Extensive analysis carried out by the Environmental Action Programme (EAP) Task Force has demonstrated that the governance of public expenditure in the environmental sector is often weak in Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia (EECCA) countries. This has diminished environmental benefits of public spending and rendered many environmental programmes unsatisfactory to finance ministries and donors alike.

In order to help improve the transparency, accountability and efficiency of public environmental expenditure programmes, the EAP Task Force has developed a number of practical tools. Some of these tools include, the Good Practices of Public Environmental Expenditure Management (PEEM), and the Handbook for Appraisal of Environmental Projects Financed from Public Funds.

These tools provide a framework for streamlining environmental management into mainstream public finance. The Good Practices for PEEM aim to assist governments in designing and implementing public environmental expenditure programmes and supervising and evaluating the performance of agencies implementing such programmes. The Handbook provides domestic institutions managing public environmental expenditure and selecting individual projects for financing with useful step-by-step guidance as to how to implement the Good Practices in real life. These tools were further tested on the ground and served to provide practical assistance to Kazakhstan, Moldova, Russia (Volgograd Oblast) and Ukraine as well as to countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) in reforming their laws and public environmental financial institutions.

To guide the OECD member states in improving the management of their public environmental expenditure programmes, in 2006, the OECD Council adopted the Good Practices for PEEM as Council Recommendation. All these tools have been developed through a series of international consultations with various stakeholders from the EECCA, CEE and OECD countries.

 

Related Documents

Sourcebook on environmental funds and CEE and NIS

Handbook for appraisal of environmental projects financed from public funds

Policy Brief: Making environmental spending count 

OECD Council recommendation on good practices for public environmental expenditure management

Good practices of public environmental expenditure management

Mechanisms for managing public environmental expenditure in selected OECD countries

Performance review of the state environmental protection fund of Ukraine

Rapid performance review of the Volgograd environmental fund

Performance review of the National Environmental Fund of Moldova and the Chisinau Municipal Environmental Fund 

Performance review of the Slovenian Environmental Fund

Performance review of the Polish EcoFund

Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia Network of Environmental Finance