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The existence of challenges in the work and functioning of national institutions with competencies for protection and preservation of the environment is not a secret.
Numerous concerned communities, individuals, civil society organizations and initiatives over the years point to the disregard of the constitutionally guaranteed right to a healthy environment for everyone (Article 43) by companies from various industrial spheres. By not acting on such violations, i.e. granting permits for activities that destroy ecosystems and cause extremely negative consequences for the health and livelihood of many people and communities, this article of the Constitution of the Republic of North Macedonia is violated even by the competent institutions.
The platform for environmental justice, which was created last December within the framework of the project “Establishment of efficient and effective environmental justice”, aims to deal with the above-mentioned problems. The idea of the platform is to identify the problems related to the supervision over the implementation of the environmental legislation and through the initiation and implementation of a broad consultative process to provide recommendations that will improve the environmental audit and the implementation of the environmental regulatory framework. The platform would provide “professional support and involvement of all key stakeholders who have the authority to undertake activities in accordance with the recognized environmental priorities, through the creation of legal formulations and solutions,” notes the Center for Legal Research and Analysis (CLRA), the initiators of the project.
Prepared Analysis of gaps and shortcomings of the institutional and legislative framework for the environment
In order to achieve the aforementioned goals, CLRA supported a team of five experts in five areas of the environment in preparing a GAP analysis, i.e. Analysis of Gaps and Shortcomings – Challenges and Opportunities for the Institutional and Legislative Framework for the Environment. In its executive summary it is said:
“The analysis […] represents a comprehensive review between the legally planned versus the implemented functions and competencies of the authorized environmental stakeholders. Recognizing the gaps and shortcomings in the legal framework that governs the environment is the starting assumption before highlighting the reasons for the specific limitations that prevent the efficient, effective and economical implementation of the goals and priorities in the areas of the environment.” The prepared analysis is currently undergoing a process. of collecting comments and reviews by members of the Platform. The final document would be available for public view after the finalization of this process. However, the analysis was recently presented by the CLRA and the expert team to the concerned institutions that were focused on it; The Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning (MZSPP) and the State Environmental Inspectorate.
Regarding the implementation of the project, this document lays the foundations for the creation of informed guidelines to support policy makers in the five analyzed areas: environment, nature protection, water, waste management and ambient air quality. The analysis states that recognizing the challenges faced by competent institutions and decision-makers in these spheres is the first step towards “planning the best national measures and activities, with the aim of establishing a model for achieving environmental justice.” Among other things, the results of the analysis will be the basis for the work of the Platform for Environmental Justice whose members will work on creating the aforementioned model. Through this model, the ‘recognized priorities and needs for crisis management in the area of the environment according to the existing resources of the country’ would be taken into account and alternative solutions would be proposed. CLRA reports:
“From the presentation of the event, the first guidelines for the work of the Platform for Environmental Justice emerged. The first step is the establishment of a hierarchy of priorities for overcoming environmental damage and crises, then the execution of legal functions due to the lack of technical capacities and finances, and as the third pillar, the strengthening of the awareness of citizens and competent institutions about what is necessary pooling of technical capacities and joint education.”
General observations from the analysis
The priorities in the field of protection and preservation of the environment on which the existing legal framework and the national legislation in this sphere are built derive from the Constitution of the RNM. from 1991, that is, from Article 43. The analysis estimates that the current laws and regulations covering various aspects of the environment are outdated and do not reflect the real situation in the country. Apart from the inconsistency of many of the legal regulations in the sphere in this regard, big omissions have been noticed in their implementation. According to the analytical team that carried out the analysis, this is the result of ‘the institutional division of the state authorities that are responsible for the implementation, the insufficient staff and technical resources in the administration and inspection services at the local level.’
Methodology of preparation of the analysis
In the process of preparing the analysis, a consistent methodology was used for each of the five key areas reviewed. Apart from the legal framework and competencies, the corresponding by-laws and strategic documents were analyzed for each of the areas: environment, nature protection, water, waste management and ambient air quality. The analysis was carried out in two stages:
- Phase 1 is characterized by a review of the legally provided functions of the competent institutions, as well as an analysis of the by-laws and strategic documents that prescribe the detailed arrangement; and
- Phase 2 where interviews were conducted with stakeholders and experts in order to confirm the results and shortcomings of Phase 1. A special focus during the preparation of the document was placed on the internal organization, the method of financing and the availability of resources and instruments of the Ministry of Education and Culture and the State Inspectorate for environment. For this purpose, the data highlighted in the annual reports and in the acts for the systematization and internal organization of the workplaces of these two institutions were taken into account.
Regarding the applied methodological approach in preparing the analysis, the document itself states that: “[This approach] was aimed at evaluating the effect of the implementation of the legislation, strategic documents and by-laws resulting from the laws. The way of their application in practice was evaluated through the analysis of the legally planned versus the implemented functions and competencies of the authorized environmental stakeholders. Through the application of this approach, an assessment was made of the by-laws and the legal provisions from which they derive, while analyzing the timeliness in the adoption and the functions of the competent entities and the capacities for the implementation of the strategic documents in the field of the environment. In doing so, their compliance with international standards and national strategic policies is analyzed.”
We have a long way to go in creating a functional model for environmental conservation
In addition to the five environmental areas scrutinized, the analysis also focuses on: the availability of resources and instruments in the environmental institutional framework, human resource management and organizational management in the environmental institutional framework, and the implementation and enforcement of decisions regarding endangering the environment. Considering the large number of omissions and deficiencies in these fields as well, the conclusions of the analysis point to the long way to go for the effective functioning of competent institutions and other relevant factors in this area.
“From the performed normative and legislative analysis, it follows that despite the extensiveness of the legal regulations and the complexity of the issues that govern them, for the most part, the acts relating to its protection and management have been adopted, the functions of the competent stakeholders have been determined, as well as the contents that directly or indirectly regulate the environment . The implementation of a large part of the planned systems and strategic documents for the individual areas has been established and harmonized with the legal provisions and international standards, but the environmental policy needs to be amended and supplemented with new priorities, goals and directions of action that will correspond to the acute problems. in the environment,” says the analysis.
The conclusions regarding the lack of competent human and technical capacities at the national and local level for full, efficient and timely implementation of the set legal obligations and goals for the environment, as well as the lack of good communication and coordination with the municipalities and continuous monitoring of the implementation of the laws at each level , were uniform for all analyzed areas.
Some of the main conclusions from the special areas mentioned in the analysis are the following:
- Environment area
○ The adoption of the foreseen amendments and additions to the environmental law and the passing of by-laws affect the (non)implementation of a large part of the foreseen systems
○ An updated National Environmental Action Plan (NEAP) is needed
- Nature protection area
○ There is compliance of legal provisions with international standards
○ Necessary adoption of a new Law on Nature and additional harmonization of the Law on Forests and the Law on Hunting with the Law on Nature
○ A functional National Council for Nature Protection is needed, as well as the adoption of a new General Management Plan within the framework of the Law on Forests
○ It is necessary to establish an Institute for Nature Protection, as well as an expert interdepartmental commission for cooperation between institutions
- District water
○ It is necessary to adopt an updated Water Management Basis
○ Plans for the management of river basins of the rivers Vardar, Crn Drim, Strumica are missing
○ Numerous legal deadlines have been disobeyed with the non-adoption of 33 of the foreseen Regulations under the water law, which has been in force since 2011
○ It is necessary to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the institutional framework in terms of water management.
○ Re-election of the National Water Council and putting this advisory body into operation is necessary
- Waste management area
○ The legal framework for waste management is high-quality and comprehensive
○ There is inconsistency in the strategic management of waste in the country
○ A national waste management strategy that would be a continuation of the 2008-2012 Waste Management Strategy is missing.
○ No National Waste Management Plan has been adopted since 2016
- Ambient air quality area
○ The assessment of air quality by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications is not fully implemented and continuous monitoring of all polluting substances is not carried out
○ The analysis of the degree and scope of the implementation of the National Plan for the Protection of Ambient Air is not adequately carried out by the Ministry of Environmental Protection, because it cannot monitor the implementation of all the necessary measures for the implementation of the National Plan
○ An annual program for monitoring the quality of the ambient air has not been prepared
○ Two key strategic documents for ambient air quality have not been prepared: the National Plan for the Protection of Ambient Air and the National Program for the Gradual Reduction of the Amounts of Emissions of Certain Polluting Substances at the Level of the Republic of North Macedonia.
Reading the conclusions of the analysis raises the question: for a real introduction of environmental justice at the local and national level, do we only need to strengthen the legal regulations, their implementation and the capacities of the institutions, or a complete rethinking of the system?
Author:
Simona Getova
Simona is a PhD student in the field of political ecology at the Department of Political and Social Sciences at the Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona. She is an organizer for climate and social justice and works at the intersections of political education, governance and collective action for socially just and ecologically healthy communities in the Balkans and beyond. Simona is the co-founder of The Climate Herald and Kolektiv Z. Twitter: @SimonaGetova
This product was prepared within the framework of the project “Establishment of efficient and effective environmental justice” financed by the Government of the United Kingdom, with the support of the British Embassy in Skopje. The opinions and views expressed in this content do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of the British Government.