Objective and Scope Objective The objectives of this Public Expenditure Environment Review are as follows: - Evaluate public expenditure in environmental management as the current fragmentation of funding and public institutions makes it difficult to provide a consolidated view;
- Examine the processes whereby policy is developed (as sustainable development and climate change mitigation and adaptation are cross-cutting. This will provide an insight into the likely take-up of policy decisions and subsequent funding allocations, as well as give an insight into institutional capacity and coordination mechanisms;
- Analyse the effectiveness of expenditure allocation, disbursement and execution;
- Develop a climate budget code so that expenditure on climate change mitigation and adaptation can be tracked;
- Assess the outputs delivered and outcomes achieved through public expenditure on environment. Comparison of public expenditures of Mauritius environment with those of other countries, with similar level of development, and facing similar environmental challenges, will provide benchmarks to assess the efficiency of environmental finance in Mauritius;
- Provide concrete recommendations to strengthen the efficiency and effectiveness of public expenditure and institutional mechanisms for environmental management;
- Identify resources and strengthen capacity to effectively tap into international funds which are being made available to address environmental issues.
The review period for the public environment expenditure will be from 2011 to 2014. It will include expenditure under ‘Environmental Protection and Conservation’, and ‘Sustainable Development and Climate Change’. Even though both these programmes appear only in expenditure of the Ministry of Environment, Sustainable Development, Disaster and Beach Management, a number of other ministries are involved in implementing projects and undertaking a number of activities that aim to protect the environment and achieve sustainable development. Methodology and Approach The analysis will draw on Public Environment Expenditure and Review (PEER) based on the Climate Public Expenditure and Institutional Review (CPEIR) methodology designed by UNDP and Overseas Development Institute (ODI), but with adaptations in light of past and current environmental finance advancements in Mauritius. The methodology will review how environment related expenditures are integrated into national medium term expenditure framework (MTEF) and sector budgetary processes. This analysis has to be set within the context of the national policy and institutional arrangements that exist to manage the response to environmental impacts in the Republic of Mauritius. Hence, the analysis needs to take account three key spheres of policy development, institutional structures and financial management: - An assessment of current policy priorities and strategies as these relate to environment;
- A review of institutional arrangements for promoting the integration of environmental priorities into budgeting and expenditure management;
- A review of the integration of environmental objectives within the budgeting process, including the part of budget planning, implementation, expenditure management and financing.
The consultancy assignment will also address the following issues: Review the institutional arrangements and coordination mechanisms for environmental finance, budgeting and planning The consultancy team will examine the current institutional arrangements to identify where improvements could be made including extent to which these arrangements are coherent with national development and inclusive green economic growth strategies and policies. This will also lead to recommendations to improve the coordination of international flow of incoming climate finance for better integration and prioritization as well as donor coordination on actions related to the environment in Mauritius. Planning and budgeting for environment-related actions The consultancy team will review actions related to the environment, targets and performance indicators proposed in PBB and sectoral and national plans to obtain a clear picture of what has been planned and implemented. This will enable key Ministries and MOFED to estimate financial resources that are required to implement actions related to the environment and how much budgetary resources should be allocated to finance environmental expenditures and investments. This will also identify whether more detailed costing exercises are needed within and/or across sector and across-cutting policy priorities and targets. Budgetary allocation and tracking actual expenditure The consultancy team will review the financial management systems for allocating and spending environment-related expenditures with an aim to attempt to understand a trends analysis on both budgeted and actual expenditure. Define environment-related expenditures The absence of a definition on environment-related expenditure constrains stakeholders in tracking resources allocated for financing associated actions. Building on from support provided by UN Statistics Division, the consultancy team will propose an inclusive methodology and coding system to define and track environment-related expenditure that is appropriate in the Mauritian context. Establish a monitoring and evaluation mechanism as well as a tracking system The consultancy team will review the budget and environment frameworks with a view to recommend associated finance related indicators for inclusion. Refer to detailed TOR as posted on http://www.mu.undp.org/content/mauritius_and_seychelles/en/home/operations/procurement/ . Institutional arrangements The consultancy team will be composed of two experts: one Team Leader/Expert in Public Finance Management and Public Expenditure Review and one Expert in Environment, Climate Change and Sustainable Development. The consultancy team will receive strong and continuous support from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, which will fully brief the consultants on budget information available in Mauritius. A national team of analysts from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development (particularly of the Sector Ministry Support Team on Environment) and officers from line ministries will participate in the public expenditure review exercise, thus enabling build national capacity in this area. A briefing session will be held with MOFED, Ministry of Environment, Sustainable Development, Disaster and Beach Management and the United Nations Resident Coordinator’s Office (UNRCO) at the start of the assignment. A Steering Committee, chaired by MOFED, and comprising UNRCO and representatives from line ministries and other relevant stakeholders will be set up to guide and oversee the review. Team Composition: - The team will be composed from 2 consultants- the Team Leader/ Expert in Public Finance Management and Public Expenditure Review and the Expert in Environment, Climate Change and Sustainable Development. The work of the team of consultants will be guided by the Norms and Standards established by the United Nations Evaluation Group. Team members will be requested to sign the Code of Conduct prior to engaging in the review exercise;
- The Expert in Environment, Climate Change and Sustainable Development will provide support to the Team Leader and provide expertise in specific subject areas related to environment, climate change and sustainable development. S/he will take part in the data collection and analysis work. S/he will be responsible for drafting key parts of the Inception report and of final Public Environment Expenditure Review;
- The Team Leader in Public Finance Management and Public Expenditure Review and Expert in Environment, Climate Change and Sustainable Development will report to the Steering Committee set up by MOFED;
- During the part of the assignment that is to be spent in Mauritius the team will be based at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development.
Deliverables During the Assignment, the consultants will deliver: - Inception report after five (5) days;
- Work sessions/workshops related to the assignment, and make presentations on the methodology, findings and recommendations;
- Guidance Notes (short format - 3 to 5 pages each) to inform MTEF sector working groups on planning, budgeting and tracking national environmental priorities in MTEF process;
- Draft Report;
- Final Report, including an Executive Summary at the end of the assignment, in which the comments received on the draft report are incorporated.
The Final Report should include the following (indicative table of contents): - Title;
- Table of contents;
- Acronyms and abbreviations.
Executive summary: - A part from a comprehensive consultancy report will constitute the major output of the consultancy; the Consultant is requested to produce a clear and well written two to three page summary bringing out the main findings and recommendations from the report. This will guide the presentation for stakeholders workshop to validate the findings of the report;
- Introduction and background;
- Defining the scope of the assignment;
- Methodology and Data acquired;
- Macro-economic context and public financial management in Mauritius;
- Policy analysis;
- Institutional analysis;
- Expenditure Review;
- Conclusion and Recommendations;
- Annexes.
The main report should not be more than 40 pages, excluding annexes.
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