functioning operation in the event of an earthquake. The component will mainly consist of retrofitting and reconstruction of the existing priority public facilities. IPCU has already identified 40 public schools to be included in the Project based on the ISMEP program’s established rules. The component will also support feasibility studies, detailed designs, and construction supervision.

Component C: Project Management Support. This component will support IPCU to implement the Project in an efficient and transparent manner and continue to build the institutional capacity to sustain the implementation of the Seismic Risk Mitigation and Preparedness program beyond the life of the Project. Specifically, the component will comprise IPCU’s operational costs and project management support, including support to monitoring and evaluation, environmental and social safeguards, procurement and financial management aspects.

ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL INFORMATION

Applicable Policy and Categorization. AIIB's Environmental and Social Framework (ESF) applies to the Project. The Project will be prepared consistent with the Environmental and Social Policy (ESP), including the Environment and Social Standards (ESSs) and the Environmental and Social Exclusion List (ESEL). ESS 1 (Environmental and Social Assessment and Management) will apply to the Project. Based on the current information, ESS 2 (Land Acquisition and Involuntary Resettlement) and ESS 3 (Indigenous Peoples) will not be triggered, as Project activities will not cause involuntary resettlement and no Indigenous Peoples are present in, or have a collective attachment to, the Project area. The Project is assigned Category B under the ESP due to the limited potentially significant adverse environmental and social (ES) impacts of the construction activities and availability of common mitigations to manage the risks and impacts that are expected.

Environmental and Social Instruments. An Environmental and Social Management Plan Framework (ESMPF) was developed in 2005 for the initial World Bank ISMEP project and has been utilized by a number of International Finance Institutions (IFIs) involved in subsequent financing. The ESMPF was updated in 2010, and an AIIB specific version was prepared for the Bank’s first round of funding in 2019. The ESMPF for AIIB ISMEP projects was updated in 2022 and again in the first half of 2024. An ESMPF has been selected as the primary ES instrument for the projects as detailed information on the subprojects that will be undertaken is not available at the time of financing approval. The ESMPF establishes the minimum standards that will be adopted for each selected subproject to support conformance with AIIB’s ESP. Construction Environmental and Social Management Plans (CESMPs) are required to be developed by each subproject contractor, aligned with the ESMPF. The ESMPF has been revised for the current Project to take account of updates in AIIB’s ESF 2024 and in Türkiye ES laws and regulations.

Environmental Aspects. The Project is not expected to have any significant adverse impact on any sensitive environmental receptors. Construction activities will temporarily result in localized noise, dust and combustion emissions, construction waste generation, and potentially sedimentation of the sewage system on and near project sites. Off-site impacts will be induced by the production of construction material, including but not limited to the use of natural resources such as water and energy consumption, their transportation to the site, and the disposal of debris and other waste. The Environmental Management Plan (EMP) will have special provisions or management plans for hazardous waste materials such as asbestos and medical waste as well as sensitive impacts such as noise and dust management. In addition, none of the targeted buildings are located within registered cultural heritage areas. However, due to the historical nature of Istanbul, activities to be conducted as part of the Project may occur adjacent to or near important cultural resources. A chance-finds procedure will be implemented to protect cultural resources.

Social and Gender Aspects. The Project will not induce any physical or economic resettlement. Social impacts will comprise construction-induced nuisances such as noise, dust emissions, access restriction, and risks to community health and safety for adjacent residents and structures and concurrent users of facilities or buildings being renovated while potentially in partial use, such as schools or hospitals. Public buildings targeted for reconstruction will adopt universal design principles. During the construction, students and teachers will be reallocated to nearby facilities to minimize learning disruption. Transition plan and actions to mitigate any significant adverse impact on the students and teachers' access to educational buildings, preceding the assessment and temporary relocation of the facilities. Additionally, all schools and hospitals will be designed using accessibility facilities such as ramps and elevators and have adequate facilities for women, such as separate bathrooms. As part of the enhancement of the Project, IPCU will deliver Gender-Based Violence (GBV) training sessions and identify opportunities to promote equal access to employment. In addition, the Project will use universal design features for people with disabilities.

Occupational Health and Safety (OHS), Labor and Working Conditions. Project activities will involve construction risks such as earthworks, excavations, work at height, noise, underground activities, and electrical hazards during construction. The contractors will develop and implement the CESMPs in accordance with the ESMPF. CESMPs will include procedures for work-related accident prevention and emergency preparedness and response. IPCU will be responsible for monitoring the implementation of mitigation measures. The contractors will also implement human resource policies aligned with AIIB's requirements, especially for preventing Labor and Working Conditions issues across their operations and those of subcontractors.

Stakeholder Engagement, Consultation, and Information Disclosure. All construction projects are subject to public consultations under Turkish regulations. The engagement process includes public hearings, focus group discussions, interviews, surveys, and communication materials. Particular attention will be paid to the inclusion of men and women in all consultations to ensure that their respective priorities and concerns are considered, particularly in the planning and execution of the sub-projects. The ESMPF in English and its executive summary in Turkish have been disclosed on the AIIB’s and Project's websites.

Project’s Grievance Redress Mechanism (GRM). A Project-level GRM has been developed and implemented, which includes multiple channels for stakeholders to raise grievances to IPCU and a process for investigating and responding to grievances. AIIB has confirmed that the established GRM has been functioning appropriately on the projects implemented as part of the previous funding. The GRM for the Project as well as the Project-affected People’s Mechanism (PPM) of the Bank (both in English and local language) will be timely disclosed in an appropriate manner.

Monitoring and Supervision Arrangements. The IPCU will be responsible for the overall coordination, supervision, and monitoring of the Project's ES aspects and to ensure compliance with ESP requirements. The IPCU has established an ES specialist team to oversee Project implementation and monitor ES aspects. The IPCU will provide AIIB with semi-annual ES monitoring reports, which will be prepared based on an agreed format, during the Project implementation period. In addition, AIIB will conduct on-site ES supervision missions in line with the Bank's implementation support missions and strengthen the IPCU's ES management efforts.