Expert-Grup

Sectoral anticorruption action plan in the environmental field for 2018-2020. Implementation impact assessment report

Politici de creștere economicăThursday, 28 October 20215093 views

Authors

Adrian Lupușor

Adrian Lupușor

Membru, Director executiv Expert-Grup

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The field of environment is a basic pillar of sustainable development, being an indispensable part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Association Agreement with the European Union - two strategic international agendas assumed by the Republic of Moldova. As a result, the environmental objectives were also reflected in the new National Development Strategy (NDS) "Moldova 2030" (although they were missing in the NDS "Moldova 2020"), as well as in the National Development Plan, currently under development within the Government. At the sectoral level, the Government implements the Environmental Strategy for 2014-2023, which is also in line with the strategic planning agendas mentioned above. However, in order to fully achieve the environmental goals, it is important to ensure the integrity of environmental institutions. In this regard, on December 5, 2018, the Government adopted the Sectoral Plan for anti-corruption actions in the field of environmental protection for the years 2018-2020.

The plan identified a number of issues that were addressed, namely:

1. Imperfection of the regulatory framework in the field of environmental protection;

2. Fraudulent, illicit and unauthorized use of natural resources and useful mineral resources, excessive and uncontrolled pollution of the environment;

3. Irrational, non-compliant and non-transparent use of financial funds designated for actions to protect the environment and restore its quality and public assets;

4. Low effectiveness of the institutional framework in the environmental sector;

5. The insufficiency of modern regulations on technical procedures for carrying out control in the environmental sector conditions its effectiveness;

6. Low level of transparency in the decision-making process.

According to the Plan, the basis for identifying the anti-corruption goal for the environmental sector was goal No. 16 of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals, taken from the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, adopted at the UN Summit on 25 September 2015, as well as the following specific targets for this goal:

1) Substantial reduction of corruption and bribery in all forms (16.5);

2) Developing efficient, accountable and transparent institutions at all levels (16.6);

3) Ensuring a receptive, inclusive, participatory and representative decision-making process at all levels (16.7);

4) Promoting and enforcing non-discriminatory laws and policies for sustainable development (16.8).

Thus, the overall anti-corruption goal for the environmental sector, set out in the Plan, was to Strengthen the integrity, accountability, transparency and resilience to corruption risks among civil servants employed in administrative authorities and public institutions in the environmental sector.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned goal, 33 actions were formulated, grouped into 4 priorities:

1. Streamlining the institutional framework in the environmental sector in order to ensure the integrity of sector related authorities, institutions and activities.

2. Streamlining the process of managing natural resources and financial resources for environmental protection.

3. Streamlining and strengthening the state control system in the field of environmental protection in order to ensure compliance with environmental legislation and fight offenses in the field.

4. Raising the level of decision-making transparency within environmental authorities and ensuring access to environmental information.

Monitoring the implementation of the Plan took place mainly on the basis of quarterly reports on the implementation of the plan, prepared by the Ministry of Agriculture, Regional Development and Environment (MARDE) and presented to the NAC and the general public.

In order to complete the MARDE impact, respectively, based on an independent evaluation, with the support of UNDP, the services of "Expert-Group”, an Independent Analytical Center were contracted, which prepared this Report.

The report includes an executive summary that summarizes the main conclusions of the evaluation, followed by a description of the methodology, analysis of the evaluation at the level of results and priorities, analysis of the evaluation at the level of objectives, and the last chapter is dedicated to conclusions and recommendations.

This study was developed with the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) within the project ”Curbing Corruption by Building Sustainable Integrity in the Republic of Moldova” implemented with the financial support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway. All opinions belong to the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of UNDP Moldova or the funding institution.

This version of the report is a translation of the original, which was written in Romanian. Every effort has been made to ensure that the translation is a faithful reflection of the original. However, in all matters relating to the interpretation of specific terms, information, the original language version of the report shall prevail over this translation.