Danish Environmental Assistance and Environmental Conventions
2. Prioritised action areas
| 2.1 | Opportunities for better coherence between international agreements and environmental assistance |
| 2.2 | Environmental problems, environmental conventions and environmental assistance |
The objective for both Danish environmental assistance and international agreements on the environment is to obtain a better protection of global nature and the environment. Many of the countries Denmark provides with environmental assistance have signed the same international agreements as Denmark, but lack the economic and administrative resources to live up to the obligations they bring. In the final analysis, this can weaken the agreements and have a negative effect on nature and the environment.
Through environmental assistance, Denmark can help create the basis for environment authorities in partner countries to access and then implement the agreements. Projects launched in the partner countries range from strategic measures (e.g. national action plans) through capacity development and methodology (education, data collection) to a tangible level (nomination of protected areas, management plans for natural areas, demonstration of energy savings, public participation, information and communication, etc). Moreover, projects that do not directly meet the obligations of the international conventions are required to harmonise with international commitments and recommendations.
Obviously, a need must be identified in the partner country before a certain initiative can be supported through resources from Danish environmental assistance. At an overall level, this identification takes place when programmes for environmental assistance for the respective countries are developed. More precise discussions on the nature and dimension of the need for assistance typically take place during annual negotiations between the counterparts in the countries concerned and representatives from the Danish Ministry of Environment and Energy. However, project proposals could also come from other international donors and project administrators from ministries taking part in international negotiations that are also attended by representatives from the countries concerned. However, the partner countries themselves ultimately finalise the definition of the need.
When a need for assistance has been identified, the next step is to clarify whether there are resources to provide the assistance and whether there is sufficient Danish knowledge and experience in the area to make the development of a Danish-financed project realistic. The source of the knowledge must be identified (private consultancies, NGOs, research institutions, the administrative agencies under the Danish Ministry for Environment and Energy, local authorities and others).
Specific assistance is often provided by Denmark so that a partner country can ratify a certain agreement, for example through assistance for the necessary management plans, for strengthening the administrative resources needed or phasing out specific substances. Thus, synergy can be established between Danish environmental assistance and Danish efforts on a global level to obtain environmental cooperation that is useful to both sectors.
In our experience, the Danish focus on international conventions and agreements encourages the participating authorities and organisations in the partner countries to pay closer attention to international commitments, including the desire for active participation in the relevant international fora, if this not already the case.
Environmental assistance can also help to build up credible cooperation between Denmark on one hand and developing and Eastern and Central European countries on the other - credibility that, in the long run, can encourage the forging of new alliances for future negotiations.
And last but not least, Denmark fulfils a series of commitments made by the industrialised countries to transfer additional resources to developing countries and countries with economies in transition in Eastern and Central Europe. We add to our credibility and the weight of our opinions by showing in practice that we live up to the aims of environmental assistance stated at the UN Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992.
2.2 Environmental problems, environmental conventions and environmental assistanceGlobal environmental issues cover a wide range of problems that are prioritised differently by different countries. Global acknowledgement of the extent of some of the problems caused the adoption of environmental conventions. In this strategy, the Danish Ministry of Environment and Energy has chosen the following conventions that will be described further in Chapter 5.
The Convention on Climate Change. Global climate change ranks high on the international agenda. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has claimed that the emission of CO2 and other greenhouse gases can lead to global warming within the foreseeable future. But there is uncertainty about the extent to which the global warming will take place. Global warming can have negative impacts on the economic, environmental and social development.
The Kyoto Protocol. Through the Kyoto Protocol under the Convention on Climate Change, the industrialised countries have committed themselves to reducing their emissions of greenhouse gases. Negotiations are being conducted to investigate the scope for industrial countries and private enterprises to invest in measures that will reduce CO2 emissions in developing countries. Developing countries and countries with economies in transition with considerable economic growth will contribute more and more to the emission of greenhouse gases. The promotion of especially sustainable (including renewable) energy in these countries can contribute to the stabilisation of greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere.
The Convention on Biological Diversity. Global biodiversity is under pressure due to population growth and the irresponsible exploitation of natural resources. The opening up of new areas e.g. where wetlands and forest areas are cleared for cultivation or for plantations, often increases pressure on biological diversity. Reduction of biological diversity can reduce the welfare of future generations by reducing access to new and improved crops and medicine. The reduction in the wealth of species is a problem in itself, as it threatens stability and the continued existence of often vulnerable ecosystems. The UN Convention on Biodiversity aims to protect biological diversity (genetic diversity, diversity of species and habitats) and sustainable exploitation of these areas. The protocol on biosafety of the Convention (the Cartagena Protocol) regulates the safe transfer and use of living modified organisms (LMOs).
The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands and the CITES Convention. The challenge lies in helping developing countries to form policies and concrete measures to promote the sustainable exploitation of natural resources. Measures for protecting natural resources can include a broad range of activities, such as protecting wetlands (the Ramsar Convention) and measures against the trade in endangered plant and animal species (the CITES Convention).
The Basel Convention. Hazardous wastes are a growing problem, as every year more than 400 million tonnes of hazardous waste are produced globally, which must be transported and disposed of. Through the adoption of the Basel Convention, regulating transboundary movement of hazardous wastes, an important step has been taken towards safer handling of hazardous wastes. Finally, the recently imposed ban on the export of hazardous wastes from OECD countries to non-OECD countries has had a considerable significance for a number of developing countries that have traditionally received hazardous wastes from industrialised countries. The challenge is to ensure that more partner countries fulfil the goals of the Basel Convention, thereby ensuring responsible management of hazardous wastes globally.
The POP and PIC Conventions. In recent years, environmental problems linked to using chemicals have come more into focus internationally. In particular, persistent organic pollutants (POPs), including DDT, are considered to be serious threats, as they are largely non-biodegradable. When these substances accumulate in the food chain, they pose an increasing threat to the maintenance of important ecosystems, biodiversity and the water resources of the planet. Most industrialised countries have banned the use of the worst POPs and now focus more on how developing countries and their industries can be persuaded to stop using and producing these chemicals.
UNEP has taken the initiative for negotiating an international convention on these chemicals - including phasing out 12 POPs in developing countries. The issue of the use or elimination of the use of these chemicals is complicated by the fact that developing countries often lack practical alternatives. The Danish Ministry for Environment and Energy has participated actively in the negotiations leading to the forthcoming POP Convention and supports measures to phase out POPs in developing countries. The Rotterdam Convention (PIC Convention) demands prior informed consent in the trade in certain hazardous chemicals, promoting joint responsibility between exporting and importing countries.
The Aarhus Convention. The Convention on Public Access to Environmental Information, the so - called Aarhus Convention, spells out a series of certain minimum citizens’ rights with regard to access to information on the environment, access to participation in environmental decisions through hearings and the like, and access to judicial reviews of decisions made in the environmental sector. The Convention will in many signatory countries, eastern and western, mean greatly expanding access so that common citizens and grassroots movements can influence specific environmental decision processes. In many Eastern European and developing countries, there is very poor public participation in environmental decision-making and there is a great need to work on a broad front in this area.
It makes good sense to focus efforts on a number of prioritised conventions to increase effectiveness and power of penetration. In the future, there should be a focus on the following high-priority areas:
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The Montreal Protocol has not been included in this list because there have been positive experiences over many years of implementing both bilateral (through DANCEE) and multilateral (e.g. through GEF) projects for phasing out ozone-depleting substances. This protocol is still important, but current Danish measures do not need to be prioritised higher.
In early 2000, the Danish Forest and Nature Agency prepared a "Strategy for coherence between international agreements and environmental assistance in the green sector", which covers possible environmental assistance measures in a broader range of forest and nature-related areas than in this publication. This strategy, which can be obtained from the Danish Forest and Nature Agency or downloaded from www.sns.dk, details the possibilities of planning and launching environmental assistance projects in the green sector, including assistance for the EU accession process in Eastern and Central Europe.