Input Paper „Overview of the current situation and challenges of the European Green Deal in Moldova“

Im Rahmen unseres Pro­jek­tes „Öst­li­che Part­ner­schaft Plus“ ver­öf­fent­li­chen wir eine erste Reihe von Input Papers zum Thema Korrup­ti­ons­be­kämpfung in der Ukraine, Georgien und Moldau. Die Autoren aus der Region (Nataliya Andru­sevych, Manana Kochladze, Iuliana Canta­ragiu) ana­ly­sie­ren die Rolle der Euro­päi­schen Union bei der Unter­stüt­zung der Umsetzung des EGDs und for­mu­lie­ren ihre Hand­lungs­emp­feh­lun­gen an die Ent­schei­dungs­trä­ger in Berlin und Brüssel.

By Iuliana Canta­ragiu, circular economy expert

Overview of the current situation and challenges in environ­mental protection and climate sectors

Environ­mental quality in the Republic of Moldova falls below expec­ta­tions, and the country will have to overcome great challenges in order to improve it. Air, water, soil quality and biodi­versity indicators have shown negative trends for the past 10 years. The main sources of water and soil pollution are waste­water, solid waste and ferti­lizers used in agriculture. Transport is the principal source of air pollution. Given the environ­mental and climate pressure, forest coverage in the country, at 11.4%, is too low. Agricul­tural land accounts for 72% of Moldovan territory; most of it used for intensive agriculture, which has a signi­ficant impact on soil and surface water quality.

The poor quality of the environment and frequent and intensive climate events affect the country’s economy and the health and quality of life of its population.

One reason for this unhappy state of affairs is that no government of the Republic of Moldova has ever attached priority to environ­mental or climate protection. That these issues have figured at all on the agendas of Moldovan govern­ments has largely been due to pressure from develo­pment partners rather than to a recognition on the part of the Moldovan government that environ­mental quality and quality of life are related or an awareness of the urgent need to change its approach to improve the situation.

Under the government led by Maia Sandu (June–November 2019), there were indica­tions of an intent to place environ­mental protection and climate higher on the agenda, but such good inten­tions became irrelevant upon the dismissal of that government.

The situation in the field deterio­rated after the reform of the public central autho­rities, which began in 2017, when the environ­mental, agricul­tural and regional develo­pment minis­tries were combined into one ministry. In a country in which little importance is attached to environ­mental issues, placing the protection of the environment in the hands of a major polluter means that any effort to protect the environment will be blocked or at least weakened. The merging of the minis­tries took place despite considerable efforts to prevent it on the part of civil society.

The govern­mental restruc­turing and reform that begun in 2017 was supposed to continue with reforms in sub-minis­terial agencies. Unfort­u­nately, the reforms of several such agencies, such as the forest agency, “Moldsilva”, and the agency “Apele Moldovei” (Moldovan Waters), still have not been fully imple­mented and several are faced with discrepancies in activity and/​or accusa­tions of corruption. As part of the same reform programme, an environ­mental agency was created to implement environ­mental policy, but it has not been equipped with suffi­cient staff or funding to enable it to fulfil its obligations.

Environ­mental protection efforts in the Republic of Moldova are hindered by a shortage in funding in addition to the challenges in insti­tu­tional management and capacities. Annual national budgets have not allocated suffi­cient resources to environ­mental protection to enable the existing challenges to be addressed; sectoral strategies and programmes estimate that hundreds of millions of euros would be necessary. It is therefore quite important to re-evaluate funding in this area and streamline budgetary alloca­tions in such a way as to ensure that financial resources are used trans­par­ently and in accordance with the priorities set out in policy documents for environ­mental protection and promotion of the green economy.

The focus of efforts to improve the current state of the environment should be on pollution reduction measures, a refore­station program and the conser­vation of biodi­versity. This will require a complex approach involving reform in several areas: legis­lative reforms, impro­vement of the control and enforcement of legis­lation, the develo­pment and impro­vement of a variety of financial mecha­nisms and incen­tives for environ­mental projects, the impro­vement of the network monitoring environ­mental indicators, increased investment in environ­mental and climate projects and infra­structure, and last but not least, streng­thening the environ­mental agencies to enable them to implement the reforms. The first step should be to re-establish the Ministry of the Environment, complete the reforms of the sub-minis­terial agencies and strengthen the capacities of the environ­mental insti­tu­tions to enable them to advocate for better climate and environment policies and enforce such policies without political inter­fe­rence or corruption.

The EU’s role in supporting the environ­mental protection and climate programs 

The Republic of Moldova does not have an umbrella strategy covering sustainable develo­pment in place. The signi­ficant political insta­bility in the country for the past few years has hindered the develo­pment of a national strategy for sustainable develo­pment by the relevant agencies. There was a national develo­pment strategy entitled “Moldova 2030” was developed 2017–2018. This strategy built around ten pillars, that took into conside­ration the SDGs and targets set in Agenda 2030. However, the frequent changes of government in the past years and snap parlia­men­tarian elections prevented its formal adoption, thus the strategy never entered into force.

Nonetheless, the provi­sions of “Moldova 2030” have served as the basis for the strategies pursued by the member states of the European Union in their coope­ration with the Republic of Moldova.

The EU’s coope­ration with the Republic of Moldova takes place within the framework of the Eastern Partnership policy initiative. The legal instrument under­pinning this coope­ration is the Association Agreement (AA) between the European Union and the Republic of Moldova, which was signed in 2014. The AA’s purpose is to increase the stabi­li­sation and resilience of the Republic of Moldova as a neigh­bouring country of the European Union and to deepen coope­ration in various areas. Its provi­sions focus on harmo­nising the national legis­lation of the Republic of Moldova with the European Union acquis. The Association Agenda, developed on the basis of these provi­sions and the situation in the country, sets out short and long-term priorities and a roadmap for imple­men­tation of selected priorities. Chapters 16 and 17 of the AA are devoted to environ­mental protection and climate change mitigation and adapt­ation measures, respectively.

Monitoring of AA imple­men­tation is performed annually on the Parlia­mentary, Government and civil society platforms. Condi­tio­na­lities built into agree­ments for financial support are based on the results of the monitoring of the Association Agenda and on the political situation in the country.

It should be mentioned that there is no strategic document focusing on coope­ration regarding the European Green Deal in place between European Union and the Republic of Moldova.

However, the Republic of Moldova does have in place several topic-specific strategies that include provi­sions on emissions reduc­tions, environ­mental protection, waste management and/​or renewable energy. There is also an Inter-minis­terial Working Group on Sustainable Develo­pment and Green Economy that was estab­lished in 2015 within the framework of the EU4Environment program for EaP countries. This working group developed the Road Map on Green Economy, which outlined short- and medium-term actions for 2018–2020 and for the imple­men­tation of the 2014–2023 environ­mental strategy.

There is no specific roadmap detailing how the Republic of Moldova should engage in the European Green Deal, but there is an action plan/​roadmap for greening the economy, which was developed under EU4Environment program. The action plan mainly includes soft measures, such as the support of research, training programs, support in legis­lation development.

Whether there is suffi­cient political will for reform and to initiate the ecolo­gical moder­ni­sation of the country will depend on the results of the upcoming elections (11 July 2021). If pro-European parties gain a majority in the newly formed Parliament and form the new government, the chances that the reforms needed will be developed and imple­mented are higher. Otherwise, there is no reason to expect any major change in the status quo.

The condi­tio­nality mechanism incor­po­rated into the micro­fi­nancing agree­ments between European Union and the Republic of Moldova has succeeded, to some extent, in pushing anticor­ruption forward in the Government agenda. It seems likely that the use of the same mechanism of condi­tio­nality within the framework of financial agree­ments and the openness of the European market for Moldovan products that comply with EU environ­mental standards will increase the Moldovan Government’s interest in incor­po­rating the green agenda into its priority areas.

In view of the current state of the environment in the Republic of Moldova, the first reforms should focus on the reduction and prevention of pollution and on the conser­vation of biodi­versity, including the refore­station program. Thus, waste­water management, waste management and forest management should be priority areas.

Concrete recom­men­da­tions:

Short and medium term priorities in the Republic of Moldova should be on improving and enforcing legis­lation, invest­ments in infra­structure, the develo­pment of financial mecha­nisms and incen­tives, capacity building in the relevant insti­tu­tions and impro­vement and extension of the network monitoring environ­mental indicators.

Recom­men­da­tions:

• With respect to the Eastern Partnership framework (Association countries):
• Introduce the fulfilment of good environ­mental gover­nance requi­re­ments as a condition for the provision of financial, economic and sectoral support to the EaP countries and promote good environ­mental gover­nance, based on a trans­parent and inclusive decision-making process and involving different stakeholders;
• Insist that EaP govern­ments work towards estab­li­shing strong environ­mental insti­tu­tions that are able to adopt and implement new policies and regula­tions in line with the environ­mental acquis of the EU;
• Establish a mechanism for monitoring the imple­men­tation – not only the adoption – of environ­mental laws adopted pursuant to AAs in EaP countries within the EaP Environment and Climate Change Panel, including regular reporting;
• Increase support for measures aimed at incre­asing environ­mental awareness and knowledge about environ­mental reforms within EaP countries govern­ments and societies;
• Allocate a portion of the funding for the 2021–2027 period to support projects aimed at promoting the imple­men­tation of the relevant environ­mental legis­lation, as this helps to strengthen the insti­tu­tional framework.
• With respect to EU Green Deal within the framework of the Eastern Partnership:
• Pay greater attention to promoting the EU Green Deal in the entire Eastern Partnership region, stressing that it entails a change in the economic course of the bloc and will directly affect the economies of the EaP countries. It is highly important to change the perception of the climate crisis as an “environ­mental problem” and create a greater under­standing of the scale of the risks that climate change poses for the economies and financial stability of EaP countries. It is also important to create condi­tions conducive to learning about the potential for the develo­pment of a green, climate-neutral economy in the EaP region

References

1. The environ­mental state of the Republic of Moldova. National report based on environ­mental indicators for 2015–2018, Environ­mental Agency, 2020, https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YD6esULO-JNJGhTmN1P8U2Ft228B8hGH/view
2. Republic of Moldova. Voluntary national review. Progress report 2020, Government of the Republic of Moldova, 2020, https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/26346VNR_2020_Moldova_Report_English.pdf
3. Applying Fiscal-budgetary instru­ments to solve environ­mental issues, Independent Think-Tank Expert Group, National Environ­mental Center, Alexandru Fala, Dumitru Pintea, Iuliana Canta­ragiu, Ina Coseru, 2020, https://www.expert-grup.org/media/k2/attachments/Eng_-_Studiu_Instrumentele_fiscal-bugetare_aplicate_yn_domeniul_mediului_compressed.pdf
4. Statement of the environ­mental civil society organiza­tions on including the environ­mental protection and adapt­ation to climate change as a priority area in government activity program, 21.11.2019, https://environment.md/public/files/88fb6a189cf888d5437063a928fdd304.pdf

Iuliana Canta­ragiu, circular economy expert

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