Environmental and social assessment that meets international lender standards.

A full impact assessment cycle built to the safeguard framework your financier will audit against, from screening through to disclosure and lender review.

• Screening and scoping against the applicable lender standard and Mongolian law
• Environmental and social baseline data collection across physical, biological and socio-economic components
• Analysis of project alternatives, including the no-project option
• Impact prediction and significance rating supported by air, noise, water and habitat modelling
• Application of the mitigation hierarchy — avoid, minimise, restore, offset
• Stakeholder engagement: public consultation meetings, FGD, KII and household surveys
• Preparation of the ESMP and associated management sub-plans
• Disclosure package in Mongolian and English, and support through lender review and comment rounds

National-law detailed EIA prepared under our Ministry special licence, taken all the way through Professional Council approval.

• Review of the general EIA conclusion and confirmation of DEIA scope
• Environmental baseline study following the national methodology
• Detailed impact assessment prepared in accordance with methodology A-117
• Environmental risk assessment and determination of mitigation measures
• Environmental Management Plan with a monitoring programme and budget
• Stakeholder meetings and public consultation as required by the EIA law
• Submission and defence of the report at the Professional Council
• Response to review comments and securing formal approval

Upstream appraisal that brings environmental and social considerations into policies, plans and programmes before individual projects are designed.

• Definition of the policy, plan or programme scope and decision points
• Review of the legal, institutional and planning framework
• Establishment of environmental and social objectives and assessment criteria
• Evaluation of strategic alternatives and development scenarios
• Assessment of indirect, cumulative and synergistic effects at the strategic level
• Recommendations for integrating findings into the planning decision
• Design of a monitoring and review framework
• Consultation with authorities, sector bodies and affected stakeholders

Assessment of how a project combines with other existing and planned developments to affect the components a region actually cares about.

• Identification of Valued Environmental and Social Components (VECs) with stakeholders
• Definition of spatial and temporal assessment boundaries
• Inventory of existing, approved and reasonably foreseeable developments
• Assessment of the combined effect of all developments on each VEC
• Comparison against thresholds, carrying capacity and regulatory limits
• Identification of the project’s incremental contribution
• Recommendation of regional and project-level mitigation and management measures
• Proposals for collaborative monitoring with other developers and authorities

Evidence-based social assessment covering livelihoods, vulnerable groups, gender and cultural heritage.

• Socio-economic baseline of affected settlements and administrative units
• Design and administration of household survey questionnaires
• Focus group discussions and key informant interviews
• Identification of poor households, people with disabilities and ethnic groups
• Gender analysis and preparation of a Gender Action Plan
• Assessment of cultural and historical heritage, religious and other sensitive facilities
• Analysis of land use, livelihoods and community health and safety
• Preparation of the Social Management Plan and mitigation measures

The measured starting point every credible assessment depends on — collected in the field, mapped in GIS and documented to lender standard.

• Desk review of existing data and identification of information gaps
• Field survey planning, including seasonal campaigns where required
• Air quality, noise, surface water, groundwater and soil sampling
• Flora, fauna and habitat surveys with specialist local experts
• Hydrological and hydrogeological characterisation
• Socio-economic household census and community profiling
• GIS mapping, spatial database development and drone aerial survey
• Laboratory coordination, QA/QC and baseline reporting

Comparative studies that identify the alignment or site with the lowest environmental, social and land acquisition cost.

• Compilation of environmental, social and cultural constraints into a GIS constraints map
• Development of realistic site or corridor alternatives
• Multi-criteria comparison across environmental, social, technical and cost criteria
• Field verification of shortlisted options, including drone survey
• Screening of land use, land ownership and potential resettlement exposure
• Identification of protected areas, heritage sites and migration corridors
• Recommendation of the preferred option with documented justification

Led by a senior biodiversity specialist with over 30 years of field experience, supported by botanists and biodiversity experts from the National University of Mongolia.

• Habitat characterisation and critical habitat screening under PS6 / ESS6
• Seasonal flora and fauna field surveys along transects and sample plots
• Species distribution and habitat suitability modelling using MaxENT
• Assessment of protected areas, key biodiversity areas and migration corridors
• Biodiversity risk assessment and significance rating
• Application of the mitigation hierarchy to biodiversity features
• Preparation of the Biodiversity Management Plan and monitoring programme

Our founding specialism — surface and groundwater modelling delivered for the Bulk Water Supply Expansion, the Tuul and Selbe river studies and urban master planning.

• Hydrological and hydrogeological baseline characterisation
• Surface water and watershed modelling using ArcSWAT
• Groundwater flow and transport modelling using Visual MODFLOW
• Water balance, recharge and sustainable abstraction assessment
• Water quality sampling, laboratory analysis and trend evaluation
• River sediment sampling and contaminant assessment
• Assessment of impacts on downstream and competing water users
• Water resource management and mitigation recommendations

Independent review of an asset or portfolio against lender standards, with the corrective actions and costs a decision-maker needs.

• Review of permits, licences, monitoring records and incident history
• Site inspection and interviews with operational and HSE staff
• Gap analysis against applicable lender standards and national law
• Identification of environmental and social liabilities and contingent risks
• Assessment of management systems, capacity and contractor controls
• Preparation of an Environmental and Social Action Plan (ESAP) with timelines
• Cost estimation for corrective actions
• Red-flag summary reporting for investment decision-making

On-site supervision that verifies commitments are actually delivered — the role BGM holds on the Ulaanbaatar road packages for CTI Engineering and on the Advanced Water Purification Plant works for the MCC contractor.

• Review and clearance of contractor Construction ESMPs (CESMPs) and their sub-plans
• Pre-construction readiness audits and mobilisation checks
• Regular site inspections and compliance walkovers against ESMP commitments
• Verification of mitigation measures, permits, licences and contractor documentation
• Supervision and verification of contractor environmental and social monitoring
• Non-conformance reporting, corrective action tracking and close-out verification
• Site inductions, toolbox talks and on-site capacity building for contractor staff
• Consulting support during tender selection and evaluation of contractor E&S capability
• Monthly and quarterly supervision reporting to the PMO, employer and lender

Quantitative modelling that replaces qualitative assertion with predicted concentrations, flows and distributions.

• Air dispersion modelling using AERMOD View 8.9.0 (AERMOD, ISCST3, ISC-Prime)
• Noise dispersion modelling and contour mapping
• Watershed and water quality modelling using ArcSWAT
• Groundwater flow and contaminant transport modelling using Visual MODFLOW
• Habitat suitability and species distribution modelling using MaxENT
• Spatial analysis, mapping and visualisation in ArcGIS 10.8
• Scenario testing and sensitivity analysis for design alternatives
• Presentation of model results to authorities and lender reviewers

Framework instruments for programmes whose individual sub-projects are not yet defined — delivered for the UNDP ADAPT project and the KfW-financed BACCP programme.

• Review of the legal, regulatory and institutional framework
• Design of sub-project screening and environmental/social categorisation procedures
• Generic mitigation measures and management measures by sub-project type
• Assessment of implementing agency roles, responsibilities and capacity
• Design of the grievance redress mechanism
• Implementation budget, staffing and institutional arrangements
• Monitoring, supervision and reporting arrangements
• Training and capacity building for PMO and implementing partner staff

The operational document that carries assessment commitments into construction and operation, with the sub-plans lenders now expect as standard.

• Translation of every assessed impact into specific, assignable mitigation measures
• Preparation of management sub-plans: biodiversity, traffic, labour, waste and hazardous materials, construction camp, and codes of conduct
• Definition of contractor CESMP requirements and bid document clauses
• Monitoring plan setting parameters, locations, frequency and responsibility
• Allocation of roles, responsibilities, budget and implementation schedule
• Reporting protocols for the PMO, authorities and lenders
• Review and clearance of contractor-prepared CESMPs
• Construction-phase supervision and compliance support

The policy instrument that governs land acquisition where specific impacts are not yet known, reconciling Mongolian law with lender requirements.

• Gap analysis between Mongolian land legislation and ESS5 / PS5
• Definition of eligibility criteria and the entitlement framework
• Establishment of valuation principles and compensation-at-replacement-cost methodology
• Procedures for consultation, disclosure and participation of affected persons
• Design of the grievance redress mechanism for land and compensation issues
• Institutional arrangements, responsibilities and implementation budget
• Monitoring, evaluation and completion audit framework
• Provisions for vulnerable and severely affected households

Site-specific resettlement planning, delivered for the Bulk Water Supply Expansion, the Mandalgovi–Arvaikheer transmission line and Ulaanbaatar road projects.

• Census and cut-off date declaration for project-affected persons
• Detailed inventory of losses and asset valuation
• Socio-economic survey of affected households and businesses
• Preparation of the entitlement matrix by loss type and category of affected person
• Design of the livelihood restoration programme for severely affected households
• Compensation delivery arrangements and implementation schedule
• Operation of the grievance redress mechanism and case tracking
• PAP satisfaction survey, internal monitoring and completion audit

Engagement that produces a defensible record — the part of the safeguard package lenders scrutinise most closely.

• Stakeholder identification and mapping analysis, including vulnerable groups
• Preparation of the Stakeholder Engagement Plan (SEP)
• Organisation and facilitation of public consultation meetings
• Focus group discussions and key informant interviews
• Design and administration of household surveys
• Information disclosure in Mongolian and English, in accessible formats
• Design and operation of the grievance redress mechanism
• Maintenance of the engagement log and consultation reporting

Strategy work for organisations that need a defensible environmental direction rather than a single project document.

• Review of the policy, legal and regulatory landscape
• Environmental baseline and trend analysis for the organisation or territory
• Definition of environmental objectives, targets and priorities
• Development of an action plan and implementation roadmap
• Institutional arrangements, roles and resourcing
• Design of an indicator framework for performance tracking
• Stakeholder consultation on the draft strategy
• Implementation support and periodic review cycle

Getting the documentation through the Mongolian approval process — where we hold a track record of approved detailed EIAs and management plans.

• Permit and approval needs assessment for the project
• Preparation and compilation of submission dossiers
• Liaison with the Ministry, aimag and soum authorities
• Presentation and defence of the report at the Professional Council
• Preparation of responses to review comments and revised submissions
• Tracking of approvals, conditions and expiry dates
• Development of a permit condition compliance register
• Support with permit renewals and amendments

Where residual biodiversity impacts remain after avoidance and minimisation, a credible offset designed to meet no-net-loss or net-gain commitments.

• Quantification of residual impacts after applying the mitigation hierarchy
• Setting of no-net-loss or net-gain goals with the client and lender
• Identification and feasibility screening of candidate offset sites
• Offset design, metrics and equivalence assessment
• Long-term management, governance and financing arrangements
• Agreement of measurable success criteria
• Monitoring programme and adaptive management provisions
• Stakeholder and authority consultation on the offset proposal

Basin-level planning that balances municipal, industrial, agricultural and ecological demands on a constrained resource.

• Basin characterisation and water balance assessment
• Water demand forecasting by sector and development scenario
• Allocation scenario development and trade-off analysis
• Groundwater sustainability and safe yield assessment
• Assessment of environmental flow requirements
• Institutional and stakeholder coordination arrangements
• Preparation of the IWRM plan and investment priorities
• Design of the water resource monitoring network

Turning assessment findings into a working management system with named owners, controls and review cycles.

• Development and maintenance of the corporate or project risk register
• Design of controls and assignment of risk ownership
• Development of an environmental and social management system (ISO-aligned)
• Definition of contractor risk management requirements and controls
• Incident reporting, investigation and root-cause analysis procedures
• Management-of-change procedures for design and scope changes
• Periodic risk review and escalation protocols
• Management reporting and board-level risk summaries

Independent monitoring that demonstrates commitments are being met — to authorities and to lenders.

• Design of the monitoring programme: parameters, locations, frequency and methods
• Field sampling campaigns and instrument calibration
• Laboratory coordination, chain of custody and QA/QC
• Compliance checking against ESMP commitments, permits and standards
• Non-conformance identification and corrective action tracking
• Contractor performance monitoring and site inspections
• Periodic monitoring reports to the PMO, authorities and lenders
• Trend analysis and recommendations for adaptive management

BGM was selected by the BACCP project to train all stakeholders on World Bank ESS 1–10 and ESMF implementation; the certificate and agenda were approved by the project and the Ministry.

• Training needs assessment across the target stakeholder groups
• Development of training modules on World Bank ESS 1–10 and ESMF implementation
• Approval of the training programme and agenda by the project and ministry
• Delivery of training to PMO staff, contractors, officials and stakeholders
• Use of practical case studies drawn from Mongolian projects
• Practical exercises on screening, mitigation planning and monitoring
• Participant evaluation and issue of certificates
• Preparation and submission of the final training report

Integrated policy and Nexus assessment supporting food systems transformation and alignment with Mongolia’s NBSAP, NDC and NAP.

• Assess policy coherence across food systems, biodiversity, climate mitigation and adaptation
• Analyse interactions among biodiversity, water, food, health, climate and livelihoods
• Develop policy integration recommendations
• Support stakeholder coordination and capacity building
• Prepare knowledge products and monitoring recommendations