This page was updated on: 27 August 2004
The Bali Strategic Plan
In recent years, technology support and capacity building have become a key part of the quest for sustainable development. Issues encompassing human, scientific, technological, organizational, institutional and resource capabilities are core components of the mandate and work of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and feature prominently in both Agenda 21 and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation (JPOI). Capacity building, in particular, has become an explicit priority for the UN system.
The 2002 UNEP Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment Forum’s (GC/GMEF) review of international environmental governance (IEG) identified the need for an Intergovernmental Strategic Plan for Technology Support and Capacity Building to improve the effectiveness of capacity building, and to address the gaps identified by assessments of existing activities and needs. The IEG review proposed that the Plan be built on two components: capacity building and training, and national-level coordination of the environmental component of sustainable development. In March 2004, at its eighth Special Session, the GC/GMEF established an Intergovernmental Working Group to prepare a draft Plan. Chaired by the GC President Arcardo Ntagazwa (Tanzania), the Intergovernmental Working Group met in three sessions (New York, June; Nairobi, September; and Bali, December). At its third session, held from 2-4 December 2004, in Jimbaran-Bali, Indonesia, the Intergovernmental Working Group agreed to the “Bali Strategic Plan” for Technology Support and Capacity Building.
The “Bali Strategic Plan” aims to strengthen the capacity of governments of developing countries and of countries with economies in transition at all levels and provide systematic, targeted, long and short-term measures for technology support and capacity building. The Plan also aims to enhance delivery by UNEP of technology support and capacity building based on best practices from both within and outside UNEP, and to strengthen cooperation among UNEP, multilateral environmental agreements, and other bodies engaged in environmental capacity building, including the UN Development Programme, Global Environment Facility, and other relevant stakeholders. The Plan includes sections on objectives, strategic considerations, implementation, coordination mechanism, and financial mechanisms. The Plan has been forwarded to the 23rd session of the UNEP Governing Council/GMEF in February 2005 for final adoption.
The Earth Negotiations Bulletin reported on the negotiations that led to the December 2004 agreement on the “Bali Strategic Plan.” This page provides an overview of those negotiations, as well as an introduction to the Plan’s contents.
Sixth Special Session of UNEP Governing Council: The sixth Special Session of UNEP’s Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment Forum (GCSS-6/GMEF) took place in Malmö, Sweden, from 29-31 May 2000. Ministers adopted the Malmö Ministerial Declaration, which called on the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) to review the requirements for a greatly strengthened institutional structure for international environmental governance (IEG).
International environmental governance review: Issues of governance were subsequently taken up at the 21st session of the UNEP Governing Council/GMEF in February 2001. The Council established an Open-ended Intergovernmental Group of Ministers or Their Representatives (IGM) to undertake a comprehensive policy-oriented assessment of existing institutional weaknesses, as well as future needs and options for strengthening IEG. The Group of Ministers met five times, and reported on its work to the UNEP Governing Council in 2002.
UNEP GC/GMEF Seventh Special Session: The report on IEG was presented during the seventh Special Session of the UNEP Governing Council/GMEF, which was held from 13-15 February 2002, in Cartagena, Colombia. The GC/GMEF adopted decision SS/VII/1 on IEG, with the IGM report as an annex. In the report, the IGM underscored the need for UNEP to play a more prominent role in supporting country-level capacity building and training, and national-level coordination of the environmental component of sustainable development. The IGM also recommended that UNEP help strengthen regional environmental governance and improve coordination, implementation, capacity building and technology transfer in support of regional initiatives. The IGM also recognized the need to strengthen the ability of developing countries and countries with economies in transition to participate fully in the development of international environmental policy, including support for countries to undertake the requisite implementation of international environmental agreements at the national level. In terms of technology support, the IGM highlighted the need to establish and facilitate arrangements for the transfer of environmentally-sound technologies to developing countries. The IGM noted that UNEP, in cooperation with relevant regional and subregional organizations, could help strengthen regional environmental governance.
The Group of Ministers also recommended that an Intergovernmental Strategic Plan for Technology Support and Capacity Building be developed to improve the effectiveness of capacity building, and to address the gaps identified by assessments of existing activities and needs. The IGM also decided that the Plan should be built on two components: capacity building and training, and the national-level coordination of the environmental component of sustainable development. Regarding capacity building and training, the IGM recommended strengthening national institutions responsible for the environment and the implementation of multilateral environmental agreements. On national-level coordination of the environmental component of sustainable development, the IGM underscored the need for developing countries to have access to financial, technological and technical resources from the international community.
22nd Session of the Governing Council/GMEF: The 22nd session of the UNEP Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment Forum took place from 3-7 February 2003, in Nairobi, Kenya. The GC/GMEF adopted decision GC.22/17/, which requests UNEP’s Executive Director, in consultation with UNDP and the GEF, to prepare a draft strategic Plan for presentation to the eighth Special Session of the Governing Council.
UNEP GC/GMEF Eighth Special Session: The eighth Special Session of UNEP’s Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment Forum took place from 29-31 March 2004, in Jeju, Republic of Korea. Delegates considered the elements for a draft IGSP set out in a report of the Executive Director. The Council adopted decision SS./VIII/1, which underscored the need to provide developing countries and countries with economies in transition with assistance for implementing their environmental goals, targets and objectives, particularly those set out in the JPOI. The decision also highlighted the urgent need to develop a strategic plan. The Governing Council established a High-level Open-ended Intergovernmental Working Group with the mandate to prepare a draft for consideration at the 23rd regular session of the Council in early 2005. The decision emphasized the need to receive inputs from relevant organizations and stakeholders, in particular the GEF and UNDP, as well as international financial organizations, UN agencies and the secretariats of multilateral environmental agreements.
UNEP’s Committee of Permanent Representatives: The working group of the Committee of Permanent Representatives (CPR) to UNEP met on 5 and 19 May and 2 June 2004. At the meetings of the working group, representatives expressed their opinions and identified issues that, in their view, should be taken into account in the process of developing the Plan.
UNEP Civil Society Consultation: The Civil Society Consultation on the IGSP was held at UNEP headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, on 21 and 22 June 2004. Participants at the meeting elaborated a document containing a set of recommendations, addressing issues such as guiding principles; the need to adopt a beneficiary’s perspective; enhancing the role of civil society; monitoring and evaluation; and financial resources.
UNEP Expert Consultations: Expert Consultations on the IGSP were held in Geneva from 17-18 June 2004. Following extensive discussions, the experts agreed to a statement on basic principles, calling for the intergovernmental strategic plan to set out a vision of what ought to be achieved. The statement also addresses issues regarding: implementation; systemic analysis; needs assessment; demand-driven approaches; coordination and consultation; and regional needs.
IGSP REGIONAL MEETINGS
10th Session of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment: The 10th session of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN) was held in Sirte, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, from 29–30 June 2004. The meeting agreed to submit the capacity development component of the Action Plan of the Environment Initiative of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development as Africa’s input to the IGSP and requested that this component be used as the basis of support in capacity-building in Africa.
Latin America and the Caribbean Consultation: The Latin America and the Caribbean regional consultation on the IGSP was held in Mexico City on 29 July 2004. The meeting adopted a resolution calling on the ISP process to recognize the importance of regional measures and perspectives as well as existing initiatives in the region, especially the 2003 Panama Declaration of Environment Ministers of Latin America and the Caribbean and the Initiative of Latin America and the Caribbean.
Economic Cooperation Organization Ministerial Meeting on Environment
Second Economic Cooperation Organization Ministerial Meeting on Environment: The Second Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) Ministerial Meeting on Environment was held in Istanbul, Turkey, from 4-6 October 2004. The meeting concluded, inter alia, that the Plan should: promote and further enhance the spirit of cooperation among countries within regions and sub-regions, providing coherence to international cooperation assistance, and have a long-term vision followed by missions, goals/objectives, policies, measurable key performance indicators and cover project-based activities.
Asia-Pacific Subregional Environmental Policy Dialogue: The Asia-Pacific Subregional Environmental Policy Dialogue was held on 17 November 2004, in Bangkok, Thailand. The Dialogue highlighted several recommendations, including: the importance of addressing priority issues identified at the national and regional level; securing the role of small and medium-sized enterprises in capacity building through innovative financing; the importance of education; and the role of indigenous technologies
CONTRIBUTION FROM THE ENVIRONMENT MANAGEMENT GROUP
Sixth meeting of the Environmental Management Group: The sixth meeting of the Environmental Management Group (EMG) was held on 6 February 2004, in Geneva, Switzerland. The meeting focused on the environmental aspects of capacity building in order to identify the possible contribution and added value of the EMG to the ongoing efforts of the UN. The EMG decided to establish an Issue Management Group (IMG) on capacity building, with the mandate to develop a situation/needs analysis in the area of the environmental aspects of capacity building in the two pilot areas of biodiversity and chemicals.
Seventh meeting of the Environmental Management Group: The seventh meeting of the EMG was held on 20 April 2004, in New York. The meeting discussed the IGSP and its linkages with the work of the EMG, and heard presentations on and discussed the outlines of the EMG’s study on capacity building in the areas of biodiversity and chemicals management. The meeting also established a second Issue Management Group on the overall outline of UN activities on environment-related capacity building, including all UN agencies’ mandates, portfolios and current activities.
Eighth Meeting of the Environmental Management Group: The eighth meeting of the EMG was held on 1 September 2004, in Nairobi. The main focus of the meeting was on the EMG’s work in the area of environment-related capacity building, including its contribution to the development of the IGSP. The EMG discussed the status and the progress of work of its Issue Management Group on the UN system’s environment-related capacity-building activities and initiatives in the two pilot areas of biodiversity and chemicals management. The Group also considered the draft outline prepared by its second Issue Management Group on the overall outline of UN activities and initiatives on environment-related capacity building, and agreed to submit the current results of the two Issue Management Groups to the second meeting of the IGSP for its information and consideration.
Ninth Meeting of the Environmental Management Group: The ninth meeting of the EMG was held on 8 November 2004, in Geneva, Switzerland. The meeting was held back to back with the first meeting of the IMG on capacity building. The meeting discussed the EMG’s work in the area of capacity building, in particular the preparation of the study on enhancing the UN system information exchange, experiences and lessons learned in the area of environmental capacity building. The meeting also addressed the EMG’s report to the UNEP GC/GMEF, including its medium-term strategy and programme of work for 2005.
NEGOTIATING SESSIONS OF THE INTERGOVERNMENTAL WORKING GROUP
First Session of the IGSP: The first session of the IGSP (IGSP-1) took place at UN headquarters in New York on Friday, 25 June 2004. The aim of the session was to reach agreement on how the Intergovernmental Working Group would proceed, and to engage in an initial exchange of views as input for the preparation of a draft IGSP. At the conclusion of the session, Intergovernmental Working Group Chair Arcado Ntagazwa summed up delegates views, noting that proposals made by various delegations, including the need for: adequate funding, a long-term vision, and clearly defined goals and targets; a focus on the regional and subregional levels; better coordination of efforts to avoid duplication and account for the demands of UN Common Country Assessments; tailor-made approaches and a focus on strengthening national environment institutions, training and education; needs assessments and national ownership to be included; clear definitions of the terms of the UNEP mandate, the work plan and funding; and the promotion of private sector partnerships. The session’s deliberations were incorporated into a Chair’s “building-blocks” paper to serve as the basis for the negotiations at the second IGSP session in September.
Second Session of the IGSP: The second session of the IGSP (IGSP-2) took place from 2-4 September 2004, in Nairobi, Kenya. Delegates considered the Chair’s “building blocks” paper. The first part of the Chair’s paper contained a general introduction outlining relevant international decisions that spell out UNEP’s mandate for technology support and capacity building. The second part of the paper contained the framework of the Strategic Plan and included sections and subsections addressing the following issues: needs and gaps; objectives and functions; guiding principles and strategic considerations; contents of the Plan, outlining activities at the global, regional, and national levels as well as priority areas, the JPOI, South-South cooperation, and information for decision-making: the role of science, monitoring and assessment and reporting; an institutional mechanism at the intergovernmental and secretariat levels; and a financial mechanism. The session explored the possible contents of the draft IGSP and engaged in initial drafting of the text. During the session, the Plenary created two Working Groups, chaired by Bagher Asadi (Iran) and Idunn Eidheim (Norway) to deliberate sections of the draft Plan. Chair Ntagazwa undertook to prepare a compilation text of government proposals, as well as a “Chair’s contribution for the third IGSP session, ” which would take on board all the comments and suggestions contained in the compilation texts, as well as other inputs from governments received during the intersessional period.
Informal Consultations: UNEP GC President Ntagazwa hosted an informal consultation in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in October 2004. At the meeting he presented a non-paper, entitled “Reflections on the outcome of the New York and Nairobi rounds and the Bali challenges.” The paper emphasized consensus achieved in Nairobi on the role of UNEP in assessing needs and delivering capacity building and technology support, and suggested some issues for further consideration. It also offered compromise language, building on the previous discussion in the Intergovernmental Working Group.
Third Session of the IGSP: The third session of the Intergovernmental Working Group on the IGSP took place from 2-4 December 2004, at the Intercontinental Resort in Jimbaran-Bali, Indonesia. The formal session was preceded by a day of regional group meetings, as well as informal consultations among government delegations. During the meeting, delegates met in plenary and in two Working Groups to prepare the draft Plan, The session concluded with the agreement on the “Bali Strategic Plan,” which will be forwarded to the 23rd session of the UNEP GC/GMEF in February 2005 for final adoption. The Bali Strategic Plan for Technology Support and Capacity Building includes sections on objectives, strategic considerations, implementation, coordination mechanism, and financial mechanisms.
The “Bali Strategic Plan” for Technology Support and Capacity Building includes sections on objectives, strategic considerations, implementation, coordination mechanism, and financial mechanisms. The Plan aims to strengthen the capacity of governments of developing countries and of countries with economies in transition at all levels and provide systematic, targeted, long and short-term measures for technology support and capacity building. The Plan also aims to enhance delivery by UNEP of technology support and capacity building based on best practices from both within and outside UNEP, and to strengthen cooperation among UNEP, MEAs, and other bodies engaged in environmental capacity building, including UNDP, GEF, and other relevant stakeholders.
The stated objectives of the Plan are, inter alia, to:
§ strengthen the capacity of governments of developing countries and of countries with economies in transition at all levels;
§ provide systematic, targeted, long and short-term measures for technology support and capacity building;
§ enable collaboration with all relevant stakeholders and provide a basis for a comprehensive approach to developing partnerships, including public-private partnerships;
§ emphasize the identification and dissemination of best practices and fostering of entrepreneurship and partnerships;
§ provide a framework for capacity building to ensure the effective participation of developing countries and countries with economies in transition in negotiations concerning multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs);
§ enhance delivery by UNEP of technology support and capacity building based on best practices from both within and outside UNEP;
§ strengthen cooperation among UNEP, MEAs, and other bodies engaged in environmental capacity building, including UNDP, GEF, and other relevant stakeholders; and
§ promote, facilitate and finance access to and support of environmentally sound technologies and corresponding know-how.
The section of the Plan highlights the need to enable UNEP to strengthen its technology support and capacity-building activities, including by reinforcing the role of UNEP and building on the areas where it has demonstrated comparative advantage and expertise. It underscores the need to take into account activities undertaken across the UN system, which should be complementary to activities and programmes undertaken by other partners. The Plan also calls for improved interagency coordination and cooperation. It states that in order to achieve integrated coordination among activities, its implementation shall provide a:
§ basis for UNEP to play a more substantial role in the UNDG framework;
§ coherent platform for internal coordination and exchange of information within UNEP as well as enhanced coordination between UNEP and other UN agencies and other relevant partners; and
§ coherent approach to strengthening national institutions responsible for environmental management.
The Plan also states that implementation efforts should promote efficiency and effectiveness in using the financial and human resources through better coordination and coherence; and build on existing capacities. Activities must have national ownership, programmes must be tailored to individual countries based on a bottom-up needs-assessment process, and work must be coordinated and should not duplicate those promoted and undertaken by other organizations and programmes.
This section of the Plan contains subsections on implementation at the national, regional and global levels, as well as subsections on: the indicative list of main areas of technology support and capacity-building activities; South-South cooperation; information for decision-making: the role of science, monitoring and assessment; and reporting, monitoring and evaluation. The Plan states that a bottom-up approach in identifying specific objectives, strategies and activities will be used to reflect the needs of countries and regions, based on inputs from governments and considering views of relevant organizations and stakeholders. It stresses the importance of national ownership, and the strengthening of UNEP regional offices to facilitate support for the Plan’s implementation at national, regional and subregional levels.
National level: The Plan states that countries, with assistance from the multilateral system, are encouraged to identify their own needs in capacity building and technology support, transforming national and, where applicable, GEF/UNDP self-assessments into strategic priorities. It also identifies the need to assist in developing UNEP’s response to national-level needs for capacity building on issues relevant to its mandate, and states that UNEP’s implementation activities are to complement GEF activities, and be coordinated with UNDP activities.
Regional level: The Plan highlights the need for consistency and support to the implementation of regional and subregional strategies as defined by regional and subregional groups, as well as responding to the regional dimensions emphasized in the JPOI. It also calls for strengthening of the regional ministerial environmental forums to enhance their role in implementation.
Global level: The Plan underscores the role of the memorandum of understanding between UNEP and UNDP in enhancing joint capacity-building activities. It also states that UNEP should play a proactive role in supporting the dissemination of capacity-building and technology-transfer activities in the UN system through the creation of an activities database.
Main areas of technology support and capacity building: The Plan identifies areas that need to be addressed, including the following cross-cutting issues:
§ strengthening of national and regional environmental institutions;
§ developing national environmental law;
§ strengthening cooperation with civil society and the private sector;
§ providing assistance to facilitate compliance with and enforcement of obligations under MEAs and implementation of environmental commitments;
§ addressing poverty and environment, including the implementation of poverty reduction strategy programmes;
§ facilitating access to and support for environmentally sound technologies and corresponding know-how;
§ promoting sustainable consumption and production patterns; and
§ developing gender mainstreaming strategies in environmental policies.
The list also identified several thematic areas, including: biological diversity, including biosafety and the issue of invasive species; climate change; desertification, drought and land degradation; freshwater resources; oceans and seas and coastal areas, including regional seas and the protection of the marine environment and land-based activities; chemicals; trade and environment; renewable energy; environmental emergency preparedness and response; and forests.
South-South cooperation: The Plan supports South-South efforts and the implementation of the relevant decisions of South-South conferences and other forums, particularly of the G-77/China. The Plan also stresses the need to intensify efforts aimed at institutional capacity building.
Information for decision-making: the role of science, monitoring and assessment: The Plan supports the implementation of the relevant outcomes of the intergovernmental consultation on strengthening the scientific base of UNEP, which specify a number of important capacity- building needs, such as data collection, research, analysis, monitoring, environmental assessment, institutional capacities, and staff training. It also states that UNEP should help reinforce the capacity of national governments to collect and analyze environmental data for use in decision making and for participation in assessment processes.
Reporting, monitoring and evaluation: On the subsection dealing with reporting, monitoring and evaluation, the Plan provides for reporting on its implementation to the GC/GMEF, which should include the following: assessments by recipient governments on the results of assistance or training received; and reporting by the UNEP Secretariat on the number of requests, monitoring of outcomes, measurable and qualitative results, as well as assessments on the status of financing of the Plan. It requests recipient governments to endeavor to utilize effectively, and sustain the capacity or technology after the training or other capacity-building efforts have been completed. The Plan also encourages governments to report on results of capacity building or technology support received.
This section of the Plan includes subsections on global follow-up arrangements at the intergovernmental level, and on Secretariat-level coordination.
Intergovernmental level: In the introduction to this section, the Plan notes that implementation should be guided by national and regional capacity-building priorities and actions. It notes that UNEP should work to achieve improved and enhanced communication, cooperation, and coordination with UN organizations, international financial institutions, regional development banks, MEAs, civil society and relevant stakeholders, inter alia, to ensure the optimum use of limited financial and human resources. It also encourages all UN agencies to take the Plan into account while planning their own technology-support and capacity-building efforts.
On global follow-up arrangements at the intergovernmental level, the Plan calls on the GC/GMEF to regularly review and provide policy guidance to the Plan, with each GC/GMEF session following up the review, providing guidance and allocating resources for the implementation of the Plan at regular sessions. The Plan also notes that the GC/GMEF should provide oversight and direction to the capacity-building and technology-support work of UNEP. At the regional level, the Plan encourages existing regional ministerial environmental bodies, their subsidiary bodies and other relevant entities to consider the implementation of the Plan, as well as to make policy recommendations and identify regional priorities.
Secretariat level: At the Secretariat level, the Plan states that UNEP will provide secretariat services for its implementation, including in-house coordination. It also states that the UNEP Executive Director will have overall responsibility for the Plan’s implementation, and that he should ensure its mainstreaming throughout the organization, while avoiding the creation of additional or new bureaucratic layers. It also calls on the Executive Director to establish a dedicated focal point at UNEP headquarters to facilitate in-house coordination among the divisions and regional offices. The Plan calls on UNEP to establish a comprehensive, user-friendly, regularly updated database of capacity-building and technology-support activities.
The Plan recognizes that the financial mechanisms should be transparent and accountable, as well as in accord with the financial rules of the Environment Fund. It calls for funding to be stable, adequate and predictable and for member States to consider increasing their voluntary contributions to the Environment Fund. The Plan also notes that implementation will depend on the mobilization of other sources, including public-private partnerships, which should complement and not be a substitute for intergovernmental commitments.