European Union ENVIRONMENTAL AND SUSTAINABILITY EVALUATION OF DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS IN HUNGARY

Transcription

1 European Union ENVIRONMENTAL AND SUSTAINABILITY EVALUATION OF DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS IN HUNGARY

2 Context: European Union development policy - drivers of change for new2004 member states The European added value: Directives & regulations Strategies, principles, delivery mechanisms Funding tied to the above

3 Context: European Union development policy - drivers of change for new2004 member states The European added value: Directives & regulations Strategies, principles, delivery mechanisms Funding tied to the above

4 Cohesion funding represents a large portion of development budgets in new2004 EU member states Cohesion Policy funding accounted for more than 80 % of Hungary s total investment budget between (cc. 60 % on average in new member states)

5 Significant amounts of EU development funding will continue to flow into these countries in Total EU allocations of cohesion policy * (billion, current prices) In the program cycle, EU Cohesion policy will invest 351 billion in EU cities and regions AT BE BG CY CZ DE DK EE EL ES FI FR HR HU IE IT LT LU LV MT NL PL PT RO SE SI SK UK * breakdown by category of allocations subject to transfers between categories at the request of the Member States Hungary receives 21.9 billion

6 In Hungary, cc. 15 % of Cohesion Policy funding will be spent as direct investment to improve the environment : Hungary shall spend cc 15 % of its Cohesion funding on environment and energy objectives less than 3% for nature conservation Central Hungary; 271 Mrd Ft; 4% Regions in Hungary; 1172 Mrd Ft; 16% Public administration; 276 Mrd Ft; 4% Human development; 906 Mrd Ft; 12% Transport; 1157 Mrd Ft; 15% : 18 % ( 4,17 billion out of 22.4 billion total cohesion funding) Economic Development ; 2586 Mrd Ft; 34% Environment & energy; 1117 Mrd Ft; 15%

7 Environmental and sustainability relevant impact may occur in any of these investments, including environmental ones Cohesion Policy objectives: Creating growth & jobs Tackling climate change & energy dependence (resource efficiency) Reducing poverty & social exclusion Priority areas of funding: Research & innovation Information society Support for enterprises and workers Transport Energy Environment and climate change Health Culture Tourism Employment and social inclusion Education and training

8 Horizontal principles intended to ensure net social benefit Promote European values Reduce or off-set harmful environmental or social impact, ensure sustainability Eg, Sustainable development defined: 1303/2013 General Provisions Regulation for Cohesion Policy the principle of sustainable development to be observed, environmental considerations integrated, the polluter pays principle applied measures to ensure that harmful environmental impact is avoided and social, environmental and climate benefits are maximised investments should aim at reducing, and adapting to, climate change impact, as well as ensure resilience against climate change and natural disasters investments should ensure the sustainable use of water resources, the prevention and recycling of waste and the enforcement of producer responsibility in accordance with the polluter pays principle

9 IF all of these principles were properly observed, evaluators would be out of business

10 Results of a proxy-study of unintended impacts of development programs in Hungary 1200 projects funded by Cohesion Policy programs in Hungary Transport Economic Development Environment and Energy Regional Development Total project value cc. 6.7 billion euros Proxy-study: interviews with local actors regional environmental authorities national park professionals

11 Transport side effects 1/3 155 projects, cc billion euros Route conflicts with quality agricultural land & Natura2000 sites Water management regime upset along newly developed roads Oil & other pollutants leak to neighbouring land and waters Heavy metal contaminated water runoff from motorways destroys vegetation lining the roads CO 2 emissions increased by cc 1/3 along transport development routes

12 Transport side effects 2/3 Roads fragment populations and cuts across ecological corridors Traffic flows disrupt or destroy amphibians and other vertebrates Car headlights draw in and destroy butterflies and other insects. Changed micro-climatic conditions drive out original populations Roads and accompanying infrastructure may play a role in the spreading plant & animal species

13 Transport side effects 3/3 Roadside green areas may serve as the only refuge in heavily farmed regions Harmful impacts in part mitigated by restoration measures, establishing habitats similar to those destroyed

14 Environment side effects 501 projects, cc million euros 38 problem cases reported: fines for non-compliant discharge into receivers ground water pollution complaints from the local population on noise, dust, smell related to investments

15 Regional development 1/2: Territorial cohesion Cohesion Policy funding distribution across Hungary, (bn HUF/county) SME support, Hungary, Despite declared intentions to invest into less developed areas of the country, the biggest part of the funding ends up in the capital and county seats

16 Regional development 2/2: Tourism side effects - combined effect of spas & geothermal production wells Dropping water table levels at spa development sites - already used as geothermal production wells

17 Other typical anomalies The targeted problem solved at project site, but appears elsewhere: ring roads designed to reduce traffic in town centres divert traffic to other residential areas savings for ministries increased maintenance costs for municipalities water and sewage treatment facility development makes water fees unaffordable to local population while health expenditure on state level is likely to decrease Benefits cannot be accounted for: economic development investments in less polluting sectors energy use and CO 2 emissions reduced but not tracked

18 Beyond result orientation Incorporate horizontal principles & manage for unintended impacts in intervention logic Improve program performance OR Create long lasting sideeffects that may destroy program benefit

19 HOW? Early warning system from a partnership with stakeholders participating in the design and supervision of the monitoring and reporting system Procedures, system, capacity and data collection to monitor environmental & sustainability indicators for all programs Support managing authorities in designing interventions in a way that integrate the three aspects of program performance, i.e. serving the program specific objective as well as the horizontal objective, and managing unintended impact throughout program implementation.

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