Transcript MEAs

MAINSTREAMING MULTILATERAL
ENVIRONMENTAL AGREEMENTS IN
AFRICA
AFRICAN PARLIAMENTARIAN COLLOQUIUM ON
MULTILATERAL ENVIRONMENTAL AGREEMENTS (MEAs)
Theme: “MEAs in National and Regional Development”
Kampala, 6-9 June 2012
Presentation Coverage
 Defining mainstreaming and its relevance to MEAs
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implementation
Rationale for Mainstreaming
The role of MEAs in sustainable development
The role of Parliamentarians in MEAs implementation
Approaches to MEAs mainstreaming
Challenges in mainstreaming MEAs
Some examples and initiatives in Africa
Mainstreaming Outcomes
Conclusions
Defining environmental mainstreaming
 Environmental mainstreaming has been defined as the
informed inclusion of environmental considerations into the
decisions of institutions that drive national, local and sectoral
development policy, rules, plans, investment and action.
 The need for environmental mainstreaming in development
policy has been motivated by the realization that:
 The economy and society especially in Africa are intimately
dependent upon the health of the environment;
 A large proportion of the wealth of developing countries and
poor people consists of environmental assets;
Benefits of environmental mainstreaming
 Poor environmental management threatens development and
complicates poverty reduction efforts;
 Mainstreaming therefore promises to not only minimise risks and
problems in the development process; it should also assist in
highlighting environmental potentials to enhance sustainable
development;
 Mainstreaming has the potential to facilitate incorporation of local
beliefs, norms and values into national development policy;
 Hence it has to be done both at national (such as planning and
finance ministries), local (where daily decisions are made) and
sectoral levels (government departments, business and other
stakeholders organizations).
Benefits of mainstreaming
 Integrated policy interventions that avoid development vs
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environment arguments;
More efficient planning of environmental assets and
environmental hazard management;
Support technological innovation that is inspired and
informed by nature;
Informed debates on policy formulation on big issues
Improve productivity, resilience and adaptability of social and
economic systems
MEAs and the Environment
 Multilateral environmental agreements refer to a number of legally binding
international instruments which states use to achieve specific environmental
goals. MEAs are therefore primarily environmental instruments.
 According to UNEP there are over 500 conventions related to environment;
over 320 of these are regional and a majority have been adopted after the 1972
Stockholm Conference on Environment and Development;
 It is possible to categorize MEAs into three groups: core environmental
conventions; global conventions relevant to the environment, including regional
ones; and others restricted by scope and geography;
 We are here more concerned with core environmental conventions, though
regional environmental conventions applicable to Africa are a key part of this
discussion.
MEAs and the Environment
 In terms of subject matter MEAs may be divided into the
following categories:
 Biodiversity related conventions such as the CBD and its
protocols, and the ITPGRFA,
 The atmosphere conventions such as the UNFCCC, the Ozone
Convention and the Protocols thereunder,
 The land conventions such as the UNCCD,
 The chemicals and hazardous wastes conventions such as the Basle,
Bamako, Stockholm conventions; and the POPs
 Regional seas conventions covering the Mediterranean, Kuwait,
West and Central Africa, East Africa
MEAs Objectives and Priorities
 The three Rio Conventions (UNFCCC, CBD and the UNCCD)
are widely considered core sustainable development MEAs;
 The rest generally address sustainable utilization of natural
resources and the environment or the protection of the
environment to ensure its sustainability
 MEAs provide a number of advantages for parties that are
important for national development.
 These include strengthening capacity of parties to meet their
obligations through technical and financial support; strengthening
scientific basis for decision making; and strengthening
international cooperation.
MEAs Benefits/Advantages
 Protecting public health
 Improving governance
 International comity and respect, and solidarity
 Financial and technical assistance
 Facilitating long term economic benefits: sustainable development
 Facilitating trade
 Facilitating changes in domestic environmental law by elevating
the importance of an issue
Approaches to MEAs mainstreaming
 Greater participation and interaction between
environment and development stakeholders. Agenda 21
has provided significant impetus to public and
community mobilization
 Integrated environment-development policy and
associated political will/leadership
 Inclusion of environment-development linkages in
national and sector plans: the NAPAs, NEAPs, NBSPs
and NSSDs have drawn considerably from MEAs
processes to inform national actions
Approaches to MEAs mainstreaming
 Inclusion of environment-development linkages in
budgets and fiscal instruments,
 Improved domestic and foreign resource mobilization for
environmental investments
 Sustained behavioral change by individuals, institutions
and society in both private and public domain
 Production, consumption and waste management in
sectors and localities are informed by environmental
considerations
General principles of environmental
mainstreaming
 Leadership, focusing on mobilization of political will, engaging with
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champions
Integration, strengthening the development-environment interface
Focusing on key sectors, especially the economic sectors
Strengthening dialogue and ownership
Subsidiarity – making sure decisions are made at the lowest level where
change is expected
Utilize upstream processes, existing analytical/planning processes
Transparency and accountability, information on issues, decisions made
and reasons
Environmental sustainability: the process should take into account major
environmental processes, potentials, stresses and limits
Steps in mainstreaming
 Review the political economy and governance framework
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affecting development and environment
Convene a multi-stakeholders group to steer the
mainstreaming process
Identify links between environment and development
Propose desirable environment and development outcomes
Map institutional roles and responsibilities for each of the
links and desirable outcomes
Identify entry points for environmental manistreaming in
decision making process
Overcoming sectoral barriers
 A key challenge for mainstreaming is how to create
incentives for non environment groups/stakeholders to
respond positively
 This may require use of language that is not too environment
specific and aligning positive arguments to those groups own
goals and aspirations.
 The following may be used to incentivize various
stakeholders:
Steps in mainstreaming
 Conduct expenditure review and make business case for
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environmental mainstreaming
Establish or use existing forum for debates and consensus building
Reflect agreed changes in key mainstream policy, plan and budget
documentation
Promote key investments in environment-development links
Develop integrated institutional systems and associated capacities
Establish key indicators and criteria and accountability
mechanisms to facilitate monitoring and continuous improvement
Challenges to MEAs mainstreaming
 The prevailing development paradigm which treats
environment as an institutional and economic ‘externality’.
 Lack of data, information, skills and institutional capacity to
address environment-development linkage
 Inadequate precedent in environmental mainstreaming to
guide policy development
 Limited political will to go the extra mile in the development
pathway
Overcoming sector barriers
 Developing a green low carbon
 Improving country resilience
 Securing environmental foundations for development
 Improving cross sector environmental benefits and reducing costs
 Focusing on a hybrid outcome, not a one way environment into
development outcome
 Reversing the downward spiral of environment and poverty
 Integrating poor people’s environmental needs; and
 Policies for better environmental governance
Drivers of environmental mainstreaming
 Increasing stakeholders awareness and demands
 National policies and legislation
 Values of progressive organizations
 Donor conditions and initiatives
 International commitments
 Major environmental events, such as disasters
Some mainstreaming examples in Africa
 Promoting effective environmental mainstreaming through
national learning groups in Tanzania and Zambia
 Effective mainstreaming using strategic environmental
assessment: greening poverty reduction strategies in Benin
 Effective mainstreaming at municipal level: Open space
planning; and integrated metropolitan environmental policy:
Durban, and Cape Town South Africa respectively
 Promoting mainstreaming through overarching policy
instruments in Malawi: Environment, natural resources and
climate change made policy priorities in the Malawi Growth
and Development Strategy – Malawi’s PRSP equivalent
Environmental mainstreaming outcomes
 Government departments, sector departments and aid
agencies assume environmental responsibilities and routinely
address environmental issues, by factoring them into their
decisions
 Environmental departments/agencies focus on coordination,
advisory and monitoring functions
 There are a number of specific outcomes to be promoted;
they include:
Mainstreaming outcomes
 Participation and democratic process outcomes,
expanding space for stakeholder participation and
understanding of the importance of environment to the
development process: incorporating MEAs such as Principle
10 of Agenda 21 and related
 Policy and political outcomes specifying macroeconomic, fiscal, social and development policy,
constitutions, and statements of national visions incorporate
environmental considerations: incorporating MDGs and
MEAs such as UNFCCC, CBD
Mainstreaming outcomes
 Planning outcomes: including environment development
linkages in national development and poverty reduction
strategies; sector and implementation strategies: taking into
account MEAs such as UNFCCC (NAPAs), CBD (NBSAPs);
NEAPs and NSSD from UNCED
 Budget outcomes: environment and development linkages
reflected in national and sector budgets; and fiscal
instruments informed by environment-development linkages:
incorporating UNFCCC (carbon taxation), Vienna
Convention on the Ozone Layer (phase out ozone depleting
substances)
Mainstreaming outcomes
 Institutional and capacity outcomes:
 Skills, mandates and resources available for mainstreaming
 Finance, planning and environment departments have capacity to
integrate environment-development linkages in budget decision
making
 Systemic links between institutions to facilitate flow of
information and ideas
 Environment-development criteria are recognized as cross cutting
norms for planning and monitoring purposes
 Agenda 21, UNFCCC,
Investment Outcomes
 Investment outcomes including improved domestic and international
resource mobilization for environment-development investment; and a
coherent set of incentives and disincentives to facilitate behavioural change:
Agenda 21, CBD
 Behavioural outcomes: environment is considered a normal, accepted and
expected part of doing business on part of individuals, institutions and society
both in private and public sectors; processes of production, consumption and
waste management are informed by environmental considerations; and the
media and public interest bodies regularly address environmental issues;
Agenda 21, Basle, Bamako and Stockholm Conventions; Montreal Protocol on
Ozone Layer etc; and
 Overall developmental outcomes: improved productivity and
sustainability of use of environmental assets; better management of
environmental hazards; better access to environmental and natural resources:
UNFCCC, CBD and its Nagoya and Cartagena protocols