Mainstreaming the Environment Across DFID’s Work John Warburton Senior Environment Adviser, DFID China j-warburton@dfid.gov.uk

Contents What is environmental mainstreaming? DFID’s approach, particularly in regards to: Public sector governance Assets for the poor Quality of economic growth Environmental opportunities in other sectors How is this captured in our screening procedures? Sustainability appraisal in action in Yunnan (YEDP presentation)

Defining Environmental Mainstreaming Integrating environmental sustainability (wherever appropriate) into development policy, planning and programmes for long term poverty eradication.

Is this important from the perspective of poor people? Livelihoods poor people tend to be most dependent upon the environment and the direct use of natural resources Health poor people suffer most when water, land, and the air are polluted. Environmental risk factors are a major source of health problems Vulnerability the poor are often exposed to environmental hazards and environment-related conflict and are least capable of coping when they occur

Policy and Institutional Options Key principles for DFID’s approach Poor people as part of the solution rather than part of the problem Environmental quality of growth is important Environmental management cannot be separated from other development issues Themes identified - Improve Governance Enhance assets of the poor Improve the quality of growth Identify environmental linkages in all sectors Use environmental screening as an opportunity to “look for good”, not simply to “do no harm”

Governance E.g. Integrate Poverty-Environment into Development frameworks, and develop incentives for environment to be seen as a cross-departmental issue Poor People’s control of assets E.g. Strengthen resource rights of the poor and enhance capacity to manage assets Quality of Growth E.g. Understand environmental drivers of growth…and drivers of degradation, and address environmental market failures

Environmental opportunities with other sectoral programmes Health, e.g. environmental health; Education, e.g. environmental education promoted in curricula; Trade, privatisation, financial services, e.g. build capacity for environmental due diligence; Rural development, e.g. promote sustainable use of resources; improve spatial planning Infrastructure provision, e.g. “climate proofing”, capacity building in EIA

DFID’s environmental screening procedures… …attempt to capture this approach It is mandatory to screen all DFID interventions over £1 million for environmental issues Screening should still be undertaken for projects below £1 million where there are potential environmental impacts

DFID’s Environment Guide DFID’s Environment Guide provides advice on: The importance of the environment to the poor Step-by-step guide to completing a screening note Checklists, arranged by development theme, of opportunities and risks Advice on screening across sectors Sources of further information

The Guide Online

Environment Guide online www. dfid. gov Environment Guide online www.dfid.gov.uk/pubs/files/environment-guide-2003.pdf In case of problems with HTML version

Web Version Easy to navigate Examples Checklists Step-by-step guide Further sources of information

Making it real Sustainability appraisal in Yunnan Province – putting the themes just outlined into practice….