Transcript The Poverty and Environment Initiative

UNDP-UNEP POVERTY-ENVIRONMENT INITIATIVE
PEI AFRICA USE OF ECONOMIC TOOLS FOR POVERTY-ENVIRONMENT
MAINSTREAMING
PRESENTATION TO THE “ECONOMICS OF LAND DEGRADATION
NATIONAL CONSULTATIVE WORKSHOP”
NAIROBI, 15 APRIL, 2014
UNDP-UNEP POVERTY & ENVIRONMENT INITIATIVE (PEI):
WHAT WE DO
The UNDP-UNEP PEI supports governments to:
 Include pro-poor environmentally sustainable natural resource use as a
core objective in development planning & implementation
 Build capacity so that decision-makers know :
 How pro-poor environmental sustainability contributes to
development &
 How to include pro-poor environmental sustainability in
development planning & implementation.
UNDP-UNEP POVERTY & ENVIRONMENT INITIATIVE (PEI): WHY
WE DO IT
• Unsustainable use of the environment reduces the social & economic
benefits produced
– E.G. People get sick & die, farmers grow less & earn less
• Development is hindered by environmental damage
• The contribution of environment to social & economic development is
often poorly understood
• Environmental sustainability not operationally integrated into national
development processes (e.g. PRSPs): Words but not action.
PEI AFRICA: DESIRED RESULTS
•
Poverty-reducing environmentally sustainable natural resource use is included as
objectives/outcome etc in national & sector development plans
•
There are indicators attached to these objectives/outcomes
•
These indicators are included in the national M & E plans, data collected &
reported on over time
•
Sector Plans include p-e objectives & Budgets are allocated to achieve the
objectives
– Budgets in sectors – not just environment ministries – are allocated to
achieve sustainable natural resource use
•
Increased donor & private sector support country level for p-e mainstreaming
•
Longer term capacity building programme for partners (Min of Planning/Finance,
Environment & ENR sector ministries)
PEI Africa Experience Relevant to ELD:
Use a Range of Economic Tools Pro-actively
•
Use a range of economic tools within a broader country programme
•
Longer-term continuing engagement with development decision-makers
•
Use economic tools from a political-economy perspective – policy credible results
required, rather than academic standards.
Economic Tools used by PEI Africa
•
Economic Assessments/Valuations
– National level
– Sector level
– Targeted cost-benefit analysis
•
Public Environmental Reviews
– To estimate expenditure on environment & natural resources (ENR) across
Government.
•
Budget Guidelines
– To increase budget allocations through increase annual & medium term budget
prioritisation of pro-poor ENR sustainability.
•
Environmental Fiscal Reform (not used much to date)
– To provide economic incentives for private sector investment in ENR sustainability
Examples of Findings from Economic Tools by PEI Africa
•
Economic Assessments/Valuations have clearly demonstrated the economic costs of
unsustainability at the national level & in some sectors. They are very powerful in
convincing Governments sustainabilty should be a higher priority. E.g.
– 5.3% loss of GDP in Malawi due to unsustainable ENR
– Modelling estimates that soil erosion in Malawi will keep 1.8m people in poverty
between 2005-2015 due to decline in agricultural productivty
– 25% decline in agricultural productivity in parts of Rwanda due to soil erosion.
•
Public Environmental Reviews have clearly demonstrated that public expenditure on
environment is lower than justified by the economic evidence. E.g.
– In Mozambique damage to GDP is 17% per annum & the cost of fixing environmental
problems 9% of GDP yet only 1.4% of GDP is spent on the environment.
•
Budget Guidelines have been produced
– Successfully applied in Malawi but needed in other countries.
Economic Tools Theory of Change to achieve increased budget allocations to
generate improvements in peoples livelihoods.
Economic evidence very powerful for persuading key development planning decision-makers to
increase policy & budgetary priority for p-e objectives
Energetic use of economic outputs likely to generate change based on technically sound
evidence & tools to increase p-e budget allocations.
•
Provide evidence that unsustainable use of ENR reduces economic benefits & makes it
harder to achieve development goals. (Bad News).
•
Provide additional evidence that sustainable use can maintain or increase economic
benefits, including revenue. (Good News)
•
Use Public Expenditure Reviews to demonstrate that expenditure is less than economic
benefit from investing more in implementing p-e objectives
•
Carry out targeted cost-benefit analysis to provide specific evidence to justify increased
allocations to sectors & programmes
•
Provide budget guidelines & engage in budget processes to embed p-e priorities in annual
& medium-term budget processes.
Generating Change: Proactive, Energetic Use of Economic Outputs
It is not enough to have good outputs: Output must be used energetic to generate change.
Therefore, it is vital to have a strategy for using economic outputs to generate impact
Proactive, Energetic Use of PEI Economic Outputs Generates Change
• Using outputs
– Ensure there is a substantive focus on summarising & communicating
key messages according to audience
– Prepare Policy briefs based on the key message
– Repeat key messages over & over again targeting the specific
audience (Planners, Ministers, Parliamentarians, Donors etc)
– Highlight development benefits of investing more as well as the costs
of unsustainability
– Use evidence not just to persuade in the general sense but to justify
specific increased allocations by Government and donors
– Economic assessments are a foundation of further key p-e m/s
activities – Public Expenditure Reviews; Budget Guidelines & PEI
involvement in budget processes
Summary
• Economic tools have proven to be the most powerful tools we have to
achieve poverty-environment mainstreaming in PEI Africa countries.
• Generating change depends on the energetic use of these outputs.
UNDP-UNEP Poverty- Environment Initiative
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