Integrating Environmental Considerations into the Economic Decision-Making Process
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II. INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS FOR INTEGRATING ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS

[ II-A | II-B | II-C | II-D | II-E | II-F | II-G | II-H ]

E. Government committees concerned with environmental management

The growing recognition of environmental problems and issues has resulted in the formation a variety of ad hoc committees, including:

  • The Environmental Management Committee. This committee was established in 1980 under the Ministry of Housing, Urban Development and the Environment. Its functions are to coordinate and provide advice on the implications of development proposals;
  • The National Environment Steering Committee. The purpose of the committee was to oversee the National Environmental Management Project which began in late 1991 under the Ministry of Housing, Urban Development and the Environment;
  • The Mangrove Management Committee. The committee was established in 1983 under the Ministry of Lands, Mineral Resources and Energy. Its function is to advise the Director of Lands on development proposals which affect mangroves;
  • The Rubbish Dump Committee was established under the Ministry of Housing, Urban Development and the Environment in 1989 for the purpose of finding alternative solid waste disposal sites for the capital city’s current rubbish dump;
  • The National Oil Pollution Committee. This committee comes under the umbrella of the Marine Department. It was formed in 1991 for the purpose of coordinating the preparations and the implementation of a national oil pollution response plan;
  • The Consultative Committee on Ozone Depleting Substances. This committee was established under the Ministry of Housing, Urban Development and the Environment to supervise the implementation of government commitments under the Montreal Protocol on Ozone Depleting Substances;
  • The Native Land Trust Board Steering Committee. This committee was formed to oversee the implementation of tourism forest park projects in Fiji.

The committees meet on either a regular or when required basis to deliberate on specific problems. Special Steering Committees will be formed to assess major projects and are usually be chaired by the Permanent Secretary of the relevant ministry. The representatives on each committee are selected by the chairperson. The appointment of representatives to the committees ought to stand for all the different stakeholders: government officials, members of the business community, non-government organizations and academic institutions.

There are no set procedures for the work of the committees. In general, the secretariat is provided by the relevant department. Special working groups will meet to prepare policy and programme documents which are submitted to the committees for consideration. The approval for any policy, programme or initiative is obtained by general consensus of the members present at the meeting.

As illustrated in figure II, under the proposed Sustainable Development Act the ad hoc committees described will come under the aegis of NCSD, which in turn will provide the opportunity to coordinate and integrate the operations and findings of smaller existing committees. The Bill provides for the establishment of other committees (such as the National Waste Management Committee), the primary role of which will be to develop appropriate policies for approval by NCSD.

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