The pilot Strategic Environmental Assessment (hereinafter also ‘pilot SEA’) in Moldova was conducted within the SEA/EIA activities implemented in the framework of the EU funded programme ‘Greening Economies in the Eastern Neighbourhood’ (EaP GREEN).
The Ministry of Environment in collaboration with the Ministry of Economy initiated in October 2015 the development of the ‘Road map on the promotion of the green economy in the Republic of Moldova’ (hereinafter also ‘Road Map on Green Economy’). The goal of the Road Map is to implement green economy principles in Moldova, and to identify and apply green economy priority measures in the period 2016 – 2020. The Road Map shall promote implementation of a number of relevant documents, mainly:
- Outcome Declaration of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development “The Future We Want” (Rio de Janeiro, 2012)
- National Development Strategy of the Republic of Moldova for 2012 – 2020 ‘Moldova 2020’
- Declaration of Intention on Sustainable Development and Green Economy (Ministry of Economy, Ministry of Environment, and Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry, April 2014)
- National Energy Strategy 2030
- Strategy for the development of SMEs for 2012 – 2020
- Strategy for the development of agricultural sector 2013 – 2020
- Environmental Strategy 2014 – 2023
- Association Agreement EU – Republic of Moldova and the Action Program for its implementation for 2014 – 2016.
Preparation of the Road Map was coordinated by the Inter-ministerial Working Group on Sustainable Development and Green Economy, established by the Government of Moldova in July 2015, in the framework of the EU funded Programme Greening Economies in the Eastern Neighbourhood (EaP-GREEN) with the support of UNEP, UNECE, OECD and UNIDO.
Based on a request from the Government of Moldova to the UNECE Secretariat, it was agreed to apply SEA for the Road Map on Green Economy as the second SEA pilot supported within the EaP GREEN project in order to introduce the benefits of SEA to sectoral ministries and to initiate inter-ministerial coordination in the SEA system in the country. The local partner for the SEA pilot was EcoContact (public association).
The aim of the SEA pilot project was to ensure that environmental and health considerations are properly integrated in the planning and decision-making regarding the green economy in Moldova. Thus, the SEA pilot was also expected to support good governance and contribute to transparent planning and decision-making. The SEA for the Road Map utilized the experience gained through implementation of the first SEA pilot in Moldova for Orhei Town Master Plan.
The pilot project aimed to:
(a) Introduce SEA as a tool for greening the economy
(b) Contribute to further building of the institutional capacities and expertise to conduct SEA at the national level;
(b) Help to clarify the roles and responsibilities of various national authorities in the SEA system;
(c) Provide recommendations for environmental optimization of the Road Map on Green; and
(d) Support elaboration the Guidelines for the implementation the draft Law on SEA.
The SEA pilot was launched by the initial
training workshop on December 2 – 3, 2015, which focused on the initial SEA steps – scoping and baseline analysis, as well as provided opportunity to discuss the detailed SEA process and its integration in the Road Map elaboration.
The second training of SEA and consultations on the draft Scoping Report were conducted on 21 - 22 April, 2016. A number of inputs were provided by SEA - e.g. SEA identified the gaps in analyses regarding sustainable transport and initiated further data gathering, proposed actions on phasing out old cars to be considered in the Road Map. SEA also helped to identify inconsistencies in policies addressing development of hybrid cars, as well as SEA team checked reliability and achievability of the renewable energy targets. Suggestions and recommendations formulated by SEA were presented at two meetings of the Inter-ministerial Working Group on Green Economy (April and July 2016).
The working meeting focusing on preparation of the SEA report was organized on 12 October 2016 (back-to-back the consultations on practical application of the Draft Law on SEA and the expert meeting on the SEA Guidelines). Both the Road Map and the SEA report were finalized in early 2018.
Considering the outcomes of SEA pilot, it can be concluded that in a rarely experienced setting the SEA facilitated and advanced the elaboration of the substantive content of the Green Economy Road Map. Capacities of the SEA team experts were used not only to comment and provide feedback to the planners, but also to significantly contribute to the development of this strategic document, subject of the approval of the Government of the Republic of Moldova. Training workshops and public consultations as well as final public event taking stock of the results of the whole EaP Green program in Moldova helped to facilitate involvement of large number of stakeholders including high-level decision-makers.
For more information about the SEA pilot project please contact Mrs. Iordanca-Rodica Iordanov, SEA Team Leader (P.A. EcoContact) e-mail [email protected] // www.aarhus.vox.md // GSM + 373 79716696.