MODULE 9: LINKING INTEGRATED ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT TO POLICY

Introduction This module shows you how to link SOE reporting to policy formulation, the major objective of IEA. The module discusses: The various types of policy Interlinkages which should be observed and conflicts which should be avoided in policy Environmental policy analysis

The place of policy formulation in IEA Within the overall sequence of questions/steps, policy formulation comes after knowing the state of the environment (i.e. what is happening). We ask the following questions (see next slide): How are current policies affecting the state of the environment (under Question 1)? Do the current policies contribute to what is happening? What policies are in place that are intended to deal with the current environmental issues and how effective are they (under Question 3)? What alternative actions could be taken (under Question 5)?

Showing the place of current policy analysis in IEA

Environmental policy as rules to use the physical environment Environmental policies stand as rules governing the interaction between human beliefs, values and ideas, and the physical environment They provide guidelines on how to use the physical environment within the values of a social group. May be used to direct a community to use the physical environment wisely within rules that will promote sustainable development. Often, the progression is from rules that discourage bad practices to those that seek compliance with good practices.

Showing the place of environmental policies  

Types of policies Policies may be categorized according to the way they are formed: Routine policies: formulated through routine, deliberate and slow progression of the normal steps. Urgent reactive policies: formulated outside the normal process, commonly to solve a crisis or emergencies (e.g. flood, drought). Grey zone policies: not backed by documentation but used as if they do. May evolve to routine policies over time. All policies, however formed, should be subjected to assessment to judge how they impact on the environment

Nested Policies Policies addressing the same issue may be nested with narrowly focussed policies linked to a series of broader policies. The nesting may be within a country or from a global to a local level. Global level – general agreement of what the rules should be may be included in a convention. Gaps of countries which may not sign may be expected. Regional level – interests are likely to be more similar, but still gaps may be expected. National – policy has different enforcement rules and all are expected to abide by the policy Sub-national/local – very detailed regulations and enforcement

An example of nested policies: from global to local

Uncoordinated policies may conflict The environment is ONE and all policies on it are interlinked. Coordination among policies is essential. But this may be difficult to sustain for many reasons: Governments may have competing responsibilities which may conflict with promoting a sustainable environment within the limitations of their resources (e.g. job creation, food production, etc.). Hangover from the past when environmental policies may not have been directed at sustainable development Opportunists may hijack or misdirect some good environmental policies where institutions of law enforcement are weak or uninformed

Botswana’s conflicting environmental policies in the 1970’s and 1980’s    

Environmental policy analysis Consists of evaluating current set of policies for a particular issue with the intention of improving its effectiveness. Part of a cyclical and continuous process by which policy may be improved: Evaluate what policies currently exist Identify where such policies fall short of what is required in promoting sustainable development Determine what adjustments are required on existing policies and what new policies are needed to make the set of policies under analysis more effective

Step 1 – Identify and list current environmental policies and legislation Broadly Identify policies relevant to the issue of interest Decide on a consistent criteria for selecting policies to include in a current environmental policy analysis, e.g. relevance to the public and decision-makers. Criteria will depend on individual circumstances. Consider in your criteria some international obligations relevant to the issue of analysis Select a manageable number of the available policies to be included in the analysis in a holistic manner by determining which of the policies have the potential to have a direct impact on the issues of concern.

Step 2 – Identify performance criteria for the selected key policies A policy should have an in-built performance criteria at its formulation, but sometimes this is not the case Criteria developed may be general and descriptive or specific and quantitative. Some examples: Threshold: a value may be identified beyond which an environmental system may be self-sustaining Benchmark: evaluation of the performance of an environmental system may be based on relative performance when compared to known best cases under similar circumstances

Step 3 – Evaluate selected policies Ideally, expectations should be outlined at policy formulation in which case: Expectations will be used to judge system performance for outcomes (next slide) Analysis may be made to evaluate whether original expectations were realistic or if either expectations or the system need to be adjusted Where expectations were not outlined originally, policy performance is carried out on key variables selected in Step 1 using criteria determined in Step 2

Comparing expected performance with actual performance of an environmental system