Services

MSP provides environmental and social due diligence for international lenders evaluating large-scale projects in extractive industries, energy, agriculture, and infrastructure.

Gary MacDonald has led assessments for IFC, EBRD, Equator Principles banks, Development Finance Institutions and export credit agencies — reviewing project conformance with International Performance Standards and good international industry practice. His assessments cover the full scope of social risk: stakeholder engagement, resettlement, Indigenous peoples, labour, cultural heritage, community health and safety, and security.

What distinguishes MSP's due diligence work is the practitioner's perspective. Gary doesn't just identify gaps — he understands what it takes to close them, because he has built the teams and systems that do it.

Representative work includes:

• Social due diligence for a mega-scale extractive and refinery project in Madagascar during political upheaval
• Environmental and social due diligence for a cross-border mining project spanning Chile and Argentina
• Agricultural plantation due diligence across Ivory Coast, Uganda, Vietnam, and Indonesia for international financial institution clients
• Internal compliance reviews against IFC guidelines for Newmont Mining across four countries

Gary builds social performance teams for major projects — from initial recruitment through training, systems implementation, and operational independence.

This is not advisory from a distance. He has personally created and implemented external affairs teams for four projects exceeding US$2 billion each, developing comprehensive social management systems covering stakeholder engagement, grievance management, government relations, livelihoods, EPC liaison, security and community health.

The approach covers everything a project team needs to manage social risk on the ground: policy frameworks, management plans, staffing structures, local hiring strategies, community development programs, and the day-to-day systems that keep social performance running.

Representative work includes:

• Built a 60-person Indonesian external affairs team for the Batu Hijau copper-gold mine — transforming the project from crisis state to community-defended stability
• Created the policy framework and external affairs team for a multi-billion-dollar JV copper project in Panama
• Implemented IFC PS-compliant social management systems across 7 sites in Guinea and Liberia

Some situations require experience that can't be learned from a textbook. Gary provides crisis management planning and strategic response for organizations and projects operating in conflict-affected, post-disaster, or politically volatile environments.

He has managed community engagement and recovery after environmental disasters, directed crisis response in active conflict zones, and advised on security and human rights for some of the world's largest extractive operations. Much of this work is confidential — which is itself a signal of the trust clients place in him.

The work spans crisis planning, real-time response, community recovery, and post-crisis strategy — always grounded in practical field experience and institutional standards.

MSP designs and implements the management systems that keep social performance running day to day — aligned with International Performance Standards and tailored to the organization and project's specific risk profile.

This includes stakeholder engagement frameworks, grievance mechanisms, resettlement and economic displacement planning, community health and safety programs, local hiring and procurement strategies, and the monitoring and reporting systems that demonstrate compliance to lenders and regulators.

Gary has implemented these systems across multiple sectors and geographies, including for projects in active construction where timelines are tight and the margin for error is small.

Representative work includes:

• QA/QC advisory for a US$9 billion oil refinery and petrochemical complex in Vietnam
• Social management systems across 7 sites in two West African countries, including social baseline studies, training, and scholarship programs
• Gap analysis and compliance programs for ILO 169 and revised IFC Performance Standards in Guatemala

Gary delivers training programs that raise the practical capability of teams to meet international social performance standards — whether those teams work for project organizations, financial institutions, or the consultants who advise them.

Gary MacDonald has directed capacity-building programs for both the IFC and the EBRD, designed corporate training on IFC Performance Standards for financial institutions and industry associations, and presented annually at the OECD ECA Practitioners workshop over two decades.

This isn't generic training. Each program is built around the specific standards, contexts, and challenges the participants face — and delivered by someone who has applied these standards in the field, not just studied them.

Representative work includes:

• Directed an 18-month program of nine workshops across EBRD countries of operation, training the Bank's local and regional consultants
• Created and directed a program enabling IFC regional coordinators to interpret Performance Standards in conflict-affected and fragile states
• Corporate training on IFC PS for financial institutions, industry associations, the OECD, and resource companies