Capacity-building seminar on Information systems used by environmental permitting and inspection authorities

The virtual capacity-building seminar on “Information systems used by environmental permitting and inspection authorities” took place on 23 July 2021.

This meeting showcased a range of information systems used by permitting and inspection authorities in Europe for purposes such as permitting, and inspection planning and results. It covered low-technology off-the-shelf solutions as well as more advanced bespoke systems. The meeting also discussed potential pitfalls and next steps in the development of such systems.

The meeting was organised under the EU4Environment Programme. It falls under component 3.2 on Environmental Compliance Assurance and Liability Regimes, which seeks to strengthen environmental compliance assurance and enforcement systems and instruments in the Eastern Partnership countries at national and regional levels.

Participants

Participants included representatives from permitting and inspection authorities of Eastern Partnership and European countries, and representatives of the OECD Secretariat.

Background

Environmental permitting and inspection authorities face daily challenges on how to protect the environment and communities from pollution in an efficient and effective manner without placing undue strain on public finances and creating an excessive administrative burden. The recent acceleration of applying digital solutions has provided huge opportunities to permitting and inspection authorities to better collect and control data, cut down on bureaucracy and focus available resources on environmental protection instead of administration. However, many environmental regulators have invested in emerging technologies while failing to secure basic infrastructure for handling core business such as permitting platforms and data handling systems that can easily capture and compile inspection data.

Meeting documents

Agenda (English | Russian)

Presentation slides

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