Analysis for ENPI countries of Social and Economic Benefits of Enhanced Environmental Protection EuropeAid DCI-ENV/2009/ Wim Van Breusegem Team Leader Arcadis +32(0)

This presentation: introduction to the project Project Team Project activities Geographical scope Project objectives Justification of the project ? Target audience: who should benefit from the results ? Project results Dissemination of project results Technical scope What are benefits ? Final Project Event:: ENPI-East, Chisinau2

Consortium & Team Consortium: –ARCADIS Belgium N.V (leader) –Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP), –Ecologic Institute, –Environmental Resources Management –Metroeconomica Team: EU experts (methodology development, benefit assessments, reporting) National Experts: 1 in each country, to support the EU experts Final Project Event:: ENPI-East, Chisinau3

The main project activity Assessment of the economic, social, health, environmental benefits to society, i.e. the identification, and where practical, quantification and monetisation of the benefits arising from environmental improvements. that can result from taking action (policy, legislation, investments) to protect and to improve the quality of the environment, and, where possible and appropriate, estimate their economic value – hence making benefits comparable and understandable to a wide audience Final Project Event:: ENPI-East, Chisinau4

Different types of benefits Environmental Economic Health Social Final Project Event:: ENPI-East, Chisinau5

Environmental benefits = the positive impacts on the natural environment of meeting environmental targets. Example: if the target of secondary treatment of all urban waste water would be reached, this would result in environmental benefits, such as: –improved surface water quality –avoidance of eutrophication, that can lead to biodiversity loss Final Project Event:: ENPI-East, Chisinau6

Economic benefits benefits from natural resources (e.g.tourism related to protected areas, higher fish catch rates), avoided costs (e.g. of hospitalisation and lost days at work from health impacts) the development of new and existing industries/sectors of the economy (e.g. renewable energy), increased employment through environmental investments (e.g. in waste collection, eco-tourism) Final Project Event:: ENPI-East, Chisinau7

Social benefits: examples the safeguarding of, and access to, the natural and cultural heritage (avoided pollution damage to historic buildings or the destruction of historic landscapes), recreational opportunities (e.g., fishing and bathing), benefits of trust in quality environmental service provision (e.g., water quality), Final Project Event:: ENPI-East, Chisinau8

Health benefits Can also be interpreted as social benefits, but given the direct link between health and environment, they have been assessed as a separate category. Examples: –a reduction in the cases of illness and the avoidance of premature mortality arising from water-borne diseases, –a reduction in respiratory and cardio-pulmonary diseases associated with poor air quality Final Project Event:: ENPI-East, Chisinau9

Geographical Scope ENPI countries: –ENPI South: 9 countries –ENPI East: 7 countries Final Project Event:: ENPI-East, Chisinau10

Project objectives Overall objective: move environmental issues higher up on the political agenda in the ENPI countries. Specific objectives: –to improve awareness in the countries of the social and economic benefits of enhanced environmental protection –to improve the countries capacity to assess these benefits Final Project Event:: ENPI-East, Chisinau11

Project objectives In this way, the project will encourage each country: to mobilise the necessary financial resources for environmental improvements. integrate environmental considerations into policy making Final Project Event:: ENPI-East, Chisinau12

Justification of the project Why is the project needed ? Policy makers have often a clearer perception of what it costs to maintain the quality of the environment, than of the resulting benefits. Why is achieving the objectives, i.e. raising awareness of benefits, important ? It is the perceived benefits that drive policy decisions to allocate public resources to maintain and to improve the quality of the environment; Final Project Event:: ENPI-East, Chisinau13

Target Audience The project does not have a specific beneficiary,but 3 categories of authorities are targeted: 1.Authorities with environmental responsibilities 2.Authorities responsible for a development sector with a potential negative or positive impact on the environment (such agriculture, energy, or industrial development). 3.Finance ministries, as they often play an important role in deciding the funding levels for each other ministry. The benefit assessments provide evidence to authorities, that supports their arguments for funding of environmental actions and for environmental integration Final Project Event:: ENPI-East, Chisinau14

Project activities Development of a benefit assessment methodology, building on previous analysis and methodologies, in particular on: –The IEEP methodology for DG Environment (2008) –the World Banks Cost of Environmental Degradation (COED) Methodology. Preparation of Benefit Assessment Manual for internal project use. Collection of available information from international organisations (UN, World Bank etc.) Final Project Event:: ENPI-East, Chisinau15

Project activities A mission to each of the countries in the period May-October 2010: presentation and selling of the project, collection of data needed for the benefit assessments Follow-up by the projects National Expert in each of the countries Completion of a country information check-list, with all information needed for the country benefit assessments Final Project Event:: ENPI-East, Chisinau16

Project activities Country Benefit Assessments Regional synthesis benefit assessment reports (ENPI East & ENPI South) A Benefit Assessment Manuel for policy makers 2 Final project events, to present the benefit assessment results –ENPI East countries: Chisinau,23-24 June 2011 –ENPI South countries: Brussels, June officials of each country have been invited Final Project Event:: ENPI-East, Chisinau17

Dissemination of the projects results, through: The 2 final project events Country officials that participate in the final project events Publication on the projects website: Other ENPI projects Final Project Event:: ENPI-East, Chisinau18

Project results Country Benefit Assessment reports Regional Synthesis Benefit Assessments Reports (ENPI East & ENPI South) Benefit Assessment Manual for Policy makers Final Project Event:: ENPI-East, Chisinau19

Technical scope 5 themes: 1.Air 2.Water 3.Waste 4.Nature 5.Climate change Final Project Event:: ENPI-East, Chisinau20

Technical Scope The environment comprises a vast range of issues. Clearly not everything could be covered by the project, and a selection of issues that meet the following criteria, was made: sufficiently representative of the 5 project themes, common across the countries under study, sufficiently simple to be assessed rigorously. To this end, the 5 themes were sub-divided into sub-themes and, for each sub-theme, smaller categories called parameters have been identified. The benefit assessments are about assessing the benefits of improvements for each of these parameters Final Project Event:: ENPI-East, Chisinau21

Scope of the country benefit assessments Final Project Event:: ENPI-East, Chisinau22

Thank you for your attention Project Analysis for ENPI countries of social an economic benefits of enhanced environment protection (DCI-ENV/2009/ )