Environment Friendly Governance Framework: A tool to bring conservation and development together

Background

Climate change, disaster and environment management policies, plans, programs and institutions are formed and implemented in isolation in Nepal and hence it has been realized that the silos approach has neither contributed to development nor to conservation at par the expected level instead both aspects are being weakened day by day. Local Adaptation Plan of Action, Community Adaptation Plan of Action, Local Disaster Risk Management Plan, Community Forests Operational Plans, Local Disaster Risk Management Plan, Buffer Zone Management Plan among others developed and being implemented through forming respective committees at district and community level. It has resulted in duplication and gaps of scarce resources and it has implicated on community dissatisfaction and inadequate people participation in the respective sectors. Therefore, Nepal needs coordination framework that helps bringing together the various sectoral policies, plans, institutions, programs, indicators and stakeholders and yields synergic effects. The strategy ultimately contributes to increasing people participation in environment management and development. Initiation should be taken from local government. MoFALD having mandate to strengthen capacity, coordination, collaboration, facilitation and monitoring of local bodies, developed a planning and coordinating framework called Environment Friendly Local Governance Framework (EFLG-F) in 2013. It stresses on the need of greater collaboration, cooperation and partnership amongst conservation and development stakeholders ranging from household to policy makers while planning and implementing environment and development activities. The article intends to introduce EFLG, its implementation strategies and approaches.

Environment Friendly Local Governance Framework

EFLG concept has been evolved with the notion that environment conservation should be begun from household level. In this regard, household can be judged whether it has practiced environment friendly behaviors through attaching various sector indicators. The indicators have been developed with the premises that it helps assessing result based monitoring mechanism. In addition, the EFLG Framework helps local government to design and integrate environmental activities into local bodies' 14 step planning process.

To create synergic effect on implementation, the document provisions various coordination committees at various tiers ranging from Village Development Committee (VDC) to Municipality to District to National Planning Commission Level. The roles of these various committees are to strengthen collaboration and promoting integrated planning process from VDC/Municipality to District Development Committee (DDC) to Central Level. To implement the concept, capacity of Policy Makers, District Environment Energy and Climate Change Sections, local service providers and citizen and their organizations need to be assessed and strengthened. The enhanced capacity will be realized in accountable and credible service providers and empowered and participation of citizens in planning process.

Goal

The long term goal of EFLG is to contribute to poverty reduction through promoting environment friendly local governance. The purpose of the EFLG is to enhance capacity of local government toward adopting green development path through making effective service delivery and community empowerment. It aims at mainstreaming pro-poor, inclusive, and gender responsive environmental, climate change, and disaster risk reduction criteria into local government policies, plans, systems, structures, mechanisms and working procedures. Local Governance and Community Development Program (LGCDP-II) will roll out the EFLG Framework by incorporating the principles of sustainable development, climate change adaptation and disaster risk management under umbrella of EFLG.

The Local Governance and Community Development Programme-II (LGCDP-II) is a national Programme executed by the Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development (MoFALD) since July 2013. It is a follow up of LGCDP-I (2008 -2013). It is being jointly financed by the Government of Nepal and 14 development partners (DPs) under a number of different financing arrangements.  The overarching goal of the Programme is to contribute towards poverty reduction through better local governance and community development. The goal of the Programme is aligned with national goal and will contribute either directly or indirectly the achievement by empowering citizens and responding to their priority needs, while at the same time strengthening decentralized local governance, community development and integrated service delivery.

The purpose of the Programme is to improve local governance for effective service delivery and citizen empowerment.  It provides an overall framework for: (i) strengthening decentralization and devolution processes; (ii) improving local governance system to ensure effective delivery of basic services; and (iii) empowering citizens, especially women, children and disadvantaged groups (DAGs) and their institutions.

LGCDP II is designed as a framework programme with four outcomes and nine outputs. The four outcomes of LGCDP-II encompass a wide range of capacity development such as citizens’ empowerment (demand side improvements), improvement of institutional, processes, and administrative and financial capacities of local bodies (supply side improvements), enhanced service delivery, integrated planning processes and citizen-centric policy development.

Further, EFLG will be mainstreamed into integrated planning, budgeting, monitoring and evaluation and coordination amongst local governance actor, which is one of the outcomes of LGCDP – II. The government intends to declare at least 300 VDCs, four Municipalities and four DDCs as EFLG by 2016/17.

Implementation Strategy

The program will be brought upto the door step of local people through LGCDP -II Framework, as it acts as vehicle for bringing the EFLG agenda upto settlement level through reforming and strengthening local governance. To make the program more effective and efficient, program will be implemented following sector wide approach. The other strategies for implementation include:

Behavior change

EFLG demands sustained changes in service delivery and users behaviors in eight focus areas, namely, sustainable agriculture and promotion of greenery and beautification; waste management and pollution control; renewable energy and energy efficiency; biodiversity and ecosystems conservation; water, sanitation and hygiene; climate change, disaster risk reduction, sustainable urban planning and infrastructure development and environmental governance. Given the broad range of activities that fall under EFLG, a communication strategy has already been drafted that is structured around the eight campaign areas. Advocacy, social mobilization and programme communication activities have been proposed for each of the areas. Positive behavioral change in each of the areas of work of EFLG will demand sustained campaigning and occur in time scales between 5 to 10 years.

Course and fine filter approach

EFLG shall be implemented following course and fine filter approach. Awareness, capacity development and monitoring activities shall be implemented across the country through the LGCDP – II framework. In the mean time, EFLG will also be implemented intensively in selected 12 districts, 33 municipalities and 60 VDCs of the country. Once the result come out from the selected sites, then the learning shall be documented and the program will be rolled out across the country. Moreover, other development partners would also be encouraged to initiate EFLG in the other selected sites as an align program. It is hoped that the partners shall maintain close coordination with local bodies while implementing the EFLG program and provides reports to the MoFALD. MoFALD shall facilitate the EFLG implementation process at local level.      

   

Service and communication together

An arrangement will be made so that goods and services together with EFLG information shall be brought upto the doorstep of target households. The strategy helps motivating people from household level and thereby encourages them to participate in the environment friendly development activities. It ultimately helps changing their behavior. Multiple entry points; such as Citizen Awareness Center and Ward Citizen Forums for planning, Capacity of Ward Citizen Forum will be further enhanced so as to make them able to bring environmental agenda in the local development planning and budgeting process and environment will be considered as an integral part of the community infrastructure development activities. Various electronic as well as print media shall be used to disseminate the EFLG information and its usefulness.

Integration into local development plan and programs

Local Self Governance Act 1999, provisions to develop periodical plan of all district, municipality and VDCs. The 13^th (2070/71 – 2072/73) approach paper stresses on the need of formulating annual work plan based on the periodical plan. Even the sectoral plans should be prepared in line with the district periodic plans so that a consistency can be ensured and to some extent the strategy helps maintaining linkage amongst local government and line agencies. MoFALD now is in a mission of preparing periodic plan of all 75 districts in 2071/72. To maintain consistency and uphold standard, the Ministry has prepared "District periodic plan working procedure 2070" that aims at integrating environment friendly local development activities into the Periodical Plans. Local bodies will be encouraged to invest part of their annual income into environment friendly development activities following performance based grant system modality.  

Capacity development

LSGA authorizes local government for preparing and implementing development plans for the natural resources that fall under their jurisdiction.  In this regard, the leadership capacities of the local bodies need to be further strengthened. In addition, the local government should have some sort of knowhow on the issues of mainstreaming environment, climate change and disaster into local development plan and budgets. In addition, capacity of local bodies will be enhanced in adopting environment and development bridging tools like Environment Management Plan, IEE and EIA as and when necessary. Capacity of local communities specially citizen awareness center and ward citizen forums shall be strengthened so as to make them able to put demand for environment friendly local development programs at local development plan and budgets.

Result based management

There are a total of 346 indicators. Three types of indicators are designed – advanced, basic and special. There are 163 advances, 139 basic and 42 special indicators. The indicators for household, settlement, wards, VDC/Municipality, DDC and public offices has been identified in consultation with the wider stakeholders ranging from field level to policy makers.

Volunteer incentive

Volunteer incentive based approach will be adopted to encourage household, settlements, village and districts to opt environment friendly behaviors and practices. To trigger the process, environment friendly household, settlement, ward, VDC and DDC will be appreciated through provisioning them with various incentive schemes such as discount on land taxes, infrastructure support, availing computers for public offices, awarding various colored tags and supporting with hoarding boards.

Implementation Approach

Existing institutional arrangements to deliver the Local Governance and Community Development Programme (LGCDP II) will be utilized to roll out EFLG activities. Environment Friendly Local Governance (environmental safeguards, climate change adaptation mitigation and disaster risk management (ES-CCM-DRM) has been considered as one of the major thematic areas of LGCDP II. Besides, the entire programme of MoFALD on environment and local adaptation to climate change will be aligned with EFLG goals. Advocacy, social mobilization and programme communication activities have been proposed for each of the eight campaigns.

The Environmentally Friendly Local Governance Framework Strategy seeks to instill the idea of environmental conservation in a systematic manner on multiple levels, from central ministries right down to individual households. Moving beyond policy-level interventions, the strategy seeks to reach out to local governmental bodies and households and consolidate environmentally sustainable practices. Building greater compliance to environmental standards, greater resource and fund mobilization are among the agendas of work of EFLG. Some key aspects of the public policy include:

·      Setting up an apex-level EFLG Direction Committee formed to coordinate / create synergies among various ministries and divisions and Central Implementation Committee under MoFALD. Establishing at the district, municipality and village level, District Development Committee (DDC), municipality and Village Development Committee (VDC) EFLG Coordination Committees respectively. Strengthening capacity of District Environment, Energy and Climate Change Section to include a strong climate change focus. Establishing and mobilizing Environment Management Special Fund that will be mobilized under District Development Fund. The entire environment related management fund would be channelized into the District Environment Management Special Fund under District Development Fund.

·      Adopting a “Volunteer based approach” to encourage environmentally friendly behavior at household, ward, village and district levels. Incentives for change include letters of appreciation, accreditation of areas as “environmentally friendly areas”, other infrastructural support, and discount on taxes or performance-based grants for institutions. Organize activities that engage citizens in Poverty, Environment, Climate and Disaster risk reduction (PECD) considerations and develop comprehensive indicators at multiple levels to measure the extent of engagement. Households, Village Development Committees and District Development Committees should be engaged frequently. This includes periodic visits to households, VDCs; DDCs to encourage continuing to practice EFLG expected practices. There is a need to build on existing positive behaviors conducted by innovators (households, VDCs, DDCs or private sector) to show how EFLG behaviors can lead to increased human wellbeing.

·      Services related to EFLG focus areas (namely, in Sustainable Agriculture and promotion of greenery and beautification; Waste management and pollution control; Renewable energy and energy efficiency; Biodiversity and ecosystems conservation; Water, Sanitation and hygiene; Climate change, disaster risk reduction, sustainable urban planning and infrastructure development and Environmental governance) will roll out in parallel to the communication strategy. If no services are provided, communication activities will fail at changing behaviors. It is highly important that all stakeholders, engaged in rolling out activities conducting to EFLG goals.