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Wise Coastal Practices for Sustainable Human Development Forum
Posted By: Chua Thia-Eng
Date: Tuesday, 27 July 1999, at 7:02 p.m.
Key words: environmental quality, investment groups, waste management.
DESCRIPTION: The GEF/UNDP/IMO Regional Programme for the Prevention and Management of Marine Pollution in the East Asian Seas has initiated an ICM demonstration site in Batangas Bay, Philippines in an effort to address coastal and marine pollution in an area that is in the crossroads of industrialisation.
In the Batangas Bay ICM Demonstration Site, the concept of public-private partnership is used to help ensure program continuity. It is founded on an understanding that private sector participation in environmental management is not just an advantage but an essential element to achieving sustainability. Government cannot do it alone. The local government in Batangas Bay does not have the expertise or financing to develop, construct and operate efficient and effective environmental facilities and services needed in Batangas Bay. Public-private partnerships, however, offer the advantages of private sector dynamism, access to finance, knowledge of technologies, managerial efficiency, and the entrepreneurial spirit.
The concept was used to address one major concern in Batangas Bay: the enhancement of waste management services. Due to a paradigm shift in concept, marine pollution management was seen as a responsibility of both public and private sectors and can create investment opportunities. Waste was also seen as a resource. Four projects dealing with municipal solid waste, agricultural waste, ship and port waste and industrial hazardous waste were identified and investment opportunity briefs were prepared for the four projects, in conjunction with local stakeholders from the public and private sectors. The opportunity briefs were then presented at the Investors' Round Table on Public-Private Partnerships, which was held in Manila on 9-10 November 1998. Representatives from investment groups, private operating companies, intergovernmental financial institutions, venture capital groups and commercial banks attended the two-day briefing on near-to-market and emerging opportunities, within the context of public-private partnerships. As a result, six companies have submitted expressions of interests for the four Batangas Projects while local stakeholders initiated the process of selecting partners. A consortium of companies from New Zealand was eventually selected as the private partner for an integrated waste management facility.
STATUS: The wise practice (WP) is currently being implemented.
DISCUSSION
LONG TERM BENEFIT: The WP will improve environmental quality because it improves the chances of projects being successfully implemented, as the local government will have the support of the private sector. In Batangas Bay, the four waste management projects could not have been implemented had it been left to government efforts alone. The WP also helps in ensuring continuity of environmental improvement efforts long after the programme has ended as such efforts would be "handed-off" to local public and private entities.
CAPACITY BUILDING AND INSTITUTIONAL STRENGTHENING: The building up of local capacity is critical in the public-private partnership approach. The WP therefore promotes capacity building and institutional strengthening among the stakeholders.
SUSTAINABILITY: The public-private partnerships forged will last beyond the project life of the GEF/UNDP/IMO Regional Programme for the Prevention and Management of Marine Pollution in the East Asian Seas. This helps in ensuring that the environmental improvement effort in Batangas Bay does not end with the Regional Programme. The local public and private entities will continue the projects in a relationship mutually beneficial to all stakeholders.
TRANSFERABILITY: The WP is transferable. A model framework has been developed from the experiences in Batangas and will be published in the near future.
CONSENSUS BUILDING: The WP promotes consensus building, as it always demands local stakeholder consultation and involvement.
CULTURALLY RESPECTFUL: Stakeholder consultation is a major component for public-private partnership efforts. The WP is therefore formed well within the cultural bounds of local stakeholders.
LEGAL NATIONAL POLICY: The WP involved the creation of favourable policy and regulatory environment for increased environmental investment opportunities. The activity therefore adheres to current government environmental, economic, legal and social policies. It also helps solidify the WP's legitimacy as an effort thus giving the WP a higher degree of political will amongst local stakeholders.
REGIONAL DIMENSION: One good example of the WP's potential can be seen in the current economic situation prevalent in the East Asian Region. With the current economic slow-down of the East Asian Region due to a recent economic crisis that spread throughout the region, the WP provides opportunities for environmental investments as part of the economic stimulus packages that the Governments could put in place. The WP could therefore be a useful tool in improving economic growth.
DOCUMENTATION: The activity and lessons learnt have been well documented and will soon be published.
EVALUATION: The wise practice is still in its implementation phase. A feasibility study/business plan are currently being prepared, as a joint effort of the "public and private partners."
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