Download Breakout Session: Policy Translation and Implementation

Policy Translation and
implementation
Chair: Alphonsine
Rapporteau: Lynn
Air pollution and health
• Are the existing policies and regulations adequate?
– Use of international guidelines and conventions
• Rwanda: not so adequate
• Kenya: Kenya Bureau of Standards-has come up with
laws, there is air quality standards
• Many vehicles in Nairobi
• No consistent ways to monitor air pollution
• Lot of adaptation
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• Lack of adequate research to inform policy
• Have a national climate change strategy
• There is a lot of borrowing adopting results and
frameworks
• Strong labor laws and organizations
• Uganda:
• No set up of air quality standards but UNDP has
taken on an initiative to monitor air quality and thru
the track green gas initiative
– Staff are being trained
• What are the pathways from research to action?
– Need for local evidence to inform policy
– Most policy have gaps due to lack of research. Usually
gaps are filled along the way
– Need for communication training for science
• Reason for gaps in communication: scientists are not good in
communication. They need to communication
• Need evidence
– Laws made by politicians and the issues of pollution
are not that visible to them
– In Uganda, there is an opportunity for political
champions to take an advantage
• the ban of plastic bags
• What are the challenges for implementation?
• In RW environment is under several authorities
– RW Envir. Authority, RW metrology agency, research
institutions
• Awareness is a problem
• Financial and Human resources
• Any big opposing forces
– E.g. URA vs Nema. E.g. old Vehicles importation vs revenue.
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BAT and other powerful org
Enforcement issues
Policies available but implementation is still a challenge
Need communication training for scientists may be some
module in the university
– In the US some funding was obtained to fund this
– How can the challenges be overcome?
– Use of pol champions should be taken advantage of
– Need to involve political leaders to have matters
taken forward
• e.g. President Obama (climate change is a PH issue)
– Closes collaboration and coordination of
government agencies
– We need to train human resources
– Enforcement:
• We need incentives for enforcements for compliance
• Tax for old cars is higher
– Strategic plans for capacity building
• Enforcement
– Need equipment to analyze samples
• Equipment
– The monitoring of air pollution monitoring is not consistent in
Nairobi
– Coordination of efforts across agencies
• RW: has developed CC observatory and are doing
research. This is under min of education
• UG, KE & RW: have CC mainstreaming guidelines, have
CC TWGS
• KE: NEMA, MOH there are committee which to
followup
– Overcoming obstacles to policy implementation
Policy Translation and implementation II
Additional issues
• Climate change and health
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National/regional efforts
Vulnerabilities
Existing and adaptation programs
Assess adaptation and mitigation benefits
• Occupational safety and health
– Dealing with issues to do with emerging industries
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Instruments exist but not followed/implemented
People falling off buildings in ET
Pesticides use very high ET
The tuktuk killing pple in ET
KE: Juwakali work is not regulated /metal work/pit latrines
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Summary according to ToR
• To conduct in depth discussions on the next
steps in establishing activities for the full hub
• To identify areas of focus and ways of
implementing them
• Policies exist but are
– not informed by local data and
– not implemented or enforced
• Use of intl guidelines is strong but implementation is
weak
• Pathways from research to action
– need for local evidence but also
– need for communications training for scientists to inform
policy makers (inspired by env scientists in US) – ie
messaging on climate change as a public health
– Lack of political champion
• Challenges:
– financial – both the lack of resources and conflicting
financial interests (ie: vehicles and taxation brings in
money to govt but then the health ‘cost’ is so much more)
– awareness
– coordination between groups
– conflicts of interest between agencies and groups
– lack of penalties – enforcement and lack of strong
incentives (in Uganda some incentives exist but they aren’t
strong enough to be an incentive)
– lack of training