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Lessons from the Past
The draft strategy assesses previous environmentally-related assistance provided by ADB and other major donors in the region, and draws lessons from past experience to be applied in the design of the new ADB strategy.
The results of the preliminary assessment of ADB's experience are summarized below, but the draft strategy report also reviews experience with programs financed by the Global Environment Facility as well as by other multilateral and bilateral donors. Further information on externally-funded environmental assistance programs in the Pacific is being actively sought through the consultation process.
ADB has been an active partner over the past decade in country and regional efforts to improve environmental management capacity and performance in the Pacific. It has provided a large number of grant-financed Technical Assistance (TA) activities as well as loan-funded projects that help address environmental challenges facing PDMCs.
From 1992 to 2002, ADB has provided Pacific DMCs with
- 53 Country-level Technical Assistance activities valued at U$23.5 million
- 4 Country-level grants worth U$11.7 million
- 19 Regional Technical Assistance activities worth U$4.9 million
- 15 loans valued at U$108.8 million
These activities are grouped into five major categories or "sectors" of support:
- institutional strengthening and capability building for environmental management
- social infrastructure (including water supply and sanitation, urban development, health and population, waste management, and environmental education)
- agricultural, marine and other natural resources (including sustainable fisheries, coastal and marine protection, forestry, watershed management, and biodiversity conservation)
- energy, climate change and variability
- others (including sustainable tourism and related development undertakings)
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There are now at least 115 environment-related projects being funded by several international and bilateral donor agencies in the Pacific based on the results of a survey conducted by PRES. Close to 80% of these projects are either in the category of agriculture, marine and other natural resources, or social and environmental infrastructure, and are being implemented at the country and regional levels:
- 64 country-level projects valued at $110.7 million
- 51 regional projects worth $96.8 million
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Lessons Learned from ADB's Experience
A number of lessons are drawn from the experience with ADB environment-related TAs, grants, and lending:
- Conflict between state and local norms. Potential differences may occur between national environmental authorities and local groups in implementing state-adopted regulations especially when local norms/customs are not fully considered in preparing such regulations
- Complex environmental legislation. National environmental legislation has often failed because of the use of overly complex legal frameworks based on inappropriate "outside/foreign" models
- Need for institutional strengthening. Experience suggests that institutional strengthening with public participation is the most needed and appropriate approach in ensuring acceptance and adoption of sustainable development strategies and technologies.
- Importance of consensus management. Consultative processes are essential to achieve stakeholders' participation, commitment and ownership, while cultural needs and traditional norms and practices of the local people must also be taken into account for a project to succeed
- Effective monitoring systems. Design and implementation of cost-effective field monitoring is necessary to measure long-term productivity and sustainability of projects
- Institutions for resource management. A balance must be struck between top-down and bottom-up management systems in implementing projects. Otherwise project will fail if management structures are imposed from the top
- Market-based approach. Realities of market forces must be considered in full during project conceptualization and design, as well as implementation
- Private sector participation. Strong private sector participation-alongside all elements of civil society-is essential in the preparation and implementation of new policies and programs for environmental and natural resources management
- Availability of local human resources and their capacity. Special attention must be given to capacity building of executing and implementing agencies while also ensuring the availability of key counterpart staff for the implementation of projects
- Political instability. Changes in development priorities resulting from changes in political leadership normally cause discontinuity of ongoing projects
- Stronger regional cooperation. Many environmental problems and issues in the Pacific are either transboundary in nature or are common to a large number of countries and hence deserve attention at a regional level. However, implementation is best geared at the local or sub-national levels
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Lessons Learned from other Experiences
In addition to the lessons and insights learned from ADB assistance, some valuable insights may be drawn from activities and projects implemented by the South Pacific Regional Environment Program (SPREP) , and other Pacific region organizations, through activities financed by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and other international donor agencies:
- Building on NEMS. PDMCs got off to a very good start in the early 1990s with preparation of the National Environmental Management Strategies (NEMS). NEMS, however, failed to set priorities based on local institutions and on links to economically and/or socially-based criteria in a benefit-cost framework. For this and other reasons, many of the recommended responses lacked implementability
- Utilization of CROP members. The Council of Regional Organizations of the Pacific (CROP) network has not yet reached its full potential in managing and disseminating information on Pacific resources and best practices utilized at the national and regional levels. Cooperation among CROP members and their internal management structures could be improved
- Pacific engagement on global environmental issues. Pacific governments' heavy involvement in fulfilling obligations under multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs)-- though impressive -- places an added burden on already overtaxed national capacities and human resources
- Replicating local successes. Many projects, although successful, remain highly localized. A more systematic approach is needed to make them replicable and applicable at the national and/or regional levels
- Lagging legal frameworks. Most PDMCs are still lacking legal frameworks at the national as well as local levels covering the major aspects of environmental protection and natural resources management. One clear example is the lack of an effective EIA system
- Environmental mainstreaming. There has been very little real progress in mainstreaming environmental considerations into the way policies, plans and programs are developed for key sectors, such as transportation, energy, industry or tourism and for national strategies/development plans
- Regional versus national or local interventions. Much closer attention needs to be given to the question of the appropriate level (i.e. local, sub-national/sectoral, national or regional) at which interventions are organized and implemented in the environment sphere. Vertical linkages between each level will ensure consistency of approaches
- Consultation, participation and awareness. Building partnerships among government, community groups, NGOs, and the private sector is an efficient and sustainable approach to make full use of scarce resources, share burdens and, develop local expertise and ownership.
Projects 
