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E. Roles of other (sectoral) ministries

As indicated earlier, in most countries a government agency is responsible for the environment. In some cases, this agency forms part of multifunctional Ministry, or there is Ministry devoted to the environment. In the case where the environmental agency is part of a multifunctional Ministry, policy formulation may be dominated by the key economic ministries.

Issues:

Since the environment cuts across sectoral lines and interests, there is a need for inputs into policy making from other ministries and sectors in order to achieve sustainable development. When there is a single Ministry devoted to the environment, environmental issues can be isolated if there are weak links with the other sectors or ministries.

A few examples include the following:

Sri Lanka: CEPOM (Committee on Environmental Policy and Management) structure

Papua New Guinea: Ministry of Finance and Planning, Department of Minerals and Petroleum, ...

Fiji: Central Planning Office, Department of Environment ...

Issues:

The key issue here is that the 'national vision' needs to be articulated in some kind of formal statement of the country's development strategy. This statement could be in the form of a government policy, laws or development plan. Once the national vision is clarified to decision-makers and policy analysts, a tool or vehicle is required to integrate it with sectoral policies and strategic plans so as to achieve the national goals.

Some of the tools for integrating sectoral policies with the national vision include:

• Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
• Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) and Multi Criteria Analysis (MCA)
• Strategic Environmental Assessment (STEA), Regional Environmental Assessment (REA), and Sectoral Environmental Assessment (SEA)
• System of Integrated Environmental and Economic Accounting (SEEA)

The main purpose of environmental assessment (EA) information is to assist decision-making regarding evaluation of alternative policies and programmes from an environmental perspective. The EA allows policymakers to design mitigation or management plans to eliminate, offset or minimise adverse environmental impacts of the proposed policies and programmes. Many countries have initiated EIAs as part of the planning and decision-making process.

Issues:

The main issues arising from utilization of EA information relate to the availability and suitability of such information for incorporation into the decision-making process.

• Availability: This issue refers not only to physical availability of the data from relevant line ministries but also the timeliness of the information. As indicated below, the data may be collected infrequently.
• Suitability: The form in which the data are collected or expressed may make it difficult to incorporate in the decision-making process. For example, economists may prefer to have environmental effects expressed in dollar terms (see Module C).

In spite of the establishment of government agencies responsible specifically for the environment, EA information tends not to be widely used by other government agencies for policy formulation. Some of the reasons include the following:

• Environmentally-related data collection, monitoring and assessment are spread across various line Ministries and there is lack of coordination of the activities
• Data are collected by different agencies according to their own corporate interests and cultures, rather than in the interests of an overall national environmental strategy.
• The uncoordinated fragmentation in data collection, monitoring and assessment leads to inconsistencies in measurement, methods, units, timing and frequency of sampling, etc.

Issues:

EA information must be undertaken on a regular basis to, among other things, provide decision makers and analysts with feedback that will then be incorporated into economic-environmental decisions. The key issue here is the extent to which such assessments are carried out and utilised and/or evaluated in decision-making.

In many countries in the region an EIA is required for any development project, whether public or private.

Examples of countries where EAs are undertaken:
Papua New Guinea, Pacific Island Countries

Constraints:

In many small countries such as Pacific island countries, local expertise to carry out these tasks is lacking and therefore the funding agencies have to rely on foreign consultants who are paid from the investment funds. The good news here is that, despite the lack of expertise, an EIA 'culture' is starting to develop in project planning and considering environmental impacts of development is now seen as the norm.

Issues:

Usually the setting of standards and the formulation of guidelines are the responsibility of the Environment Ministry, if one exists. The standards and guidelines are the basis for monitoring and enforcement activities. Given the cross-sectoral nature of environmental issues, there is need for inputs from other line ministries in setting standards and formulating guidelines. The key issue here pertains to the extent to which such input is sought and incorporated into the decision-making process.

In Papua New Guinea, the Department of Mining and Petroleum (DMP) takes the lead role in setting standards ... (More)

Issues:

Once standards and guidelines have been established they must be monitored and enforced. In countries where there is an Environment Ministry, this ministry takes the lead role in monitoring and enforcement. An important issue is whether one ministry (e.g. the Environment ministry) should have responsibility for all monitoring and enforcement. In view of the limited resources available to most government agencies, it may be the case that monitoring and enforcement is more effectively carried out by the Environment ministry. However, there is the need for feedback to flow between the environmental agency and the other line ministries. Can cause conflicts, misunderstandings etc.

In countries with decentralised systems of governments, there has been a tendency to devolve these responsibilities to lower levels of government.

Examples of monitoring responsibility:
The Philippines, Republic of Korea, China (Shanghai)

Issues:

Several countries have established environmental cells in other ministries as a way of trying to get these ministries to pay more attention to environmental issues. The key issue here is whether such structures are necessary in efforts to integrate environmental concerns into economic decision-making or whether it is merely a dissipation of scarce resources.

We briefly discuss below the advantages and disadvantages of having environmental cells or units in line ministries.

Advantages:

• Environmental cells in line ministries could facilitate communication on environmental issues between the Environment and Development Planning Ministries. In this way cross-sectoral environmental concerns can be accounted for in sustainable development planning.
• Environmental cells/units can be useful in monitoring and evaluating the environmental performance of their respective line ministries.
• Environmental cells/units can be used to play horizontal coordination roles.

Disadvantages:

• Environmental units embedded in ministries can become isolated from the rest of the work of the ministry and may not be effective in their assigned roles. It would appear preferable to add environmental dimensions to the work of the line staff. i.e., to really mainstream environment.
• If there is lack of effective coordination, the activities of some environmental cells/units can overlap an there can be duplication of effort.
• Environmental cells/units may have very little status and/or authority in their line ministries. That is, they can marginalised in their ministries and hence can be become ineffective.

Examples of environmental cells/units in other ministries:
Fiji, the Philippines, Sri Lanka

Environmental units embedded in ministries tend to become isolated from the rest of the work of the ministry and are not effective in their assigned roles. It would appear preferable to add environmental dimensions to the work of the line staff. i.e., to really mainstream environment.

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