Problem overview:
International Commitments: The increase in number of environmental conventions and other legal instruments has created difficulties for capacity-constrained for many developing countries and, in particular, the small island countries of the Pacific (PICs), to negotiate effectively and follow-up with ratification and implementation of the treaty commitments.
Framework for coordination: The Government of Palau established the Office of Environmental Response and Coordination (OERC) as a multi-convention focal point to coordinate the activities related to the negotiation and follow-up of the Conferences of the Parties of the major MEAs.
Background in summary:
About the Country: As a trust territory of the United States, Palau was legally bound to all the Conventions and legal instruments to which the US was a contracting Party. Under the independence arrangements of 1994, Palau was given five years to review the legal instruments and notify the Secretariats of its intent to become a Party. The review did not take place and, as a consequence, Palau's was no longer a Party to a number of multilateral environmental instruments.
Establishment and Mandate of the Office of Environmental Response and Coordination (OERC): The Republic of Palau established the OERC to facilitate coordination of negotiations and follow-up of MEAs for the major atmospheric conventions. The OERC's mandate was subsequently broadened to cover the biological diversity conventions and other MEAs. The OERC acts as Palau's focal point to the Climate Change and Biological Diversity Conventions, maintains a list of competent government officials and coordinates the dissemination of information following conferences.
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Good practice rating:
(1 for the best, 5 for the lowest score) |
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Sustainability
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Efficiency
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| - |
 Improvement in either the environment of economic condition with no harm to the other. |
1 |
Cost efficient. |
| 1 |
Sustainable over time (not one-off) |
Process |
| Adaptability |
3 |
Participation of the community |
| 2 |
Location adaptability (can the project be done in other places?) |
4 |
Participation of resource owners/users |
| 2 |
Socio-cultural adaptability. |
4 |
Partnerships between various actors (Governments, NGO, Academia, Private) |
| 1 |
Level of development adaptability. |
3 |
Degree of coordination and cooperation between government departments. |
| 2 |
Style of government adaptability. |
1 |
Ability to attract political interest/support |
| 2 |
Degree of decentralization adaptability. |
- |
Procedures for feedback and review. |
Comments on this example:
International commitments: The OERC appears to be a promising body to manage national coordination and follow-up of multiple MEAs, particularly in small island countries experiencing human and financial capacity constraints to address an increasing number of MEAs. In terms of the efficiency and effectiveness of this body's process, however, the OERC does not seem to have yet reached its full potential. This is largely related to the human and financial capacity needs of the country.
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Sustainability of the project:
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The OERC is a sustainable institutional response to the increasing demands (reporting and other follow-up requirements) of MEAs.
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Adaptability of the project to other situations:
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Framework for coordination: Institutional mechanisms to coordinate national follow-up and assist in the implementation of MEAs are a common occurrence in many countries (e.g. Philippines, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Thailand). While Palau's OERC may be unsuitable for larger countries with more resources, it may well prove to be a promising model for small island developing countries facing human and financial capacity constraints. It may be worthy that other South Pacific Regional Environment Programme countries adopt a similar institutional approach.
| Process of decision making and implementation: |
The flow of information is generally managed by the Department of State, and there have been occasions where the concerned government departments and agencies have not received important information.
More feedback is needed from the state, community, and Council of Chiefs levels on issues related to the obligations under MEAs. Information on MEAs also needs to be better targeted to schools, local communities and other resource users.
The OERC offers an attractive solution to the increasing transaction costs of responding to a large and increasing number of international environmental commitments. The OERC is also well placed as a government institutional mechanisms to develop synergies and inter-linkages at the national and sub-national levels for MEA implementation.
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Documentation: |
Literature or other written project review references
Inter-linkages, Synergies and Coordination among Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs): Palau Draft Report. Global Environment Information Centre, The United Nations University, 2001.
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Source of Information: |
Global Environment Information Centre, United Nations University, Tokyo, Japan.
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Contacts: |
Office of Environmental Response and Coordination Koror, Palau
Tel: +680 488-6950/52/52/55
Fax: +680 488-86398
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Submitted by: |
Dr. Brook Boyer
Consultant
Geneva, Switzerland
brook_boyer@hotmail.com
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