On 25 August 2022, the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, adopted the Federal Environmental Strategy which is an integral part of the Bosnia and Herzegovina Environmental Strategy (BiH ESAP). It will be operational for 10 years. The Strategy was developed as part of the BiH ESAP 2030+ project, which represents the appropriate response of the Embassy of Sweden in BiH to the request for assistance in the development of the first Environmental Strategy for Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Federal Environmental Strategy includes seven EU environmental thematic areas: water management; waste management; biodiversity and nature protection; air quality, climate change and energy; chemical safety and noise; sustainable resource management (including agriculture, forestry, fisheries and mining activities) and environmental management (as a horizontal policy).
For each thematic area of the environment, the Federal Environmental Strategy established priorities and measures to improve the environment, mitigate and reduce the impact of climate change and strengthen resistance to it, find better compliance of regulations with EU regulations and international agreements in the field of the environment, more efficient management of the environmental sector in BiH, ensure better public services in the areas, and integrate issues of gender equality, social equality and. The Strategy also offers indicative financial frameworks for implementing measures.
A step closer to the EU
The environment is one of the issues that BiH will negotiate with the EU, in accordance with Chapter 27 – Environment and climate change, in order to implement policies and regulations in accordance with the EU acquis in the field of environment.
The adoption of the BiH Environmental Strategy will help relevant institutions further harmonise the legal and institutional framework of BiH with EU regulations, i.e., legal acquis from seven thematic areas of the environment. In the long term, this will help Bosnia and Herzegovina in its efforts to become a member of the EU. Adopting BiH ESAP 2030+ in all jurisdictions will also be an important step for BiH in adopting the conditions set by the European Commission for our country on its way to approach the EU, and facilitate access to IPA funds.
With a participatory approach to environmental protection
The entire process of drafting the Federal Environmental Strategy within the BiH ESAP 2030+ project was based on a participatory approach and was carried out with the coordination, cooperation and participation of more than 300 representatives of various institutions and organisations in FBiH (all relevant ministries, public institutions and other institutions at all levels of government, representatives of the academic community, the business sector and the non-governmental sector) with continuous information and involvement of the public.
The BiH ESAP BiH 2030+ project is implemented by the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), with the financial support of the Embassy of Sweden in BiH.
