FW: UNDP-UNEP Poverty-Environment Initiative Newsletter - Issue 19

PEI Newsletter Issue 19 View this email in your browser Share Tweet Forward to Friend       Message from the co-Directors Past progress and results, and the commitment of government partners and continued financial and technical assistance from donor countries, enabled PEI to transition to a new five-year (2013–2017) phase during 2013. This new phase features deeper and ever more effective engagement in the 21 existing PEI countries (Armenia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Lao PDR, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Nepal, the Philippines, Rwanda, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand and Uruguay) together with the implementation of new poverty-environment mainstreaming projects in Indonesia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Paraguay and Peru, all of which were developed in 2013. Activities in these 26 countries—and throughout the PEI programme—will reflect a strengthened focus on implementation mechanisms, gender mainstreaming, social equity, improved monitoring and evaluation, and the application of increasingly persuasive and relevant economic evidence for policy and investment decision-making. Going forward in this new phase, the programme will feature ever stronger linkages to assist countries in managing their transition to a greener economy.   Capacity building and South-South exchange remain an integral part of the PEI strategy in its new phase. Our past work in this area received international recognition in October when the Global South-South Development Expo awarded the Government of Nepal's National Planning Commission the 2013 Leadership Award for innovative and prominent South-South work on climate expenditure; this work was supported by PEI country, regional and global teams.   PEI has also contributed to a number of global debates such as the SDG debate, the expert group on poverty reduction and biodiversity of the CBD and the discussions during UNEA.  We hope you enjoy this edition of the PEI newsletter that contains links to these debates and many inspiring examples of PEI results from around the globe.   George Bouma and Isabell Kempf     PEI Global   UNEA: PEI and UNEP Green Economy Panel Discussion on mainstreaming poverty reduction for an inclusive green economy   The first session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) of the United Nations Environment Programme took place at UNEP headquarters in Nairobi from 23-27 June 2014, with more than 1,200 participants, including Environment Ministers, Government delegates and representatives of major groups and stakeholders. During UNEA, the UNDP-UNEP Poverty-Environment Initiative (PEI) and UNEP's Green Economy team jointly organized a panel discussion on mainstreaming poverty reduction for an inclusive green economy attended by government delegations, the media, civil society and UN representatives.  The panel featured Environment Ministers from Burkina Faso and Mongolia, a high level representative from Sustainlabour –an international labour foundation for sustainable development, and senior representatives from UNDP and UNEP. Burkina Faso's Minister for Environment and Sustainable Development, HE Salifou Ouedraogo highlighted that an inclusive green economy requires cross-sectoral engagement and that poverty-environment objectives must be included in national policies, sector plans and budget frameworks. He noted that with the support of PEI such objectives have been included in Burkina Faso's poverty reduction strategy and the five year development plan. HE Oyun Sanjaasuren, Mongolia's Minister for Environment and Green Development, stated that the Government recently adopted its first green development policy and together with the Partnership for Activities on Green Economy (PAGE) is working to enhance the capacity of the public and private sector to transition to green economy principles.  Ms. Laura Martin Murillo from the trade union Sustainlabour outlined how the union in Peru and other countries are supporting workers to address environmental issues related to the use of pesticides in the agriculture sector, for example, to reduce poverty and the negative impacts on health.During the discussion, PEI and PAGE were cited as excellent examples of inter-agency, multi-disciplinary, and cross-sectoral collaboration, cooperation, and coordination to address poverty reduction and environment sustainability. [PEI coverage; IISD coverage; UNEA Summary; Brochure on UNDP and UNEP Support to Environment and Sustainable Development as One UN]     Poverty Environment Partnership meeting on poverty reduction, climate change adaptation, and the urban environment The Poverty Environment Partnership (PEP), met on 21-23 May, 2014 in Durban, South Africa to discuss and agree on joint efforts on poverty reduction, climate change adaptation, and the urban environment. More than 50 participants from five continents took part, including staff from PEI and partner countries. UN-HABITAT, UNEP Green Economy, the World Bank and bilateral development agencies were also represented. The meeting was followed by the PEI Technical Advisory Group (TAG) meeting during which governments and agencies expressed their satisfaction at the new implementation phase of PEI, and renewed their commitment to help PEI achieve its goals for 2013-2017 [More]. Post-2015: Proposal of the Open Working Group for Sustainable Development Goals The Rio+20 outcome document, The future we want, inter alia, set out a mandate to establish an Open Working Group (OWG) to develop a set of sustainable development goals (SDGs) for consideration and appropriate action by the General Assembly at its 68th session. It also provided the basis for their conceptualization. The Rio outcome gave the mandate that the SDGs should be coherent with and integrated into the UN development agenda beyond 2015. The OWG recently adopted a proposal for SDGs. PEI has actively engaged in this process and parts of goal 1.4 proposed by PEI have remained, specifically the equal rights to economic resources including land. [More]     PEI Annual Progress Report 2013 During 2013, PEI built on the results of previous years in strengthening institutions through poverty-environment mainstreaming. The PEI 2013 Annual Progress Report highlights the main achievements in 2013 reflecting a deepening of the ownership in PEI-supported countries. Such ownership is demonstrated by the increasing number of countries that are integrating poverty-environment objectives into sector plans, policies, and monitoring and evaluation systems. This in turn has resulted in growing investments in and budget allocations for poverty-environment objectives and climate change adaptation. The PEI efforts in 2013 reflect a growing recognition among partner countries that the poverty-environment nexus remains a foundational element of greening economies.[More]     PEI Africa   Rwanda's Poverty Reduction Strategy includes Poverty-Environment linkages; Environment Public Expenditure is up from 0.4 to 2.5% In June 2013, Rwanda adopted its second Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS) with enhanced links between environment and poverty reduction goals, priority P-E targets and indicators. This comes as a result of PEI support to key sectors in selecting their priorities and a PEI organized training for 90 budget and planning officers to support the formulation of the EDPRS II process from a P-E mainstreaming perspective. Influencing the EDPRS is crucial as it provides the policy framework for national, sector and district plans.  Further, the 2013 PEI supported Public Expenditure Review (PER) for Environment and Climate Change notes that Rwanda's expenditure on the environment and climate change has increased from 0.4 (2005-2008) to 2.5% (2008-2012). This comes as a result of improved sector engagement in Environment and Natural Resources related issues. The operationalization of the national fund for environment and climate change (FONERWA), established with the support of PEI in 2011, will help to ensure that this increased level of expenditure is sustained. In 2013, The Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning has reintroduced the annex on environment and climate change in the National Budget Call Circular (Annex 19) and DFID committed 22 Million GBP towards FONERWA ensuring funding for poverty-environment related projects. [More]      Prime Minister of Burkina Faso leads 11 poverty-environment champions in adopting 2014 roadmap On December 17, 2013 the Prime Minister of Burkina Faso, HE Luc Adolphe Tiao — a poverty-environment champion himself, met with the appointed poverty-environment champions in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. The objective of the meeting was to finalize and adopt a roadmap on how each poverty-environment champion can advocate for and advance pro-poor sustainable development in the country. As a result, a roadmap indicating the next steps for 11 of the 20 champions was adopted. For example, the Prime Minister has committed to arrange high level seminars on sustainable development and disseminate key findings from PEI supported studies in order to advocate for increased budget allocations to meet pro-poor sustainability objectives.  Parliamentarian, Assita Ouattara, and Bishop (emeritus) Anselm Titiama Sanou have already initiated a reforestation campaign in collaboration with District  7 of Bobo Dioulasso and are committed to continue this work and the greening of other public spaces. See the complete roadmap for more examples on how the poverty-environment champions in Burkina Faso are planning to advance their work in 2014. [More]   Burkina Faso adopts bill banning plastic bags Plastic waste in Burkina Faso is causing environmental as well as social problems, including soil degradation resulting in reduced agriculture productivity, loss of livestock due to the intake of plastic, and negative impacts on human health. Much of the plastic waste in Burkina Faso constitutes plastic bags. In 2012 PEI Burkina Faso together with UNEP's Green Economy programme made a presentation to Burkina Faso's Economic and Social Council on Green Economy and Poverty Reduction, which was followed by a series of policy briefs targeting the parliament that included a recommendation on the ban of plastic bags. On May 20, 2014 Burkina Faso's National Assembly unanimously adopted a bill banning plastic bags. The bill prohibits the production, import, marketing and distribution of non-biodegradable plastic bags. [More]   The Government of Malawi includes a chapter on environmental sustainability in its 2014/15 budget guidelines For the second consecutive year the Government of Malawi has included a chapter on environmental sustainability in its 2014/15 budget guidelines. Building on the introduction of a similar chapter in the 2013/14 budget guidelines, enhanced emphasis this year is being placed on the links between poverty, environment and climate change and ensuring the adherence to the guidelines. For a country like Malawi that in 2011 was estimated to lose 5.3% of its GDP due to unsustainable use of natural resources, increasing budget allocations for sustainable use of natural resource and more systematically making use of Environmental Impact Assessments is an important step. Increased budget allocations for environmental sustainability are laying the foundation to reverse soil erosion that is estimated to reduce agriculture productivity by 6%, and if this yield is recovered, 1.88 million people could be lifted out of poverty by 2015 (source: Economic Valuation of Sustainable Natural Resource Use in Malawi, 2011). [More]   Environmental Economic Analysis: Unsustainable rice cultivation practices cost Mali 1% of its annual GDP  To better understand the economic benefits of environmentally sustainable practices and the costs of unsustainable practices for rice cultivation, the Government of Mali, with PEI support, conducted an environmental economic analysis which concluded in June 2014. The assessment showed that the inefficient use of energy and negative environmental impacts due to the extensive use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides is costing Mali 48.5 billion CFA Franc (USD 100.7 million), which represents 22% of the total value added by the sector or 1% of the annual GDP. Shifting to more sustainable practices and increasing the energy efficiency is estimated to cost 20.5 billion CFA Francs (USD 42 million), indicating that each CFA Franc that is invested for enhancing the sustainability and energy efficiency of the rice sector gives a return of 2.4 CFA Franc. PEI will continue to support the Government of Mali to explore how the recommendations from the study can best be implemented to promote pro-poor sustainable development. [More]   The Government of Mauritania commits funds for Poverty-Environment mainstreaming In 2013-2014 the government of Mauritania has taken significant steps to mainstream poverty-environment in government processes. Following achievements in poverty-environment mainstreaming into Mauritania's poverty reductions strategy (CSLP 3), the city of Nouakchott has in 2013, with support from PEI, adopted its first Agenda 21 covering 9 communes. The Agenda 21 highlights the major climate change challenges such as sand occupation, poverty, transport and land tenure and governance as well as the urgent need of investing 1,500 million d'UM (US$ 5.1 million) on sustainable development efforts over the next four years. The Agenda 21 was informed by a previous PEI/Government of Mauritania study on the long term impact of environmental degradation for urban development. Mauritania is already showing its sustained commitment to address these issues by continuing to allocate more than 15% of its environmental budget for climate change infrastructure. [More]   Mauritius reviews entry points for mainstreaming poverty-environment objectives into the next ten year development plan Mauritius is committed to green its economy to achieve the goal of becoming a high-income, inclusive and environmentally sustainable country by 2020. It is in this context that PEI is supporting the Government of Mauritius to review the entry points for poverty-environment mainstreaming into the next 10-year development plan. The poverty-environment mainstreaming review focuses on the Rodrigues Island as it is one of the poorest areas of the country. The draft review has identified the need for poverty-environment mainstreaming in the areas of agriculture; forestry, water and sustainable land use; eco-tourism; marine resources and fishery; and manufacturing and ICT sector.  [More]   Delegation from Burkina Faso visits Rwanda to learn about the National Fund for Environment and Climate Change Burkina Faso, with the support of PEI, the UNDP Country Office, the Government of Luxembourg and the Government of Sweden, is designing a National Environment Fund (FIE) to better address financing gaps for pro-poor sustainable natural resources management. As Rwanda has successfully established and operationalized a National Fund for Environment and Climate Change (FONERWA) in 2011, PEI facilitated a south-south exchange visit for Government representatives from Burkina Faso to Rwanda on 24-27 February, 2014 to learn from their experience. The Burkina Faso delegation included the Directors of planning, legal affairs and policies. During the visit, the Burkina delegation capitalized on the best practices and lessons learned from FONERWA. [More] Delegation from Mali visits Mauritius to learn from its Sustainable Development Vision The Government of Mauritius assisted by the Maurice Ile Durable (MID) Commission hosted a study visit for Government and PEI representatives from Mali on 27-30 January, 2014. The main objective of the visit was to enable the Mali delegation to learn from the vision of making Mauritius a model for sustainable development and the successful practices and innovations used to achieve this goal, including good governance and budget allocation processes. The exchange helped in boosting south-south experience sharing between the two countries. The Government of Mali has been implementing the PEI project since 2005 to better integrate pro-poor environmentally sustainable natural resource use into national development planning and budgeting processes. [More]   PEI Africa holds Regional Meeting to discuss the implementation challenge PEI Africa organized a regional meeting in Nairobi from 19-21 February 2014. The main objective of the meeting was to share experiences and lessons learned from the previous phase and establish a common understanding of how to support and deliver poverty-environment mainstreaming in the Africa region for the period 2014 to 2017. Participants included representatives from government, UNDP country offices (Burkina Faso, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Rwanda and Tanzania) as well as global and regional representatives from UNDP and UNEP. The meeting provided an excellent opportunity to reflect on the lessons learned of the PEI scale-up phase and how to best meet the implementation challenge in the next phase 2014-2017. Topics covered during the meeting include economic tools and approaches; natural wealth valuation and national systems of accounts; poverty, gender and equity; tracking changes, using outputs and sustaining impacts; and strengthening programme synergies. [More] Valuation and Accounting of Natural Capital for Green Economy in Africa The conference on "Valuation and Accounting of Natural Capital for Green Economy (VANTAGE)" in Africa took place in Nairobi from 3-4 December 2013. It brought together senior government officials from Africa, renowned economists, scientists and development experts to review and recommend policy action towards incorporating the valuation of natural resources and ecosystems services in development planning and accounting. PEI Government focal points from Burkina Faso, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique and Rwanda participated and contributed to the discussions at the conference. Participants emphasized the importance of valuation and natural capital accounting in assisting the efforts of governments in their transition to a green economy and for poverty reduction. Caroline Kayonga, Ministry of Natural Resources, Rwanda, presented the country's experience of greening their poverty reduction strategy (EPDRS) which eventually led to the establishment of a fund for environment and climate change. PEI Rwanda was instrumental in supporting these two efforts. [More]   PEI Stories of Change from Africa PEI recently launched the Stories of Change from Africa, a small booklet that brings together inspiring stories on poverty-environment mainstreaming in Burkina Faso, Malawi, Mozambique and Rwanda. The publication is intended to catalyze support and investments into poverty-environment mainstreaming across the globe as one element of the transition to an inclusive green economy. This publication is the second in the PEI Stories of Change series, which was inspired by joint work between PEI and the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) in producing the original Stories of Change, published in 2013. [More]   PEI Asia-Pacific   Managing FDI for Sustainable Development in Myanmar Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Myanmar's natural resource base (oil, gas and mineral resources including gems) is rapidly growing and presents an economic opportunity for the country. One of the tools available to regulate FDI is through International Investment Treaties (IITs), which can be signed multilaterally or bilaterally between states. Developing countries sign IITs to attract foreign investment. IITs are an important component for governments to consider as they aim for pro-poor environmental sustainability and can have a significant impact on government policies over time. Responding to a request from the Government of Myanmar, PEI together with the International Institute for Environment and Development and the International Institute for Sustainable Development organized two capacity building events focusing on IITs for Government partners in June 2014. Invitees from nine ministries and the parliament met to deepen understanding of IITs and the ways in which they link to sustainable development. Focus was placed on the potential costs and benefits of IITs for Myanmar. A key message that emerged from the events was that Myanmar must decide what its policy objectives are in signing IITs. In light of current government reforms, careful consideration must be given to the protections and rights that will be granted to foreign investors and the liabilities or policy restrictions that the signing of IITs may imply, in particular within the context of the natural resources sector. [More]   Review of Nepal's Application of Climate Change Budget Code In 2011, a study on the Future for Climate Finance in Nepal, led by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) in collaboration with the National Planning Commission (NPC) and the PEI, examined the development effectiveness of climate finance in Nepal and concluded that it is at a formative stage and that coordination challenges were emerging. The study offered a forward looking perspective on how climate finance may be administered in the years ahead, and suggested that the national budget should incorporate all external (ODA and climate finance) and domestic revenues, and allocate public finance under strong policy direction, and be accountable to the Parliament. As a follow up, NPC in collaboration with PEI examined the existing climate finance situation and institutional arrangement through a study on Climate Public Expenditure and Institutional Review (CPEIR). In addition to identifying institutions that had climate related programmes and assessing the volume of budget allocated to climate activities, the CPEIR also noted several gaps in tracking climate finance. The study suggested, among others, to begin using climate budget code in order to facilitate tracking of climate budget and expenditure. To that effect, the NPC developed coding criteria and procedures through a series of consultations with stakeholders, and introduced a climate budget code in the national budget for the Fiscal Year 2013/14. [More]   Training on Public Involvement in Environmental and Social Impact Assessments, Lao PDR PEI Lao PDR supported a training on public involvement in Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (EIA) for technical staff of the National Assembly on 5-7 February 2014. The negative impact of unsustainable use of natural resources on sustainable development in Lao PDR calls for proper management of investment projects. The training aimed to familiarize participants with the process and available tools for involving the public in conducting EIAs. The involvement of the public is important to ensure that investment projects take into account the interest of local communities and use natural resources more sustainably. The training was delivered by the Department of Environmental and Social Impact Assessment and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. Following the training, the Vientiane Times published the article 'NA staff learn about public involvement in environmental studies' on 11 February 2014. [More]   PEI Asia Pacific Regional meeting: Pathways to an inclusive, green economy to achieve the SDGs  PEI Asia Pacific held its regional meeting titled "Pathways to an inclusive, green economy to achieve the SDGs" in Nepal from 27-30 May 2014. Attended by representatives from Government and civil society organizations from across eight countries in Asia Pacific (Bangladesh, Bhutan, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines), and UN agencies, the meeting discussed best mechanisms to transform to an inclusive green economy. Discussions focused on government structures, working procedures and innovative tools that promote environmental sustainability, including tagging systems to monitor budgets allocated to the environment and climate change; systems to increase transparency of mining revenues; using checklists that include important criteria that will guarantee holistic development; revising investment strategies; using model contracts to negotiate fair and sustainable investments; and Environmental Impact Assessments provisions, monitoring and enforcement. County teams developed objectives, outputs and activities for the next three years of PEI support and also reviewed management issues to ensure effective implementation. [More]     PEI Europe & CIS   Green projects in Kyrgyzstan to manage natural disasters To protect their homes and social facilities, local residents in southern Kyrgyzstan are planting hardy trees in areas with high risk of landslides, mudflows and eroded soil. These "green projects" were launched in early April 2014 in several villages of Osh, Jalal -Abad and Batken oblasts. Inclusion of "green projects" in the policies and practices of public administration and local self-government is expected to significantly reduce the cost of managing natural disasters and potentially save many lives. Residents of 15 different pilot villages in Osh and Jalal-Abad are planting elm, wild apple, walnuts, almonds and rosehips. These types of trees are best suited to the selected areas, and can reduce the impact of natural disasters, or the speed of their development. "Green projects" is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, UNDP's "Effective disaster risk management for sustainable development and human security" project , UN World Food Programme, PEI, GEF Small Grants Programme, local authorities and village residents. The projects are implemented in accordance with the Kyrgyz Republic National Strategy for Sustainable Development 2014-17. [More]   UN Agencies discuss opportunities to mainstream poverty-environment into their programmes in Kyrgyzstan UN Agencies in Kyrgyzstan, including UN Women, UNDP, UNIDO, FAO, UNFPA, WHO and UNOCHA, met on 05 March 2014 to explore how poverty and environment objectives can be better mainstreamed into different UN Programmes, projects and frameworks in Kyrgyzstan. The poverty-environment nexus is a cross-cutting issue and hence joint efforts are needed to enhance progress towards including pro-poor sustainable development objectives across sectors and UN programmes. During the workshop participants reviewed the main principles and tools of poverty-environment mainstreaming, and learned about ways to reflect issues of poverty and environment in planning processes with a focus on climate change. Mr. Ram Saravanamuttu, WFP Country Director, highlighted PEI as a good example of how UN agencies can work together and effectively draw on the strengths of each organization to address challenges such as the poverty-environment nexus. [More]     PEI Latin America   Launch of fund to support families affected by flooding in the Dominican Republic   Heavily affected by extreme weather events such as hurricanes, tropical storms, flooding and drought, the Dominican Republic is one of the world's most sensitive countries to climate risk. Sustained heavy rainfalls in early 2014 have affected the provinces of Independencia and Bahoruco causing the flooding of the country's largest lake, Lake Enriquillo. This has resulted in extensive damage to agriculture and pasture land, and affected the livelihoods of the local population. To support 100 families affected by the flooding, to address their most immediate needs and enhance their resilience towards climate change and extreme weather events, UNDP and PEI-REGATTA launched a fund for 'Credit Recovery and Adaptation to Climate Change in Lake Enriquillo on 11 April 2014. The affected families will be able to access loans from the fund that can be used to improve their lives and incomes in areas such as health, food, energy, agriculture, waste management, and water. Besides credit, the families will receive technical support in implementing climate change adaptive technologies. The launch of this fund is the result of collaboration between UNDP, PEI-REGATTA, government institutions and civil society. The fund is implemented by World Vision and the Centre for Research and Popular Education (CIEPO). PEI has worked in Dominican Republic since 2010 supporting the Government to reduce the vulnerability of poor households to climate shocks through integration of Poverty-Environment objectives in national and subnational development planning processes. The launch of the fund received extensive coverage in the local media. [More]     Publications & Resources                 Working Paper: Scoping Public Environmental Expenditure for Poverty Eradication in Botswana PEI Botswana; Murali, R.S. and Jansen, R.                Working Paper: Poverty & Social Impact Analysis of the Integrated Support Programme for Arable Agriculture Development PEI Botswana; Marumo D.S., Tselaesele N.M., Batlang U., Nthoiwa G and Jansen, R.           Policy Brief: Support to smallholder arable farmers in Botswana: agricultural development or social protection? Results and policy implications from a Poverty and Social Impact Analysis PEI Botswana                 Policy Brief: Natural resources and poverty in Botswana: development linkages and economic valuation Key findings, analyses and recommendations from an Economic Study PEI Botswana           Gender and Climate Change - Africa: Regional Thematic Policy Briefs and Training Modules UNDP                 Gender and Climate Change – Asia Pacific: Regional Thematic Policy Briefs and Training Modules UNDP           UNEP Post 2015 Note#6: Eradicating Poverty through an Inclusive Green Economy UNEP                 Brochure on UNDP and UNEP Support to Environment and Sustainable Development as One UN           No Sustainable Development Goals without Sustainable Development Budgets - Guide to environmental-social budgeting Global Policy Forum                 Searching for the Social Engine of the Green Growth Locomotive: Green as social in the new growth paradigm UNDP Rio+ World Centre for Sustainable Development     Videos   Economic valuation of the costs of degradation leads to sustainable development in Rwanda  FONERWA: a Fund to Finance a Green Resilient Rwanda   Economic Valuation of Sustainable Natural Resources in Malawi (4 part series) Economic Valuation of Forestry Resources Economic Valuation of Soil Resources Economic Valuation of Wildlife Resources Economic Valuation of Fisheries Resources Eco-building materials and solar energy: green growth pillar of Burkina Faso (French) To view all videos, please visit the PEI video library: http://www.unpei.org/video-library       Follow us on:   Facebook Twitter Website YouTube Email   Copyright © 2014 UNDP-UNEP Poverty-Environment Initiative, All rights reserved. Photo credits: UNDP, PEI and FAO Please send your contributions to Devika Iyer (devika.iyer@undp.org).

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