About
At a glance
| Progamme title: | The “European Union for Environment” (EU4Environment) Action |
| Objective: | To help the six partner countries preserve their natural capital and increase people’s environmental well-being, by supporting environment-related action, demonstrating and unlocking opportunities for greener growth, and setting mechanisms to better manage environmental risks and impacts. |
| Partner Countries: | Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Republic of Moldova, Ukraine |
| Duration: | 2019-2024 |
| Budget: | About EUR 20 million (EU contribution: EUR 19.5 million) |
| Implementing Partners: | OECD, UNECE, UNEP, UNIDO, the World Bank |
| Overall direction: | European Commission. EU4Environment is a part of EU Initiative. |
Context
EU4Environment was launched in the context of an important political momentum of the 10th anniversary of the Eastern Partnership, which showed good progress towards the “20 Deliverables for 2020” and reinforced EU support towards environmental goals following the European elections. Its launch was also related to the politically dynamic environment in the EaP countries. This included the important political and institutional changes in Armenia, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine as a result of government restructuring and/or Parliamentary elections. The Mobilisation and Inception Phase of EU4Environment (January-October 2019) showed that the Action was very timely, relevant and critically needed.
By bringing together environmental and economic actors, EU4Environment helps deliver policy and legislative changes, making planning and investment greener, stimulating the uptake of innovative technologies, adopting new business models, and creating green jobs. It promotes better environmental governance, improved management of protected areas and forests, and sustainable trade. The scope of the Action was defined in cooperation with all partner countries.
The Action builds on important achievements of past cooperation programmes, such as Greening Economies in the Eastern Neighbourhood (EaP GREEN), the Forest Law Enforcement and Governance (FLEG), and the Emerald Network, which were completed in 2017-18. It will ensure synergies with other EU-funded initiatives (EU4Climate, EU4Business, EU4Energy, SIGMA), coordination with European Union Delegations and engagement of the civil society.
Purpose and structure
The “European Union for Environment” (EU4Environment) Action is structured around five thematic areas/clusters of work, called “Results”:
- Greener decision-making;
- Circular economy and new growth opportunities;
- An environmental level playing field;
- Ecosystem services and livelihoods;
- Regional knowledge sharing and coordination.
Each Result contains a number of outputs with country-specific and regional activities, as specified in the work plans and the Description of the Action, which are the key guiding documents of the Action.
Implementing partners
Three UN agencies (UNECE, UNEP and UNIDO) are implementing organisations for Results 1 and 2.
The OECD is the implementing organisation for Results 3 and 5 and the World Bank – for Result 4.
The OECD also facilitates interaction among partners and co-ordinates communication and visibility activities.
Stakeholders
EU4Environment works at both the regional and national levels. It is primarily targeted at government authorities in the EaP countries, but also works closely with civil society, academia and private sector.
The key national partners and beneficiaries of the Action are Ministries of Environment and of Economy of six EaP countries. Various branches of the government are involved in its activities, including Ministries of Finance and Energy, procurement agencies, national statistics offices and other line Ministries.