An EU funded project support Improving Environmental Accountability in Albania’s Energy and Extractive Sectors.
Albania is a country with a rich variety of natural resources, including minerals, oil and water resources, which are exploited by the extracting and hydropower industries, respectively. However, these industries have had significant impacts on the environment, which have been the subject of much debate and controversy especially in the last decades. Extracting industries lack on environmental monitoring and rehabilitation. Lack of statistics and/or unreliable data. This is coming especially from the weak environmental monitoring capacities and infrastructure at the local and central levels. Therefore, there is a weak law enforcement on rehabilitating the environmental pollution.
The Polluter-Pays Principle (PPP) continues to not work, which makes the rural areas even more vulnerable towards pollution with negative environmental impacts, including the destruction of forests, soil erosion, water pollution, and the release of toxic substances into the air, soiland water. The burden remains with the local population. In recent years, there have been concerns about the environmental and health impacts of chromium mining in particular, which has been linked to increased rates of cancer and other diseases in local communities.
On the other hand, the hydropower industry in Albania has also had significant environmental impacts, particularly on the country’s rivers and aquatic ecosystems. Albania has been blessed with hydro resources, and the government has pursued an ambitious program of hydropower development in recent years, including the construction of large dams and the diversion of rivers for power generation. However, these projects have often been criticized for their impact on local communities and the environment, including the loss of valuable habitats, the disruption of fish migrations, and the displacement of people and communities. For these reasons, the Non-Governmental Organisation Eco Partners for Sustainable Development (ECOP) has taken initiative for addressing these problems.
“The overuse of the natural resources such as oil, minerals and water without any control in Albania, has taken the attention of ECOP . We are working for over a decade on environmental governance and especially on the aspects of enforcement, and we have noticed that Albanian legislation, which is on the process of aligning with the EU Acquis, is lagging behind in implementation of legislation, in administrative, institutional and financial capacities to address environmental protection and degradation, especially in the rural areas. Therefore, we decided to contribute in this regard.”
In 2018, the European Union-funded” Rural Watch – improving the role of CSOs in supporting the transparency and accountability of public authorities and businesses in rural areas.” project was launched by EcoP with the aim of addressing environmental problems in Albania caused by the energy and extractive industries. Entela Pinguli, the executive Director of EcoP, explains that the need for the project was urgent, stating: – “The overuse of the natural resources such as oil, minerals and water without any control in Albania has taken the attention of our organization. We are working for over a decade on environmental governance and especially on the aspects of enforcement, and we have noticed that Albanian legislation, which is on the process of aligning with the EU Acquis, is lagging behind in implementation of legislation, in administrative, institutional and financial capacities to address environmental protection and degradation, especially in the rural areas.
The project selected five Energy and Extractive Industry (EEI) spots as pilot regions where there are operating businesses with practices not in compliance with the national legal requirements. including two extracting sites in Patos Marinez and Bulqiza, as well as three energy sites, Shushica River Hydropower (in Vjosa River Basin), and Qarrishte hydropower in Shebenik and Jabllanice National Park and Mat River Hydropower. The capacity building program provided training to civil society organizations, media outlets, and lawyers in these fiveEEI locations. The project also conducted with advocating activities through monitoring groups composed of a journalists, lawyers, technical experts, and representatives from civil society organizations or local communities. In addition to the direct benefits of the advocating activities, the aim was to introduce good practices to local communities so that they could continue to implement them in the long term.
The project advocated on the name of environment towards local and central authorities as well as raise awareness of the local civil society organizations and communities on the consequences of the environmental pollution, their rights and obligations, bringing this topic to the next level especially by providing the legal assistance component, which further empowered local communities to take action in this regard.The project helped with drafting requests for access to environmental information and challenging refusals to provide information before the Commissioner for the Right to Information or in court. Legal assistance was also provided for the legal counseling of civil society organizations and local communities in environmental procedures such as the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and in court debates on issues related to compliance with environmental law.
“Centralized decision making, especially for the management of the strategic natural resources such as oil, water, forest, coastal line etc does not help in sustainable use of the natural resources and in the policy implementation at the local level.”
About the project
The Rural Watch Albania project tackled some of the most pressing issues in rural development in Albania, particularly those concerning the quality of life and standards for a clean and safe environment. With increasing pressure and economic development in the targeted project areas through the Energy and Extractive Industry (EEI) – specifically in Bulqiza with its chromium industry; Bulqiza with its hydroenergy on Mat River; Prrenjas/Librazhd with its hydroenergy on Shkumbini River in Shebenik Jabllanice National Park; Fier/Patos with its oil extraction in Patos Marinez; and Selenice with its hydroenergy on Shushica tributary to Vjosa River – there is an even greater need for strong civil society organizations (CSOs) on the ground that can hold competent public authorities and businesses accountable for environmental, health, and safety standards and regulations.
The project also incorporated best practices in rural development from Bulgaria, specifically related to the transparency and accountability of the Energy and Extractive Industries (EEI) with regards to increasing public awareness, access to information and justice, and public engagement through innovative media channels.
This was accomplished in collaboration with the Bulgarian organization Blue Link, which provided support for the implementation of an information campaign. As part of this campaign, the Rural Watch portal was launched, providing information on various cases of rural sustainability covered by the project, as well as useful information sources for the targeted rural locations. Entela emphasizes the project’s contribution to elevating the issue of environmental impact to a higher level, saying, “Centralized decision making, especially for the management of the strategic natural resources such as oil, water, forest, coastal line etc does not help in sustainable use of the natural resources and in the policy implementation at the local level.”
