Project title: Strengthening Nature-Based Solutions to Restore Ecosystems, and Conserve and Enhance Blue Carbon Stocks and Biodiversity in Viet Nam

This Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF) has been prepared in support of the UNDP-GEF project "Strengthening Nature-Based Solutions to Restore Ecosystems, and Conserve and Enhance Blue Carbon Stocks and Biodiversity in Viet Nam" (PIMS ID: 9818; GEF Project ID: 11668). The project addresses critical environmental and livelihood challenges across the Mekong Delta and coastal regions of the newly consolidated An Giang Province by advancing community-led Nature-based Solutions (NbS) in coastal ecosystems, including mangroves, seagrasses, and coral reefs. It aims to transform and sustainably finance NbS that enhance climate resilience and adaptive capacity for both people and nature across target land and seascapes, while securing co-benefits for biodiversity conservation and local livelihoods.

The ESMF serves as the primary management tool for identifying, assessing, and managing potential adverse social and environmental impacts associated with project activities, ensuring full compliance with UNDP's Social and Environmental Standards (SES). It establishes the overarching principles, rules, guidelines, and procedures that will govern environmental and social risk management throughout the project lifecycle. Because the project combines upstream policy and institutional support with downstream on-the-ground restoration and demonstration activities, the ESMF applies to both direct risks arising from physical interventions and indirect or downstream risks associated with the uptake of project-supported outputs (including planning tools, advisory recommendations, and financing mechanisms) into binding government or private-sector decisions.