Danish Environmental Assistance and Environmental Conventions
3. Partner countries 3.1. Danish environmental assistance under the auspices of the ministryDanish environmental assistance under the auspices of the Danish Ministry of Environment and Energy was launched with the Danish parliament’s adoption of the law on support to Eastern Europe in 1991, which was incorporated in 1993 into Danish foreign policy as a strategic element on the background of the memorandum "Denmark’s International Initiatives"]. The specific economic framework for financing environmental assistance was based on the Danish parliament’s decision in 1992, linked to Danish follow-up on the UN Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro the same year. Environmental assistance was expanded to include a series of developing countries and the Arctic Region. The economic facility that now covers environmental assistance is called the Environment, Peace and Stability Facility (EPSF). Its size is fixed annually in the Budget. The goal is for the total Facility to increase gradually until 2005, when it will constitute 0.5% of Danish GNP. The funds are to be divided equally between environmental measures and peace and stability measures. Environmental assistance will be about half of the appropriation, or about 3 billion Danish kroner a year in 1999 prices.
Danish environmental assistance is provided on the basis of guidelines and priorities spelled out in strategies for environmental assistance to developing countries (countries in Southeast Asia and Southern Africa), assistance to Eastern and Central European countries and assistance for the Arctic environment.
The strategies attempt to link assistance to international agreements, and increasingly, higher priority is being given to support for projects that directly follow up on or directly contribute to the specific implementation of commitments related to international environmental cooperation.
A brief description of DANCED, DANCEE, DANCEA and the Sector-Integrated Environmental Measures – Energy are provided below. More details on environmental assistance programmes are available at these web sites.
 | DANCED: www.mst.dk/danced/ |
| DANCEE: www.mst.dk/dancee/ |
| DANCEA: www.mst.dk/dancea/ |
| Sector Integrated Environmental Programmes – Energy: www.ens.dk/øststøtte/ |
The strategy for environmental assistance for developing countries (1996) states:
"The activities are based on the global prioritisation which stems from the Rio Conference and were articulated in Agenda 21, the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Convention on Climate Change, the Convention to Combat Desertification and the Forest Declaration as well as other international conventions."
The table below lists countries that are entitled to support from the Danish Ministry of Environment and Energy:
DANCED partner countries |
|
Southeast Asia |
Malaysia |
Southern Africa |
Botswana |
In Southeast Asia, a range of serious environmental problems are connected to rapid urbanisation and industrialisation, including the decline of forest areas and quality, poor management of protected areas, decreasing biological diversity, lower agricultural and forest productivity and pollution from agricultural chemicals. The total forest area has thus been severely reduced in recent decades, and now covers only half what it did about 40 years ago. Systematic accounts, monitoring and data from the protected areas are typically lacking and so there is no clear picture of the status of protected areas. Unsustainable agricultural methods and the use of marginal lands for agricultural production create severe problems and also cause people to move to the big cities.
Rapid growth in industrial production, urbanisation and traffic has taken place in a relatively short period and the authorities have not sufficiently planned or implemented mitigating measures with regard to air, water and soil pollution, waste management, sewage treatment, etc. Increased economic growth is, as a rule, still linked to growth in energy production, which also contributes to pollution and increased pressure on natural resources. Large amounts of biological waste from agricultural and forest-based industry are not utilised optimally for energy production, and energy efficiency is only now being put on the political agenda.
Finally, there is only a limited tradition for or experience of public participation in connection with environmental issues, and experience of decentralisation is scarce.
Environmental problems in Southern Africa result mainly from increasing pressure on natural resources caused by a combination of widespread poverty, increasing population growth, rapid urban growth and industrialisation. These factors combined create increasing resource consumption and water, soil and air pollution.
In rural areas, where the majority of the population live, increasing pressure on natural resources causes, for example, soil erosion and degradation, excessive deforestation with desertification as a consequence, over-fishing and loss of biological diversity due to general overuse of the natural resource base and increased use of natural habitats of flora and fauna for agricultural purposes.
In urban areas, the biggest problem is the lack of planning of urbanisation and industrialisation and the problems that arise from the emission of untreated sewage and industrial pollution, lack of waste collection and uncontrolled waste deposition, lack of sewerage and poor sanitary conditions, and ineffective and strongly polluting energy use in both the domestic and industry sectors. These environmental problems not only affect the towns, but also the country and coastal areas around the towns.
Regional strategies have been prepared for DANCED’s environmental assistance to Southeast Asia and Southern Africa. In the light of the priorities of the cooperating countries and the extent of Danish expertise, the following topics have been chosen for project activities.
| Urban development and industrialisation |
| Sustainable energy |
| Agriculture |
| Water resources |
| Forest and timber resources |
| Biological diversity |
| Coastal zones |
Activities are based on the 1993 strategy for environmental measures in Eastern and Central Europe, which is being updated with the following objectives:
| That the assistance helps as far as possible to protect the environment in Central and Eastern Europe by supporting Central and Eastern European countries that have applied for membership of the EU in their efforts to implement the demands of the EU and international conventions in the area of environment and energy. |
| That the assistance helps the Commonwealth of Independent States and other countries not applying for EU membership in their approach to an enlarged EU and helps to reduce pollution that affects the health of the population, to reduce cross-border pollution that affects EU countries, to protect biodiversity and to implement international environmental conventions. |
| To support initiatives for political and economic development towards environmental sustainability, especially by supporting market-based development and democratisation, including moves to increase responsibility in the private sector and include NGOs and the general public. |
Memoranda of Understanding have been signed with 11 Central and Eastern European countries on the environment: Belarus, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia and Ukraine. Environmental assistance to Eastern Europe is administered by DANCEE under the Danish Environmental Protection Agency. Assistance to the Czech republic is being phased out and cooperation with Moldova is being established.
In partner countries outside the Baltic region, a range of energy projects are being carried out within the framework of DANCEE. The Danish Environmental Protection Agency administers these projects in cooperation with the Danish Energy Agency. Energy projects in the partner countries in the Baltic Sea Region are carried out within the framework of the Sector Integrated Environmental Programmes – Energy, described in section 3.5.
The partner countries are at quite different stages of transferring to market economies and reforming their administrative processes.
The objective for the 10 Eastern European countries seeking membership of the EU is the implementation of the EU Environmental Directives, which is the most important and expensive aspect of EU accession. The demand regarding implementing and meeting EU environmental standards places a heavy economic and administrative burden on these countries. As well as needing considerable investments in environmental infrastructure projects - especially in the areas of water, waste and air - these countries badly need to reform their legislation and administration in the environmental sector to adapt to EU demands.
The Newly Independent States are still struggling with economic reconstruction and to a large degree, their lack of resources has had a negative influence on the environmental infrastructure and environmental administration. Individual countries are making progress in the democratisation process, but they are generally losing considerable ground in solving health and environment related problems.
Danish environmental assistance is provided in the following priority areas: Water and air quality, waste treatment, chemicals, and nature protection, including biodiversity and sustainable forestry. Likewise, cross-sectoral initiatives are being supported to help strengthen the institutions and technical expertise in the countries, promote public participation in the decision-making process and strengthen the accountability of the private sector, encouraging companies to take their share of the burden in the environmental sector. Implementing international agreements and conventions is part of the aggregate support for environmental projects in Eastern and Central Europe in most of the action areas.
The country programmes for the individual countries spell out the specific priorities for initiatives. The criteria for granting project support are presented in the DANCEE "Project Cycle Management Manual", 1999.
3.4 Environmental assistance to the Arctic region - DANCEAThe memorandum on "Denmark’s International Initiatives" from 1993 prompted the government to adopt the "Regional Strategy regarding measures for the protection of the Arctic environment" in February 1994.
In harmony with Parliament’s recommendation to the Government to strengthen EPSF initiatives
in the Arctic, especially Greenland, resources have been set aside in the Budget since 1994, the so-called MIKA-Arctic facility, now called DANCEA. Resources for activities in the Arctic region are administered by the Danish Ministry of Environment and Energy.
The overall objective is to ensure environmentally sustainable development of natural resources and nature protection, and prevent and limit pollution of the Arctic environment.
Even though parts of the Arctic environment are relatively pristine, recent investigations have documented that the health of certain population groups in the Arctic, including Greenland, is threatened as a result of transboundary pollution caused by heavy metals, persistent organic pollutants and radioactive substances. In connection with global environmental problems, there is still a lack of sufficient knowledge of the effect of climate change and the breakdown of the ozone layer in the Arctic.
Greenland faces specific environmental problems in connection with waste (hot spots), energy supply to and consumption in the housing sector, commercial activities such as tourism, resource exploration and preserving the historical heritage.
Russia covers a very large part of the Arctic region and several places have huge environmental problems as a consequence of the irresponsible exploitation of mineral and fossil resources. Destruction of the indigenous peoples’ traditional hunting and trapping areas is increasing, while unemployment is rising. The economic crisis in Russia has hit the indigenous people particularly hard and the mean life expectancy is 20 years lower than for the rest of the Russian population.
The Arctic part of EPSF - DANCEA, includes a series of activities and programmes directed towards the Arctic areas and their inhabitants:
| The Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP) |
| The Arctic Environment Programme - knowledge building (AMP-V) |
| The Arctic Environment Programme - specific measures (AMP-K) |
| Sector Programme for the Environment and the appropriate energy-based renovation of the housing sector in Greenland and Energy supply activity |
| Support for the indigenous people of the Arctic |
From the beginning, some of the environmental assistance for the Arctic has been earmarked for the national implementation of the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme, that:
| Monitors the extent of transboundary pollution from industrialised countries |
| Investigates and assesses the effects of climate changes and increased UV radiation in the Arctic |
The results from AMAP form the basis for advising governments in the Arctic countries which measures are necessary to improve the state of the Arctic environment.
AMAP has launched activities to make the environmental problems of the Arctic visible and prepare "fact sheets" on the status of pollution in the Arctic. These fact sheets contain an overview of the Ministerial decisions and decisions of the Arctic Council and factual information on the state of pollution in the Arctic that can be used as documentation for negotiations at international conventions, etc.
AMP-V supports projects that contribute documentation and new knowledge of significance for the solution of environmental problems in the Arctic community, especially Greenland. The projects should thereby contribute to environmentally sustainable development in the Arctic.
AMP-K provides subsidies for projects in Greenland that aim to preserve the local environment, promote environmental consciousness and initiatives and ensure sustainable development of business and society. The work focuses on providing safe drinking water, modern waste management systems, energy-saving measures and energy production.
Furthermore, projects of relevance to the Arctic can be supported in the Faeroe Islands, demonstration projects in the rest of the Arctic region, including specifically areas in the Arctic part of Russia.
The following activities can be supported:
| Environmental investments and technical assistance, and capacity development, including the transfer of knowledge in the form of strengthening the environmental administration |
| Education and training, research and development activities, information activities, awareness raising, communication, etc. |
| Establishment of environmental funds where the capital is put at the disposal of local authorities and groups of the population for specific initiatives in the local community |
The sector programme for environment and appropriate energy-based renovation of the housing sector was established in the light of an agreement with the Greenland Home Rule Government and the government for the support of an extraordinary measure of renovation. The programme is expected to run through 2000-2003.
The Danish Environmental Protection Agency and the Danish Energy Agency approve an annual draft programme that is worked out and implemented by the Greenland Home Rule Government.
Support for the indigenous people in the Arctic part of Russia and their NGOs is made to encourage sustainable development, environmental protection and nature conservation. This work has so far consisted of economic support for the RAIPON secretariat, which is an umbrella organisation for the indigenous people in the Arctic part of Russia, as well as training in project development. A programme for continuing the activities is being prepared.
Finally, DANCEA supports the operation of the Indigenous Peoples’ Secretariat (IPS), which supports the participation of indigenous people in the Arctic in the environmental cooperation of the Arctic Council.
DANCEA is administered by the Division for Northern Cooperation and Environmental Export at the Danish Environmental Protection Agency in cooperation with, for example, the Danish Forest and Nature Agency and the Danish Energy Agency. The Danish Polar Centre helps provide DANCEA with secretarial services on a day-to-day basis.
3.5 Environmental assistance in the energy sector for the new democracies in the Baltic Sea Region - the Sector Integrated Environmental Programmes - Energy
Since 1994, within the framework of Danish environmental assistance, the Danish Energy Agency has administered a series of energy sector programmes in Eastern and Central Europe. Since 1998, the measures have been provided in the framework of the sector-integrated environmental work, with an overall objective that stems from the Action Plan - Baltic Agenda 21 (www.ee.baltic21). This regional action plan aims to promote environmentally sustainable development based on market-led principles in the Baltic Region.
In geographical terms, the Sector Integrated Environmental Programmes - Energy are directed towards the new democracies of the Baltic Sea Region, i.e. Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Russia (the regions of St. Petersburg and Kaliningrad). Cooperation agreements concerning energy programmes have been entered into with all these countries.
Energy-sector programmes are to help promote the environmentally sustainable development of the energy sectors of the partner countries. The countries can then meet the requirements of international environment and energy agreements while achieving economic growth without increasing energy consumption and causing negative environmental consequences. Another objective is to support EU applicant countries with the implementation of EU environment and energy demands.
The energy-sector programmes focus on the following four major areas of activity:
| Energy efficiency (at supply and consumption levels) |
| Energy savings |
| Cleaner fuels, including renewable energy |
| Institutional and capacity development |
In recent years especially, Danish environmental assistance in the energy sector has supported projects on district heating and combined heat and power, energy savings for end-users, institutional and capacity building, cleaner fuels and energy planning.
Country programmes with the partner countries, which are renewed annually, spell out the details of priorities for activities. The criteria for granting project support can be found in the project manual for the Energy Sector Programme. (Sector Integrated Environmental Programmes - Energy. Project Cycle Manual, September 2000).