How green is EU's development aid

29-05-2009

BirdLife International, FERN and WWF recently presented a new study analysing how useful are the EU tools designed to integrate environmental concerns into its development aid. To do so the report looks at 21 geographically diverse Country and Regional Environment Profiles (CEP & REP)”,and assesses them on the quality and information they provide using a standardised checklist . The full report can be downloaded here.

While recognising the importance of these Profiles and progress on their transparency, the three organisations have also highlighted some significant shortcomings.These include inadequate considerations of some of the key challenges such as climate change and degradation of ecosystems, inadequate involvement of civil society and local communities in the Profile drafting process, and lack of clear recommendations on how the environmental issues identified as country or regional concerns in the CEPs/REPs can be addressed through the EU development aid process.

The EU is the largest aid donor in the world. In order to successfully achieve the ‘eradication of poverty in the context of sustainable development’, as stated in the 2005 EU Consensus on Development, it has to ensure that its funds contribute to the management and protection of the environment and natural ecosystems in partner countries. And indeed the role of a healthy environment in sustaining the livelihoods of people has been proven and recognised in highest political fora – especially in the context of climate change.

In order to improve the integration of environmental concerns into programming of EU aid, the CEPs use has been very much strengthened in the current programming period (2008-2013), and they should work alongside existing tools such as the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and the Strategic Environment Assessment (SEA). The CEP, which is required for each beneficiary country, provides an analysis of the environmental situation in the country and should provide clear recommendations for spending on environmental issues.

"The EU has made some progress in ‘greening’ its development aid, but it still has some way to go" —Tatiana Nemcova , Senior EU Advocacy Officer at BirdLife International

"The EU, through CEPs and REPs has made some progress in ‘greening’ its development aid, but it still has a long way to go if it wants to achieve true sustainability", concludes Tatiana Nemcova, Senior EU Advocacy Officer at BirdLife International, who contributed to the study.

BirdLife, WWF and FERN will continue to work together to help ensure that the EU meets its sustainable development commitments and delivers an effective poverty elimination.

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Credits: BirdLife European Division