Aid agencies, like commercial businesses, are increasingly concerned with incorporating sound environmental management into their operations. Different approaches are being used to integrate sustainability into development assistance to ensure that environmental impacts are assessed and managed. One approach being used by AusAID, the Australian aid agency, is to implement an environmental management system (EMS) across program and project areas. This paper examines how AusAID has adapted the EMS approach to suit aid agency operations, and some of the lessons from the Australian experience.
Overall, within AusAID, there has been a change from strategic environmental assessments (audits) that are field and desk-based reviews of projects focused practice and outcomes, to a more systemic and process-oriented approach focusing on systems' operations, the supporting institutional arrangements and partnerships, and the continuous improvement of the EMS. The concern is now much more on whether the system is working effectively and is meeting policy and organisational objectives, not the particular outcomes of projects, which will continue to be assessed through project evaluations and reviews. Ongoing reviews of the EMS operation across AusAID will determine whether there needs to be greater formalisation of the system, and whether it continues to be efficient as well as effective as the Agency moves toward flexible aid delivery. From this experience, early lessons have emerged, which indicate more work needs to be done, but the EMS approach is proving valuable:
Strategic capacity building—Effective implementation of an EMS requires a thorough assessment of environmental capacity and a strategic training program. Paper or electronic support materials are necessary but not adequate. A reliance on voluntary training will not result in adequate skill development across the agency. Ideally, training should be targeted and done through groups that include a cross section of the organisation to ensure that participants appreciate the range of roles and responsibilities within the EMS, and the means by which these roles can be integrated.
Procedural guidance—The EMS must be integrated into the project cycle, not be seen as an adjunct to it. Linkages between the EMS and other management guidelines need to be made more explicit (preferably through training) to ensure the system remains integrated. This may require some modification to institutional operations, including the incorporation of specific environmental criteria and targets into performance appraisal, monitoring and auditing procedures, and reporting requirements.
Harmonisation of inter-agency environmental policy and legislation—Sound environmental policy and procedures in one agency can be undermined if they are not harmonised nationally. This would not only ensure efficiency in the administration of aid, but also create greater certainty for contractors and build stronger relationships between agencies operating in overlapping areas. This may require legislative reform or formal agreements. While formal institutions are important, care needs to be taken in countries where traditional or informal arrangements significantly influence resource use. Country-specific guidance and specialist knowledge are needed to ensure that projects that affect institutional arrangements are context sensitive.
Institutional integration—Environmental assessments need to draw on knowledge from a range of sources including local experts and environment agencies. This requires the clear establishment of protocols between agencies, clearly defined roles and responsibilities and agreements concerning the nature of partnerships that span geographic and institutional boundaries.
Evaluation—To ensure continuous improvement, aid agencies need to ensure that activity evaluations as well as EMS operations are used to adapt the system to improve effectiveness and efficiency. Audits need to be assessed or certified independently. In the case of aid agencies, any assessment of their EMSs will have to take into account their unique operations and consider such factors as compliance with MEAs for which the country is a signatory, criteria used to review and evaluate contracted parties' environmental performance and adequacy of the system to manage operations which have geographic and cultural boundaries.
EMSs by their nature are flexible and adaptive mechanisms that must be adjusted continually to meet changing needs and circumstances. The full and complete integration of EMSs into aid delivery is an important first step to achieving sustainable development; however, it will not be sufficient unless there is the capacity, commitment and collaborative arrangements to support its implementation and continuous improvement.
