B O S N I A A N D H E R Z E G O V I N A
Update on Bosnia
By Stephen Stec, Nesad Seremet and Djordje Stefanovic
In 1997, the formerly warring parties in Bosnia and Herzegovina were still not talking to each other and the Dayton peace agreement appeared fragile and unworkable. The atmosphere of mistrust prevented any kind of joint action between the two entities (Federation Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska) which make up the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina. There was a real danger that threats to human health and the environment would increase.
Some Bosnian officials, such as Ahdin Orahovac, former secretary of the Ministry of Physical Planning and Environment of the Federation, saw the need to get environmental institutions working at the state level and appealed to the international community for help. In response, Gerd Wagner, senior deputy high representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, came up with the idea to establish an Environmental Steering Committee (ESC) between the two entities to coordinate environmental law and policy statewide.
In November of 1997, when a helicopter crash over Bosnia and Herzegovina killed Ambassador Wagner and 11 others (see story in The Bulletin, Vol. 7 #3), his dream might well have ended. But eventually the dream became a reality and the committee passed its first anniversary this July 14.
The ESC has been a remarkable if sometimes difficult collaboration of many organisations and individuals from Bosnia and the international community. Early on, negotiations between the European Commission (EC), the UN-led Office of the High Representative (OHR) and the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe (REC) were geared to providing financial and technical support for the committee's activities. Problems soon followed, however, when the EC's funds were blocked in a Sarajevo bank. Fortunately, the REC's Japan Special Fund (JSF) stepped forward with critical financial resources.
Soon after, the ministers of environment of the two entities met at the REC's head office on 14 July 1998 to sign the Szentendre Agreement, one of the highest-level cooperative agreements between the two entities up to that time (see story in The Bulletin, Vol. 8 #1).
The OHR and EC then gradually took over the support of the ESC. At the same time, the JSF project for the development of environmental law and policy continued to cooperate with the ESC, presenting international seminars on framework environmental law drafting, local environmental action plans, the Aarhus Convention and environmental impact assessment.
ESC members have now developed a sense of trust and mutual cooperation in tackling problems that can only be solved together. The ESC also emerged as the logical focal point for state-level environmental initiatives of the international community. It has been named as the appropriate agency responsible for execution of a National Environmental Action Plan for Bosnia and Herzegovina by the World Bank, for the EC's Environment Programme for Bosnia and Herzegovina, and for the OHR's efforts to harmonise environmental legislation in the two entities.
Regarding the latter, the process of coordinating the drafting of harmonised environmental legislation has been fraught with difficulties, especially with international assistance. After several delays, however, the EC has announced an initiative to assist the ESC in preparing consistent environmental laws for the entities, in alignment with the requirements of the European Union and in coordination with the OHR.
International environmental agreements are another focus of the ESC. There are now no clear constitutional means for Bosnia and Herzegovina to adopt international environmental agreements. But the ESC can facilitate negotiations and submit joint requests to the state-level Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Boro Mandic, deputy minister of the environment of Republica Srpska, described it thus: "The task of the committee is to coordinate the parallel work on the level of the entities in the area of international environmental agreements according to their procedures and to present the results for the procedure to the common [state] authorities."
As a result, the adoption of the Basel Convention on transboundary movements of hazardous waste, the Aarhus Convention on public participation and the Mediterranean Action Plan are all currently on the ESC's agenda.
Other international activities coordinated by the ESC on behalf of the entities include the incorporation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Strategic Action Program for Pollution Prevention in the Danube River Basin and the Ozone Unit under the Montreal Protocol.
In the longer term, the ESC could become an important factor in BiH's search for a sustainable pattern of development. As new steering committees are formed in different sectors, such as transport, health, industry, education and tourism, the ESC can ensure that they take environmental considerations into account in planning and policy-making.
The ESC model may also prove useful for other war-torn parts of the former Yugoslavia working on environmental rehabilitation and protection.
