Greening International Institutions by Jacob Werksman

Author:Jacob Werksman [Werksman, Jacob]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Law, International
ISBN: 9781853832444
Google: REa3SkH7DDsC
Goodreads: 4377677
Publisher: Earthscan
Published: 1996-01-15T09:46:11+00:00

10 NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL FUNDS

Kyle Danish*

Growing international concern for sustainable development is evident in the increasing number and scope of declarations, conventions and plans of action that address international environmental issues. The success of most of these initiatives, however, depends on actions in countries with the least capacity to undertake them. Biologists estimate that anywhere from 50–90 per cent of the earth’s remaining species are concentrated in the tropical forests of developing countries in South America and Asia.1 If current trends of industrialization and deforestation in developing countries continue, greenhouse gas emissions from those countries will exceed emissions from the OECD countries in a few decades.2 The future of desertification, ozone depletion and deforestation depends largely on the course of development in the world’s poorest nations.

For those developing countries, environmental protection is a new priority, if it is a priority at all. Government agencies are small, expertise is lacking, and funding is sparse and unpredictable. The emergence of scores of grass-roots nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in these countries is encouraging. Often, these NGOs are undertaking projects and programmes that governments will not or cannot undertake. However, their high levels of concern and expertise notwithstanding, NGOs in developing countries also lack resources. In the Southern Hemisphere particularly, governments and NGOs both need long-term funding for hiring and training personnel; for purchasing and maintaining equipment; and for undertaking research and monitoring resources.3

If the international community is to achieve the myriad goals of sustainable development, external aid must be channelled towards building the capacity of developing countries for environmental protection. The quantity of official aid seems unlikely to grow significantly in the near future. The question, therefore, is how policy-makers can ensure that existing levels of financial transfers are directed to the greatest needs.

One element of this question is the extent to which the international community can and should rely on traditional approaches to development aid to also finance sustainable development. Since the end of World War II, donor countries have routed development aid largely through bilateral official development agencies and through international financial institutions such as the World Bank. Certain recurring institutional shortcomings have marked these bilateral and multilateral aid channels. One is the persistent neglect of the longterm needs of capacity-building. Another has been a failure to engage the meaningful participation of recipient country stakeholders. The Global Environment Facility, the donor countries’ chosen mechanism for financing responses to global environmental problems, will be largely dependent on those same channels.

Since the early 1990s, an innovative alternative to traditional aid mechanisms has been diffusing rapidly throughout the developing world – the National Environmental Fund (NEF).4 NEFs are national-level financial mechanisms that can collect, manage and disburse money for environmental protection over long periods of time. NEFs are administered by boards consisting of representatives of both donors and stakeholders. Nearly all national environmental funds are essentially independent of the national governments.

Although none of the NEFs have been operating long enough to allow a comprehensive evaluation, it is possible to outline their significant potential. NEFs are demonstrating a special ability to support capacity-building.

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