Towards Sustainable Land Use by OECD

Author:OECD
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: agriculture/environment
Publisher: OECD Publishing
Published: 2020-02-18T00:00:00+00:00

Level of vertical co-ordination in domestic policy development

Vertical policy co-ordination is important to ensure that sub-national policies and land-use practices are consistent with national objectives and policy norms. At the national level, the need for vertical policy co-ordination very much depends on the level of decentralisation in a country, as well as mandates for national and sub-national entities. In several countries, sub-national governments are either required to (e.g. France) or can (e.g. Brazil) develop sub-national climate policies. Thus, in France, the sub national regions are required to include climate policies in their regional plan for territorial planning. This requirement to develop a policy document that includes several different topics was specifically aimed at removing policy contradictions that came about from developing more focused sets of objectives (e.g. on biomass energy) (Government of France, 2010[18]). In Brazil, both Brazilian states and cities can set their own climate plan, and 14 states (out of 27) have done so (Barbi and da Costa Ferreira, 2017[19]). The Brazilian national environment system (Sisnama) “aims to establish a co-ordinated … set of actions for environmental management” and includes representation from national, State and municipalities (Government of Brazil, 2016[20]).

Sub-national biodiversity strategies are also increasingly being developed, including in some sub-national jurisdictions of Brazil, France, Ireland, Mexico and New Zealand (CDB, 2017[21]). In Mexico, the National Commission for the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity (CONABIO) encourages States to develop sub-national biodiversity plans, and eight Mexican states have done so (Government of Michoacan, 2007[22]). Developing such strategies has sometimes involved consultation with a wide group of stakeholders. For example, the biodiversity strategy of the Mexican state of Michoacán was developed in consultation with all sectors, and via workshops and public consultation, and will be followed by a state-wide action plan to implement the strategy (Government of Michoacan, 2007[22]).

Governance of biodiversity-related issues can differ from those focused on land use. For example, local authorities in New Zealand are responsible for managing several important aspects of biodiversity on private land (Schneider and Samkin, 2012[23]). Indeed, a number of NZ local authorities have developed specific local plans to manage the pressures on biodiversity.

In France, vertical integration of regional plans that includes climate policies, with national priorities is ensured by requiring that these are jointly developed between a sub-national government (region) and the federal government (Government of France, 2010[18]). The aim of a of a regional climate plan is to fix short (to 2020) and long -term (to 2050) objectives relating to i.a. GHG mitigation and carbon sequestration.

Vertical co-ordination can also help promote policy coherence between national policies and supra-national frameworks. Vertical co-ordination for EU member states also includes co-ordination between national and EU policies. For example, the European Commission initiated the “Multi-annual Implementation Plan of the new EU Forest Strategy” which aims to co-ordinate “forest policies and initiatives relevant to forests and to the forest-based sector” (EC, 2015[24]). This implementation plan includes specific mention of increasing the use of forests for mitigation; protecting forests and enhancing ecosystem services; and “working together to coherently manage … forests” (EC, 2015[24]).

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