Governance of Waste Management (MN0047)
Overview
At-a-Glance
Action Plan: Mongolia Action Plan 2019-2021
Action Plan Cycle: 2019
Status:
Institutions
Lead Institution: Ministry of Environent and Tourism
Support Institution(s): Government of Mongolia, ministries, agencies, aimag and capital city Governor's Office, 50 big manufacturers, 30 media organizations, "Step without borders" and other NGOs, Enterprises involved in waste management, Mongolian national broadcaster and other media oraanisations
Policy Areas
Land and Spatial Planning, Public Service Delivery, Water and SanitationIRM Review
IRM Report: Mongolia Transitional Results Report 2019-2021, Mongolia Design Report 2019-2021
Early Results: No IRM Data
Design i
Verifiable: Yes
Relevant to OGP Values: Yes
Ambition (see definition): Low
Implementation i
Description
Brief description of commitment:
• To reduce negative impacts influencing on citizens' healthy and living environment by implementing waste management through publicprivate partnership and citizens' engagement.
• To keep eco system of specially protected areas, to reduce negative impacts on climate change
Ambition:
Waste management will be improved through leadership and public private partnership; thus, it will lead to the improvement of healthy and safety living environment for people.
Milestones:
1. Sources of wastes, structures and budgetary research to be released and monitoring to be carried out /government organisations, media organisations, and 50 biggest enterprises/
2. To create a information database system on the basis of evaluation of implementation of waste management, disclosure of land owners information at specially protected areas as well as implementation of responsibilities for ecosystem
3.Organise discussions at selected 30 media organisa,ons, 50 enterprises, aaencies and ministries levels.
4.To conduct research on enterprises and public utility companies, who are in charge of collecting and processing the wastes, and organize consultations and discussions to raise awareness and advocate contract reporting and responsibilities
5.To undertake advocacies for representatives of these 3 organisations and include contribution to climate change provision in the contract and disseminate the results, all of which are expected to change attitudes and knowledae of the public.
IRM Midterm Status Summary
13. Safety for the Environment
- To reduce the negative impacts influencing citizens’ healthy and living environment by implementing waste management through public-private partnership and citizen engagement.
- To keep ecosystem of specially protected areas, to reduce negative impacts of climate change.
Main Objective
To create a culture of waste management at government agencies and others by leading and implementing waste management to reduce the impact of climate change and improve the environment.
Milestones
- Sources of wastes, structures, and budgetary research to be released and monitoring to be carried out/government organizations, media organizations, and 50 biggest enterprises.
- To create an information database system on the basis of evaluation of implementation of waste management, disclosure of landowners’ information at specially protected areas, as well as implementation of responsibilities for ecosystem.
- Organize discussions at 30 selected media organizations, 50 enterprises, agencies, and ministries.
- To conduct research on enterprises and public utility companies, who are in charge of collecting and processing the wastes, and organize consultations and discussions to raise awareness, and advocate contract reporting and responsibilities.
- To undertake advocacies for representatives of these 3 organizations and include contribution to climate change provision in the contract and disseminate the results, all of which are expected to change attitudes and knowledge of the public.
Editorial Note: For the complete text of this commitment, please see Mongolia’s action plan at https://www.opengovpartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Mongolia_Action-Plan_2019-2021.pdf.
IRM Design Report Assessment | |
Verifiable: | Yes |
Relevant: | Access to Information, Civic Participation |
Potential Impact: | Minor |
Commitment analysis
This commitment aims to improve waste management through partnership between government and private stakeholders. It proposes to do this by conducting and publishing research on the negative impact of waste on the environment and improving access to information and advocacy on waste management measures and practices. Mongolia’s Ministry of Environment and Tourism will lead implementation of this commitment along with other government ministries and agencies, civil society groups, manufacturing companies, media organizations, and private enterprises involved in waste management.
Through this commitment, the government aims to release information on waste management, land ownership in protected areas, and ecosystem responsibility measures. The commitment is thus relevant to the OGP value of access to information. The commitment also proposes to organize multistakeholder discussions and consultations around waste management and is thus relevant to the OGP value of civic participation. The commitment targets government agencies, media organizations, and 50 of Mongolia’s biggest enterprises.
In the status quo, there is no publicly available database on waste management, related enterprises, and the range of services they provide. The theme of environmental protection is new to Mongolia’s OGP process and aims to address an issue that is often overlooked despite its significance. However, if fully implemented this commitment stands to have minor potential impact.
While the commitment is generally verifiable, some activities and milestones lack specificity. For example, although the commitment proposes to organize multistakeholder discussions around waste management, it does not specify the purpose of these discussions or what they aim to achieve. It is also unclear how the disclosed information will be used and/or translated into measures promoting or advocating environmental protection.
In addition to limited specificity, the commitment’s theory of change rests largely on the premise that research, disclosure, and advocacy of waste management practices would lead to better waste management (i.e. a ‘culture of waste management’), shift public attitudes, improve the environment, and reduce negative impacts of climate change. While these measures are likely to lead to positive impact, alone they will be insufficient to transform attitudes, work, and practice in the area of environmental protection in Mongolia.
While poor waste management is widely recognized as contributing to climate change, [103] it is hardly the sole or primary contributor. While a discussion of the various sources of environmental degradation are beyond the purview of this report, it is clear that the scope of what this commitment sets out to do is limited. In addition, the commitment’s impact on the environment depends on the availability of an enforcement mechanism to, for instance, leverage the disclosed information and hold landowners accountable for environmental damage.
Going forward, the government could revisit the design of this commitment at the implementation phase in consultation with civil society stakeholders and academics with expertise in environmental protection and advocacy. This would be important to identify the root cause of the problem (climate change) and which sets of problems the government could focus on tackling through the OGP process. For example, the commitment could focus on facilitating public participation in environmental impact assessments (in line with the Law on Environmental Impact Assessments [104]) which could also simultaneously enhance public accountability through monitoring company compliance with the assessment findings. Similarly, as a country where mining is a central feature of the economy (more than 23 percent of GDP in 2020), [105] the government could focus more on strengthening the legal framework protecting the environment from side effects caused by activities in the mining sector.
IRM End of Term Status Summary
13. Safety for the environment
Limited:
According to the Cabinet Secretariat, 300 representatives of government, civil society, and research institutions attended a national forum on waste management in Ulaanbaatar in May 2019. For specially protected areas, 2,613 landowners released land use information on the Department of Land Management, Geodesy, and Cartography website, covering land fee, area size, unit number, and purpose. However, no new database was introduced, and information was not released on waste management, ecological responsibility, or sources of waste. [52] There is no evidence of publication of waste-related monitoring and research on budgets, enterprises, and public utility companies, nor of targeting particular organizations for advocacy on climate change.