The objective of the workshop was to review the current state of knowledge on the environmental impacts of structural adjustment programmes (SAPS), with the objective of indicating specific practical improvements in the design and implementation of ongoing economic reform activities, and identifying priorities for future work to enhance their effectiveness. The main messages of the workshop for (a) international financial institutions is to incorporate social and environmental objectives in the design of SAPS explicitly; (b) governments implementing SAPS to enforce and implement economic, social and environmental measures fully and effectively; (c) donors to coordinate policies and aid programmes and make them consistent with the economic, social and environmental objectives of the country; (d) NGOs and other stakeholders work closely with governments to take into account environmental social and cultural considerations and, finally, (e) academicians and researchers to adopt methodologies to help design better SAPS and ensure convincing evaluations.