Second Environmental Performance Review of Albania

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The entire education system is subject to massive reform. Manuals and teaching materials for both studentsand teachers have been produced covering topics such as water, air and soil. As first steps toward transposingthe UNECE Strategy on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) into the national context, Albaniadesignated a National Focal Point for implementation of ESD and adopted the National Strategy and ActionPlan for ESD. An inter-agency coordination mechanism for ESD was established. In contrast, adultenvironmental education remains practically non-existent.Implementation of international agreements and commitmentsSince the first EPR in 2002, the Government has integrated several multilateral environmental agreements(MEAs) into the national legal framework. Lately, the process of international environmental integration hasstrongly resonated with the political objective of European integration and, ultimately, EU membership.Furthermore, the Government put efforts into improving domestic institutions and extending its interaction withbilateral and multilateral partners. All this has resulted in a policy and legal framework that is broadly based onMEA requirements and international practice.The process of international cooperation on the environment and implementation of MEAs is nuanced. It ischaracterized by institutional fragmentation. Mechanisms to oversee the implementation of internationalcommitments are often limited. An Inter-ministerial Environment Committee was recently established byMoEFWA, at the level of deputy ministers, in an attempt to introduce a coordination platform to addressenvironmental concerns in other sectors. However, several such platforms previously created under the auspicesof the environmental authority did not last. To achieve better cooperation, authorities thus require substantialtraining, and guidance.There is a tendency to concentrate efforts on adopting new MEAs while implementation is still fallingbehind. No compliance assessment has ever been done for an MEA. Consequently, MoEFWA has only a verygeneral understanding of where it stands with the implementation of international commitments. It remainsquestionable whether the intensive process of joining new MEAs and transposing them into the nationallegislation corresponds to the national capacity to implement them, the Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) ofnew legal requirements being limited to an assessment of the budgetary burden on the Government.Since the first EPR, the national environmental authority has undergone several reorganizations that havegenerally increased its capacity. However, during this process, several MEAs’ focal points were changed andtheir tasks reallocated to new people. Sometimes this resulted in a decrease in the capacity to manage thecountry’s international obligations on the environment.Economic instruments and expenditures for environmental protectionEconomic instruments have been strengthened in some areas since 2002, although environmentalmanagement is mainly based on command-and-control regulatory instruments. Permitting and inspectionsare used largely as income generators, although there are cases where their structure supports environmentalobjectives. Therefore, it is important to strengthen existing instruments, establish new ones or re-establishabolished ones.The “polluter pays” principle is recognized in legal terms; however, in practice there are notable problems inthe collection of economic instruments, and tariffs for some utilities are still below cost recovery levels. As aresult, the “polluter pays” principle is compromised and it is very difficult to achieve resource conservation andrational use of natural resources.The environmental sector is very much dependent on international financing and a very high proportion ofpublic environmental expenditure is coming from external sources. Several development partners – bilateraldonors in particular – are considering scaling down or phasing out their assistance in coming years due to thefinancial crisis. This will likely reduce the availability of donor aid, thus affecting the implementation ofenvironmental programmes.Despite a rather difficult macroeconomic environment, environmental expenditures and investments in keyareas have increased. However, resources for implementation of the country’s strategic goals on thexxv
xxvienvironment, defined in the ECS, are still limited. To increase resources for the environment, the establishmentof an environmental fund has been foreseen. The fund, if and when established, will finance environmentalinvestment projects in a cross-sectoral approach, i.e. within the competence of several ministries, includingactivities like solid waste management, wastewater collection and treatment, and energy efficiency.Sustainable management of water resourcesAlbania is endowed with surface water and groundwater resources which far exceed its use. On the otherhand, much of Albania’s economic activity is dependent on the utilization of water resources. Over 90 per centof energy production comes from hydropower plants (HPPs), while agriculture is fully dependent on irrigation.Moreover, the mining and industrial sector, as well as the tourism sector, are strongly dependent on clean andsufficient fresh water.The monitoring of water resources is inadequate and suffers from a fragmented institutional framework.Monitoring activities have been very rudimentary for many years, and there is little recent, factual informationon the status of both the quality and quantity of water resources. Furthermore, data are not adequately handledand analysis of data and comprehensive regular reporting are lacking. Thus, the implementation of both the EUWater Framework Directive and inventory and assessment mechanisms of the status of water resources requireimprovement.The relevant governmental authorities have recently prepared various strategic documents to set out anappropriate legal framework for the protection and management of water resources. However, an updatedwater resources management strategy, including mid-term and long-term financial planning and correspondingprioritization for investments in the different sectors, is lacking. As a result, investment decisions are made onthe basis of single-sector consideration and priority, leading at best to suboptimal investments and lostopportunities for capturing multi-purpose benefits, and at worst to a waste of limited resources.Despite being naturally rich in water, Albania suffers from a lack of fresh water in the required quantity andquality, and most of the existing water utilities are not able to cover operating costs. This is linked with aseries of causes: an inadequate and poorly maintained infrastructure in each of the water-using sectors withexorbitant water losses in the supply network, water abuses due to illegal connections to the main pipelines, thelack of individual water metering and operational control, low collection rates, inappropriate pricing of waterand the absence of institutional coordination.Taking into account the high sensitivity of the Mediterranean region toward impacts of climate change, thecontinuous growth in population and the necessary future economic growth, the scale of the highdependence on clean fresh water for sustainable economic and social development is obvious. It isindispensable for Albania to develop and implement efficient methods and technologies for the rational use ofwater resources, taking both the quality and quantity into account, and to control the impacts of resource use onthe environment.Waste managementWaste management is at a low level. Systems for the collection of municipal solid waste (MSW) are providedin most cities and towns, but not in rural areas. Urban waste is mostly disposed of at designated landfill sites,but large quantities are also dumped at unauthorised locations at the edges of settlements and along roads.Furthermore, little recycling of waste is undertaken.The management of industrial and mining waste is focused on clean-up and remediation of hot spots andmining sites waste, and improvements have been achieved in the main polluted areas. However, data arelimited only to this context, constraining the country’s ability to comply with all requirements of related MEAs,especially with the Basel Convention. The current level of industrial waste generation is considered low, butdata to assess the current situation do not exist. The same problem applies to the country’s hazardous wastemanagement.The National Waste Management Strategy for the period 2010-2025 aims at the full implementation of theEU Framework Directive on Waste Management. However, most of work on formulation of this document
Page 1 and 2: UNITED NATIONS ECONOMIC COMMISSION
Page 6 and 7: vPrefaceThe second EPR of Albania b
Page 8 and 9: viiLIST OF TEAM MEMBERSMr. Antoine
Page 10 and 11: ixMinistry of Agriculture, Food and
Page 12 and 13: xiCONTENTSForeword ................
Page 14 and 15: 8.3 Biological diversity ..........
Page 16 and 17: xvPageChapter 8Table 8.1:Table 8.2:
Page 18 and 19: xviiPageLIST OF PHOTOSIntroductionP
Page 20 and 21: xixLIST OF ABBREVIATIONSAICASCICANP
Page 22 and 23: xxiSIGNS AND MEASURES .. not availa
Page 24 and 25: xxiiiExecutive summaryThe first Env
Page 28 and 29: was done by international consultan
Page 30 and 31: 1Introduction I.1 Physical contextA
Page 32 and 33: Introduction3The country has deposi
Page 34 and 35: Introduction5Photo I.1: Ruins of Sk
Page 36: PART I: POLICYMAKING, PLANNING AND
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48 Part I: Policymaking, planning a
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67Chapter 5ECONOMIC INSTRUMENTS AND
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Chapter 5: Economic instruments and
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PART III: INTEGRATION OF ENVIRONMEN
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95Chapter 7WASTE MANAGEMENT7.1 Intr
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Chapter 7: Waste management97sold f
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Chapter 7: Waste management99SitesC
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Chapter 7: Waste management101Table
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Chapter 7: Waste management103• C
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Chapter 7: Waste management105sever
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Chapter 7: Waste management107(b) E
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110 Part III: Integration of enviro
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135Chapter 10HUMAN HEALTH AND ENVIR
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Chapter 10: Human health and enviro
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153Annex IIMPLEMENTATION OF THE REC
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The new 2011 Law on Environmental P
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Recommendation 3.2:Albania needs to
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Recommendation 4.2:The Ministry of
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for 2004 was prepared within the St
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163Chapter 6: WATER MANAGEMENTRecom
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There is no updated water resources
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international consulting and author
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it is limited only to the level of
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taken. In addition, NES2, under MoE
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173Chapter 12: HUMAN HEALTH AND THE
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Recommendation 12.5:(a) The Ministr
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178Worldwide agreementsYear1979 (BO
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181Annex IIISELECTED ECONOMIC AND E
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183Land resources and soil 2002 200
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Education 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
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188Law on Local Tax System, No. 963
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191SourcesIndividual authors1. Bego
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19336. Albania, Ministry of Environ
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19568. National Agency of Natural R
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197101. International POPs Eliminat
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199UNDP and Ministry of Environment
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201172. National Agency for Environ
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Second Environmental Performance Review of Albania

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