MODULE 9: LINKING INTEGRATED ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT TO POLICY

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MODULE 9LINKING INTEGRATED ENVIRONMENTAL
ASSESSMENT TO POLICY
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Introduction

• This module shows you how to link SOE reporting
  to policy formulation, the major objective of
  IEA. The module discusses
• The various types of policy
• Interlinkages which should be observed and
  conflicts which should be avoided in policy
• Environmental policy analysis

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The place of policy formulation in IEA

• Within the overall sequence of questions/steps,
  policy formulation comes after knowing the state
  of the environment (i.e. what is happening).
• We ask the following questions (see next slide)
• How are current policies affecting the state of
  the environment (under Question 1)?
• Do the current policies contribute to what is
  happening?
• What policies are in place that are intended to
  deal with the current environmental issues and
  how effective are they (under Question 3)?
• What alternative actions could be taken (under
  Question 5)?

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Showing the place of current policy analysis in
IEA
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Environmental policy as rules to use the physical
environment

• Environmental policies stand as rules governing
  the interaction between human beliefs, values and
  ideas, and the physical environment
• They provide guidelines on how to use the
  physical environment within the values of a
  social group.
• May be used to direct a community to use the
  physical environment wisely within rules that
  will promote sustainable development.
• Often, the progression is from rules that
  discourage bad practices to those that seek
  compliance with good practices.

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Showing the place of environmental policies
                                 


























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Types of policies

• Policies may be categorized according to the
  way they are formed
• Routine policies formulated through routine,
  deliberate and slow progression of the normal
  steps.
• Urgent reactive policies formulated outside the
  normal process, commonly to solve a crisis or
  emergencies (e.g. flood, drought).
• Grey zone policies not backed by documentation
  but used as if they do. May evolve to routine
  policies over time.
• All policies, however formed, should be
  subjected to assessment to judge how they impact
  on the environment

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Nested Policies

• Policies addressing the same issue may be
  nested with narrowly focussed policies linked to
  a series of broader policies. The nesting may be
  within a country or from a global to a local
  level.
• Global level general agreement of what the
  rules should be may be included in a convention.
  Gaps of countries which may not sign may be
  expected.
• Regional level interests are likely to be more
  similar, but still gaps may be expected.
• National policy has different enforcement rules
  and all are expected to abide by the policy
• Sub-national/local very detailed regulations
  and enforcement

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An example of nested policies from global to
local
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Uncoordinated policies may conflict

• The environment is ONE and all policies on it
  are interlinked. Coordination among policies is
  essential. But this may be difficult to sustain
  for many reasons
• Governments may have competing responsibilities
  which may conflict with promoting a sustainable
  environment within the limitations of their
  resources (e.g. job creation, food production,
  etc.).
• Hangover from the past when environmental
  policies may not have been directed at
  sustainable development
• Opportunists may hijack or misdirect some good
  environmental policies where institutions of law
  enforcement are weak or uninformed

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Botswanas conflicting environmental policies in
the 1970s and 1980s


               

   














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Environmental policy analysis

• Consists of evaluating current set of policies
  for a particular issue with the intention of
  improving its effectiveness.
• Part of a cyclical and continuous process by
  which policy may be improved
• Evaluate what policies currently exist
• Identify where such policies fall short of what
  is required in promoting sustainable development
• Determine what adjustments are required on
  existing policies and what new policies are
  needed to make the set of policies under analysis
  more effective

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Step 1 Identify and list current environmental
policies and legislation

• Broadly Identify policies relevant to the issue
  of interest
• Decide on a consistent criteria for selecting
  policies to include in a current environmental
  policy analysis, e.g. relevance to the public and
  decision-makers. Criteria will depend on
  individual circumstances.
• Consider in your criteria some international
  obligations relevant to the issue of analysis
• Select a manageable number of the available
  policies to be included in the analysis in a
  holistic manner by determining which of the
  policies have the potential to have a direct
  impact on the issues of concern.

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Step 2 Identify performance criteria for the
selected key policies

• A policy should have an in-built performance
  criteria at its formulation, but sometimes this
  is not the case
• Criteria developed may be general and descriptive
  or specific and quantitative. Some examples
• Threshold a value may be identified beyond which
  an environmental system may be self-sustaining
• Benchmark evaluation of the performance of an
  environmental system may be based on relative
  performance when compared to known best cases
  under similar circumstances

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Step 3 Evaluate selected policies

• Ideally, expectations should be outlined at
  policy formulation in which case
• Expectations will be used to judge system
  performance for outcomes (next slide)
• Analysis may be made to evaluate whether original
  expectations were realistic or if either
  expectations or the system need to be adjusted
• Where expectations were not outlined originally,
  policy performance is carried out on key
  variables selected in Step 1 using criteria
  determined in Step 2

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Comparing expected performance with actual
performance of an environmental system