Public sector’s expenditure tracking relating to environment, climate change mitigation and adaptation for financial year 2017/2018 was the focus of a working session held yesterday in the context of the Mauritius Green Economy Forum at Fooks House in Port Louis.
The session was a joint initiative of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development and the United Nations Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE). It provided an overview of the Public Sector Environment Expenditure Review for March 2016 and the follow-up report on Tracking of Public Sector Environment Expenditure Review (TPSEE) for March 2018. Participants were stakeholders from Ministries, Local Authorities, the private sector and Academia.
The follow-up report on TPSEE for March 2018 demonstrated the links between climate change issues and public expenditure on environment to tackle climate change, especially on flooding, and drains infrastructure. Discussions focused on current challenges and opportunities as regards domestic and external financing opportunities to address climate change.
The Public Sector Environment Expenditure Review (PEER) project was implemented by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development in 2015. It consist a preliminary estimate of environment and climate change related to expenditures from 2011 to 2014.
Expected results of the session are: sharing insights, experiences and examples of environmental inclusiveness in policy practice; strengthening knowledge on the international climate finance opportunities; and identifying climate-related actions to strengthen resilience of Mauritius as a Small Island Developing States, in particular flood management.
Moreover, the findings will help Government in better understanding of how public expenditure on the environment addresses emerging issues and challenges linked to climate change. It will also enable Government to identify the inter-linkages between fiscal instruments and fiscal balance to meet environmental, equity and revenue objectives and to make more efficient use of funds for climate mitigation and adaptation.
According to the TPSEE review, the total Environment Expenditure estimates for Mauritius is around Rs 10.33 billion, and varies in the range of 1.4% to 2.5% with 2.1% as recommended by the World Bank for developing countries.
Source: Government of Mauritius