Mainstreaming Global
Environment Issues
into Development

Definition of environmental integration
and mainstreaming

Environmental integration and mainstreaming “encompass the process(es) by which environmental considerations are brought to the attention of organisations and individuals involved in decision-making on the economic, social and physical development of a country (at national, sub-national and/or local levels), and the process(es) by which environment is considered in taking those decisions.” This is the definition that has been adopted by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) in its initiative to produce a User Guide to tools and tactics for integrating environment into development decision-making. The IIED considers the two terms, “integration” and “mainstreaming,” to have the same meaning, and they are used interchangeably in this section.


The importance of environmental mainstreaming

The basic reason why environmental mainstreaming is important is that economic and social development and the environment are fundamentally interdependent – the way we manage the economy and political and social institutions has critical impacts on the environment, while environmental quality and sustainability, in turn, are vital for the performance of the economy and social well being. As such the task of environmental integration and mainstreaming is at the forefront of development planning and policy formulation.

Investment in sound and equitable environmental management not only makes economic sense, but it is also crucial for expanding opportunities to help people overcome poverty. More information on poverty-environment linkages and the contribution that better environmental management can make to improved health, livelihoods, and security for the poor, can be found in the Poverty Environment Partnership (PEP) publication Linking Poverty Reduction and Environmental Management (DFID, European Commission, UNDP, World Bank; July 2002).


Role of GEF Focal Points

The GEF Focal Point (FP) may play a central role in coordinating, integrating, and promoting consultation at the country level on global environmental projects funded by the GEF and other sources (Figure 1). GEF Operational and Political Focal Points designated by each GEF member country are vested with the responsibility for ensuring that GEF-funded activities are country-driven and based on national priorities. The coordination and consultation activities of GEF Focal Points may involve putting environmental mainstreaming on the policy and planning agenda at the ministerial and national level, as well as raising public awareness about vital environmental-economic-social linkages. Additional information on the role of the GEF Focal Points can be found in the forthcoming GEF Operations Manual.


Figure 1: Vertical and horizontal coordination among national actors


Examples of GEF mainstreaming at the
national level

Since the beginning of 2007 the GEF Country Support Programme (CSP) has organized a series of sub-regional workshops for GEF Focal Points around the world. Environmental mainstreaming and integration of GEF in national plans and strategies were key themes for discussion and reflection. GEF Focal Points shared different approaches to environmental mainstreaming that are being implemented in their countries (click here for presentations on Integrating GEF in Environment and Sustainable Development Plans and Policies).

Experience from China illustrates how effective linkages can be maintained between GEF projects and national development objectives by ensuring that GEF projects in China have clear objectives that are integrated with development and implementation of national programmes and actions. The projects have thus promoted implementation of a number of national key plans and programmes. Institutionally, by placing GEF activities under the Ministry of Finance, strong inter-sectoral coordination, as well as provincial-level coordination is maintained.

The Asian Development Bank has focused on integrating environmental sustainability into sustainable development of the Greater Mekong sub-region. The experience of ADB and the countries of the sub-region provides an example of a landscape management approach where environmental concerns are embedded into development planning (North-South Economic Corridor, tourism, transport, energy sectors). The fundamental premise is that “if we do not take care of our natural resources and biodiversity, the region cannot realize its economic potential”.

In the case of Namibia the GEF programme is closely linked to Namibia’s Vision 2030, at the heart of which are 5-year National Development Plans (NDPs). Attaining the MDGs and Vision 2030 requires a paradigm shift that recognizes the need to mainstream and integrate environmental management into all aspects of planning, strategies and actions within the policy environment, institutional setting and individual competencies.

The GEF Country Support Programme will be developing more detailed case studies on environmental mainstreaming. Please check this link periodically as these country case studies will be added during the first half of 2008.


Additional resources on environmental mainstreaming/ integration

Mainstreaming Biodiversity in Production Landscapes
(October 2005)
The GEF’s Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel held a workshop in October 2004 on the issue of Mainstreaming Biodiversity in Production Sectors and Landscapes. Among other things, the objectives of this workshop were to determine an operational definition of the concept of mainstreaming biodiversity in production landscapes and sectors, to explore the scale at which mainstreaming can most effectively be carried out, to critique successes and failures in achieving mainstreaming outcomes to date, and to brainstorm on modified or new approaches and tools to assist in achieving more effective mainstreaming outcomes in future, e.g. models of best practice, principles and indicators. The workshop findings and conclusions have been consolidated into a GEF Working Paper titled Mainstreaming Biodiversity in Production Landscapes (October 2005). Even though this paper specifically address the issue of mainstreaming biodiversity conservation, the principles, approaches, methods and tools can also be useful for other environmental issues.

Generic Guidelines for Mainstreaming Environment with a particular focus on Drylands into National Development Frameworks: First Edition (August 2007)
UNDP’s Drylands Development Center, in close collaboration with the Global Mechanism (GM) of UNCCD, UNEP and the UNDP/GEF Global Support Unit, has developed Generic Guidelines for Mainstreaming Environment with a particular focus on Drylands into National Development Frameworks (First Edition, August 2007). This document provides broad generic steps for mainstreaming environment and drylands issues into national development frameworks. The steps are drawn from experiences in mainstreaming from a sample of countries (Morocco, Tunisia, Benin, Ghana, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Namibia, Mozambique, China, India, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Argentina, Barbados, and Samoa). These national case studies documented the countries’ lessons, processes, challenges and experiences, which have provided a useful platform for debate during the International Workshop on Mainstreaming (Mali, 2007) to generate generic guidelines for mainstreaming. Annex 1 of the Drylands Mainstreaming report (pages 48 to 54) provide a list of 23 tools that have been used to facilitate mainstreaming, and Annex 9 (pages 66-67) provides a comprehensive listing of sources of information on mainstreaming guidelines and tools.

Efforts of GEF Agencies to integrate global environmental issues into their development assistance programmes (November 2007)
This Information Document is a collected set of reports submitted by ADB, AfDB, FAO, IADB, IFAD, UNDP, UNEP, UNIDO, and the World Bank on their mainstreaming efforts. Each Agency’s report covers the following in a 3-5 page format: (a) Overall history of how mainstreaming has developed within the Agency; (b) Status and successes of current mainstreaming efforts; and (c) Future goals of mainstreaming within the Agency. This has been prepared in response to a request from the Participants in the fourth replenishment of the GEF Trust Fund, who noted that: “Given the crucial link between global environmental protection, sustainable development, conflict prevention and human welfare, the GEF agencies should integrate global environmental challenges into their core development work and, as part of their country dialogues, into poverty reduction strategies and national sustainable development policies and programs” (GEF/R.4/32, paragraph 9).

Environmental Mainstreaming: A User Guide to Tools and Tactics (under development)
In addition, the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) has recently launched an initiative to produce a User Guide to tools and tactics for integrating environment into development decision-making (environmental mainstreaming), steered by an International Stakeholders Panel. The initiative will aim to identify which tools work best, for what purpose and for which user. It will cover the large array of tools and methods available for ‘environmental mainstreaming’, building on stakeholders’ experiences of the range from technical approaches such as EIA to more political approaches such as citizens’ juries. The project process will offer three products: (a) A core of about 30 tools will be profiled and reviewed according to common criteria; (b) A guide to choosing tools for specific tasks - to help users select the approach that is right for particular problems or tasks; and (c) An overview of areas for which all tools tend to be weak or missing will also be prepared, to guide further tool development.

Poverty Environment Initiative
The UNDP-UNEP Poverty Environment Initiative (PEI) is a joint programme to help countries develop their capacity to mainstream poverty-environment linkages into national development planning processes, such as PRSP’s and MDG Achievement Strategies. PEI knowledge materials include reviews, methodologies, tools, and examples from countries to support those engaged in country-level environmental mainstreaming.

Poverty Environment Partnership
The Poverty Environment Partnership is an informal network of development agencies, which seeks to improve the coordination of work on poverty reduction and the environment within the framework of internationally agreed principles and processes for sustainable development.

OECD DAC Guidelines on “Integrating the Rio Conventions into Development Co-operation
These guidelines aim to clarify the linkages between the Rio Conventions and sustainable development, and provide insights on how developing countries can respond to global environmental threats. The objective is to identify approaches which can address development and poverty reduction concerns in the context of global environmental issues. Climate change, biodiversity loss and desertification, are among the major factors threatening developing countries’ development prospects. This publication is intended for decision-makers and policy experts in donor organizations, as well as policy makers and development planners in developing countries by helping them to identify appropriate adaptation and conservation strategies and to integrate them into overall development agendas.