Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe history, today and future

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Regional Environmental Center for Central and
Eastern Europe (history, today and future)

• Marta Szigeti Bonifert
• Executive Director
• Regional Environmental Center for CEE

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Our Mission

• () The REC is a non-partisan, non-advocacy,
  not-for-profit international organisation with a
  mission to assist in solving environmental
  problems ()
• The REC is legally based on a
  charter signed by the
  governments
  of 28 countries and the EC
• Inter-governmental organisation
• 180 staff (some 30 nationalities)
• Over 300 running projects
• 2005 15 Years Anniversary

REC Video Click!
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Donors

• The European Commission
• The governments of Austria, Belgium,
  Bosnia and Herzegovina, Canada, the Czech
  Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany,
  Hungary, Italy, Japan, Latvia, the Netherlands,
  Norway, Poland, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovenia,
  Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the
  United States
• Other inter-governmental and private institutions

Donations by Geographic Location 1990-2002
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Bridges
Bridges Across Borders
NGOs
Government
Government
NGOs
The REC
Local Governments
Business
Local Governments
Business
Citizens
Citizens
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REC Territories

• Head Office
• Szentendre,
• Hungary
• 15 COs
• 3 FOs
• Banja Luka
• Kosovo
• Podgorica
• New Office
• Turkey/Ankara
• Operations
• beyond Central
• and Eastern
• Europe (CEE)

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Bridging

• RECs strategic programme development approach is
  tailored to the needs of regions such as
• (New) EU member states
• Balkan Stability Pact countries (SEE, West Balkan
  countries) - Countries negotiating EU accession
  (candidate countries)
• Turkey
• Others - e.g. Neighbours - NIS/EECCA Countries,
  Mediterranean countries

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Structure Matching The Strategy
Executive Director
HR
RD Turkey
RD SEE
RD New EU Members
DED FinAdm
DED StratDev
D. Civil Ini.
ITF
JSF
CO Turkey
CO Albania
CO Estonia
NGO Support
Env. Policy
Finance(
Climate C.
EDO/PR
CO/FO BiH
CO Latvia
Public Part.
Env. Law
Conference
International Secret.
CO Croatia
CO Lithuania
Information
BusEnv
Publishing
Prog. Devel. (EECCA)
FO Kosovo/a
CO Poland
Capacity B.
Admin - IT, Site Manag.
CO Macedonia
CO Bulgaria
CO Czech
CO SCG
CO Romania
CO Hungary
CO Slovakia
CO Slovenia
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Programmes and Funds

• REC carries out projects through the country
  and field office network within the following
  programmes and funds
• Business and Environment
• Capacity Building
• Climate Change
• Environmental Law
• Environmental Policy
• Information
• NGO Support
• Public Participation
• Japan Special Fund
• Italian Trust Fund

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Scope of Operation

• bridging solutions and stakeholders of
  sustainable development and environmental
  security
• climate change, renewable energy, transport
• waste management, water and sewage
• environmental policy e.g. SD national strategy,
  SEA, SD education, access to - information -
  justice, public participation etc.
• Biodiversity
• Major regional program coordination ReREP,
  REEEP,MEDREP

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New EU member states context

• Unprecedented political and economic changes only
  within 15 years
• Huge potential for sustainable development
• Sincere commitment to the European values and EU
  integration
• Impressive policy and legislative reform combined
  with institutional strengthening
• Impressive capacity building at central and local
  level
• Remarkable investments
• Valuable human capital, traditions, practices

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New EU member states challenges

• Contribution to EU policy development
• Efficient operation versus bureaucracy, incl. on
  EU level
• Enforcement and compliance, transition periods
• Investments, efficiency in the use of EU funds
• Limited human resources, understaffed
  institutions
• Capacity building on local level
• Financial burden
• Competition, state aid rules
• Technical expertise and specialisation

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Enlarged EU directions

• The EU SD Strategy
• it is a general, overarching goal for government
  policy
• growth versus sustainability? SD environment
  health social issues!
• structures in charge of inter-sectoral
  communication missing or weak
• 6th EAP goals for environmental policy
• enforcement as a general priority highly relevant
  for all
• priority areas have their CEE aspects
• specialities of new members are strenghts to
  acknowledge and build on

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New EU members problems waste

• Domestic waste on the increase
• reuse, recycling economic incentives missing
• compost, digest (biogas) awareness, know-how and
  funding missing
• incineration public trust missing
• deposit scaling and site problems (same for
  wastewater treatment!)
• Hazardous waste
• old pesticides, new chemicals
• solutions PRTR precautionary principle
• Incineration ? the trust problem
• nuclear waste

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Enlarged EU problems and opportunities

• Transport
• Existing infrastructure modality preferences of
  investments
• TEN development grave conflicts between
  environment, nature conservation and transport
• professional regulations for drivers lagging
  behind
• unsafe tankers, lax shipping regulations

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Enlarged EU problems and opportunities

• Climate
• energy efficiency improvements needed in industry
• forestation - forest management, also in
  accession countries!
• GHG emissions on the increase again renewables
  as a solution?

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Enlarged EU problems and opportunities

• Agriculture and regional development
• Better protection of special biodiversity, wild
  and domesticated
• GMO the right to know
• Institutions inadequate absorption of EU
  assistance difficult
• Brownfield vs greenfield
• Hopes
• Nature conservation - ecotourism, headwaters
  protection, gene reserves
• Agriculture - ecological production

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Enlarged EU problems and opportunities

• Policy Processes Framework conditions
• Horizontal integration to be seen to be done!!!
  combined councils, expert meetings of several
  departments (transport-environment,
  industry-environment, agriculture-environment)
• Precautionary approach install strong
  application possibility
• Push SEA, EU certification schemes, use award
  (blue flag beaches)
• Spread assistance, allow for small-scale
  solutions
• Policy Actors
• Use credibility capital of the NL, contact
  network
• Partners - join with the strong environmental
  ministries (EST, SLK, CZ, SLN), REC network and
  academic NGOs
• EU institutions role laying tracks,
  enforcement, progress in policy development

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Common Characteristics of Successful Partnerships

• Commitment to the subject of partnership
• Common understanding of the goals
• Partners being professional in the chosen field
• Mutual trust
• Keeping quality standards
• Joint activities with high added value

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Some Key Projects

• REReP
• ECOLINKS
• Sava project
• REEEP MEDREP
• Green Pack
• Green Horizont

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UNDER THE WORKING TABLE II. OF THE STABILITY
PACT Regional Environmental Reconstruction
Program for South Eastern Europe (REReP)

• Bringing in environment in reconstruction
• Capacity building instrument
• Expression of country demand and involvement
• Funding mechanism
• Cooperative mechanism
• Model for a Successful Assistance Mechanism for
  the Sustainable Development of the Western Balkan
  Region

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Cooperation in REReP

• Regional solutions to environmental problems
• High level cooperation
• Assistance to the establishment of projects with
  cross-boundary dimensions
• Reinforcement of existing cooperative mechanisms
  and structures and development of regional
  cross-border projects
• Improvement in cross-border cooperation

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REReP donors
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REReP Priority Areas

• Institutional strengthening and policy
  development
• Support to environmental civil society
• Support to environmental regional co-operation
  mechanisms and cross border projects
• Reducing environmental health threats and loss of
  biodiversity

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REReP Implementation

• Promoting regional dialog and cooperation
• Policy reform and institutional strengthening
• Establishing professional networks
• Assistance on regional, national and local level
  in EIA, SEA, environmental legislation,
  environmental financing, project preparation,
  environmental enforcement and compliance
• Environmental information, public participation
  and civil society support
• Biodiversity protection in cross-border
  territories

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Joint Statement, Skopje Ministerial
meetingOctober 2003

• Priority areas important for cross border
• cooperation
• EIA in transboundary context
• Integrated water sources management
• Protection of biodiversity and shared natural
• resources
• Transboundary movement of waste
• Integrated monitoring

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Joint Statement, Belgrade Ministerial meeting,
May 2004

• Priorities for cross border cooperation in SEE
• Training for preparation and implementation of
  heavy investment projects
• Capacity building in nature conservation
  activities
• Assistance in environmental law drafting,
  enforcement and compliance
• Enhance the capacity building on local level,
  development and promotion of LEAPs
• Revision and improvement of the existing flood
  control systems, development of tools for
  information sharing, e.g. Danube river basin.
• Exchange of experience and capacity building in
  implementation of multilateral environmental
  agreements.

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REReP Qualities and Achievements

• Environment integrated into reconstruction
  activities from the outset
• Cooperation in the region strengthened
• 23,000 M EUR overall under implementation
• Country demand driven
• Full geographical coverage
• Structure efforts to keep simple and flexible

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REReP Future

• Regional and Cross Border Cooperation
• Environmental Security
• Sustainable development

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Ecolinks

• One of the longest run REC undertaking -
  
  5 years (1998-2003)
• Financed by USAID, executed in partnership of
  EEI, REC, US Dept. of Commerce, Global Technology
  Network, EEC, Devtech and GETF
• Goals to (a) promote market-based solutions to
  urban and industrial environmental problems in
  CEE/EECCA, (b) create cross-border partnerships,
  (c) facilitate environmental investment and
  trade, and (d) provide information on
  environmental best practices, technologies, and
  management systems
• One of the largest (impact) REC program over
  10M USD processed of the total 20M, catalyzing
  86.5M investment 187 project grants and 404
  quick response awards managed
• Satisfied the REC Mission with non-traditional
  REC stakeholders of businesses, utilities and
  associations

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Sava Project
Part of the Danube Basin a pilot sub-region
Slovenia
Croatia
Bosnia-Herzegovina
Serbia-Montenegro
Formerly a river within Yugoslavia now an
international river passing through 4 countries
recently at war
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Sava Project

• International Framework Agreement (2003) to
  re-establish joint state-of-art river basin
  management
• Interim Commission established (Permanent
  Commission will be in Zagreb, Croatia)
• Issues Navigation, Flood control, Commerce,
  Recreation and other Uses, Water Quality,
  Transboundary Cooperation, Public Participation,
  Biodiversity
• Under the Stability Pact Japan, US State Dept/
  SECI/ REC/ BAH (NL, ICPDR, OSCE)
• REC support focuses on 4 areas
• Secretariat to the Interim Sava River Basin
  Commission (REC)
• Legal drafting of basic documents for Commission
  and new Protocols (REC)
• Stakeholder engagement/public participation (REC)
• Increased multi-donor support the Sava will be
  a pilot sub-basin for the whole Danube and beyond

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MEDREP

• RECS ROLE
• Geographical coverage Balkans, Turkey and Black
  Sea regions
• Setting up a training center for these regions to
  provide capacity building in renewable energy
  development and sustainable use of energy on both
  macro and micro levels
• Identification of financial resources that can be
  directed towards sustainable energy management
• Active participation in the Steering Committee,
  in strategic development and in joint fundraising
  with the partner institutions
• Coordination between the MEDREP and REEEP
  initiatives
• Execution of projects leading to the development
  of an advanced renewable energy market across the
  target regions/countries

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REEEP

• A coalition of progressive governments,
  businesses and organisations that are committed
  to accelerating the development of renewable
  energy and energy efficiency systems (REES), to
  drive down their costs and make these affordable
  energy options for all.
• Global partnership
• The Way Forward for REEEP in CEE
• Identifying and implementing supportive policy,
  regulatory financing frameworks
• Sharing experiences and building capacity
• Championing and implementing initiatives
• Working in partnership at national, regional and
  global level

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An example of a voluntary commitment

• Toyota
• Toyota Motor Corporation's receipt of the Global
  500 Award in 1999 from the United Nations
  Environment Programme
• The Toyota Environmental Activities Grant Program
  was established in 2000
• Based on the theme of "Social Investment for
  Sustainable Development," the programme provides
  grants to practical, regionally rooted projects
  in Japan and overseas in the CEE region

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• Education for Sustainable Development

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What is the Green Pack?

• A multi-media environmental education curriculum
  kit
• Primarily intended for secondary school teachers
  and their students, although it can also be used
  at other levels of education
• Provided assistance to integrate sustainability
  into schools through different subjects (e.g.
  natural science, arts)
• Focus on particular aspects of environmental
  protection and sustainable development
• Covers 22 environmental topics

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Green Pack Materials

• Teacher's handbook with lesson plans and fact
  sheets for students
• Video cassette with animated clips and
  educational films
• Interactive CD-ROM with extensive information on
  various environmental topics
• Dilemma game

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Why Green Pack is Different

• It is not a new subject for schools
• Supplements the existing curriculum
• It acknowledges the complexity and many facets of
  environmental problems
• Through the dilemma games, students are
  encouraged to discuss different sides of the
  problem and choose from a variety of options
• The programme includes training for teachers
• Teachers are trained through intensive courses
  the materials and the training is free of charge

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GP in Classrooms

• Poland 300,000 students reached (7,000 packs
  disseminated)
• Hungary ongoing trainings for teachers
• Bulgaria ongoing trainings for teachers
• English version (numerous EU country interest)
• New countries in the close future
• South Eastern Europe
• Czech Republic
• Slovakia
• Russia
• Turkey

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Pillars of Bridging

• geo-political position
• mission, given and supported by Signatories
• CO network
• flexible staff
• project-management system
• the capital from 14 years of existence
• the know-how, goodwill, expert network and
  institution network
• sharing knowledge and best practice
• 3000 projects

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Radical change the roots

• The problem is not simply economic and
  technological it is moral and spiritual. A
  solution at the economic and technological level
  can be found only if we undergo, in the most
  radical way, an inner change of heart, which can
  lead to a change in lifestyle and of
  unsustainable patterns of consumption and
  production.
• The Venice Declaration on Environmental Ethics,
  June 2002

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Our Future

• We have introduced modern approaches to
  sustainable development to countries in the
  region with widely diverse histories, cultures
  and levels of development. We aim to build on
  this know-how and remain a solid partner for
  government and business in Europe and beyond!

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• Thank You for Your Attention!