Environmental movement in Belarus: challenges and prospects of development

The development of the environmental movement in Belarus can be divided into several stages:

1. 1986 - 1993. A period, which can be called “the Chernobyl period”, due to emerging initiatives and later on organizations that dealt with the problems associated with the accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. The understanding of the global environmental threats and risks associated with technology has given impetus to the environmental activities.

2. 1993 - 2002. A period of growth and development of the environmental movement, it was characterized by the expansion of the activities of the environmental organizations (in the fields of education, biodiversity, chemical wastes, etc.), by the emergence of local initiatives and organizations (grassroots organizations). Participation of some representatives of environmental organizations (Environmental Council of Minsk) in the activities of the city administration has created an opportunity for an effective impact on the environmental decision-making. The open the situation in the country and access to the foreign funding created favorable conditions for their work. Although the internal situation in the country since 1999 made the work of the civil society organizations more complicated, environmental organizations had not yet lost speed, and were able to hold three nationwide meetings. After two meetings in 2001, the Public Coordinating Council under the auspices of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of Belarus was established, where representatives of various environmental organizations were invited to participate in a joint discussion on important environmental issues.

4. A period from 2008 - present. An Ecological Association «Green Network» was created, which was unique in its horizontal structure and the possibility of individual membership. There was an increase in the frequency of consultations of the European Commission with representatives of environmental organizations.

During the seventeen-year period of the independence of Belarus environmental organizations implemented their understanding of the needed activities in various ways. The question was whether their activities were successful in terms of impact on the environmental decision-making and, in general, whether the environmental organizations were moving in a single direction.

The present day Belarus faces a number of challenges and controversial situations, which affect or are directly in the field of Environment. The field of environmental decision-making has several players, among them the crucial role is played by the government which shapes policy in the field of ecology, as well as in other areas of the country's development, having an impact on the environment.

Both, the external international environment, as well as the development of the domestic situation in the country determines what issues are put on the agenda, having a direct impact on the choice of both strategic and tactical direction of the country. Issues of national sustainable development strategies, compliance with international conventions on environmental protection, issues of energy development, conservation, waste and production costs, etc., potentially provide representatives of environmental organizations with an opportunity to declare themselves as stakeholders in the decision-making concerning these issues. On the other hand, there is a potential to influence the shaping of the agenda, thereby determining the importance and the need to address certain issues. However benefits from such opportunities to participate in shaping the agenda and decision-making depend on the one hand, to the extent to which environmental organizations of Belarus lobby their interests and on the other hand, to the extent the government officials acknowledge them as players, important and necessary for decision-making. In both cases, the actions of the environmental organizations should be primary, since access to the political space in the broadest sense and the recognition of subjectivity does not occur naturally, but is achieved by well thought-trough activities.

The current situation in the environmental movement in Belarus has shown the need to develop an active strategy of influence of the environmental organizations on the development of the country. This is due to the fact that at this stage, ad hoc actions of certain environmental organizations and their representatives do not bring lasting results in the long term perspective and are rather situational by nature and do not contribute to the capacity building of the environmental movement as a subject, which should be taken into account while formulating the agenda and decisions. The success of public organizations with regard to Belarus’ joining the Stockholm Convention is rather an exception to the existing practice, rather than a sign of changes. Examples of participation in the development of the Sustainable Development Strategy until 2020, negotiations on climate, situation with the performance within the Aarhus Convention and many other attempts undertaken by the environmental organizations to influence decisions, confirmed the basic trend of a non-recognition of the environmental organizations as an important and relevant stakeholder in Belarus.

Association on the grounds that the organizations in their activities set goals related to the environment is not sufficient for the formation of the environmental movement as an important entity in the area of the environmental decision-making in Belarus. Improvement in their capacity might occur only if the creation of common strategies and activities is based on common environmental interests. At this stage of development of the environmental movement, there is a situation when the organizations involved in specialized activities, in most cases, see no need to show solidarity with the environmental organizations working in other areas. As a result, each organization on its own is trying to lobby the decision-making, which is in its interests. The ad hoc actions of organizations markedly reduce the effectiveness of the promotion of their interests and have a negative impact on the recognition of the environmental organizations as influential players in the field of political decision-making.

The interactions of representatives of the environmental organizations with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of Belarus in order to develop programs and plans for joint action to tackle environmental problems ends at a stage of designing proposals and communications, and never transferred to the stage of implementation of a drafted joint action plan. The participation in the drafting of a Strategy for Sustainable Development was not supported by the follow-up to monitor its implementation, which led to the situation when the strategy for the following period was drafted without the participation of public organizations.

The practice of influencing the solutions to the local environmental problems in collaboration with the local population is facing challenges on the value level. Interest of the environmental organizations is based on environmental values, while local residents are concerned about very pragmatic issues, all that leads to a clash of interests. Reliance on active citizens at the local level depends on the fact that they are already affiliated with a political party and that collaboration with them would create a risk for environmental organizations being labeled as oppositional.

Further development of the environmental movement calls for responding to the external and domestic challenges. The existence of internal problems inside the environmental organizations, such as the lack of human resources, and the constant search for funds for the operation, leads to a decrease in the ability to organize their activities effectively in order to address those challenges that go beyond environmental issues.

Regardless of the extensive educational programmes existing for many years, environmental organizations do not have a sufficient number of experts and managers. If 10-15 prominent environmentalists leave the environmental movement, its development per se would fall behind by few years in development. This fact suggests that there is a need in re-education, otherwise there is a risk of the destruction of the ecology movement from the inside.

Specialization by environmental organizations on various activities and the existence of monopoly in one’s scope of activities makes it difficult to find common grounds for joint actions in addressing national environmental issues. Part of the reason for this is the lack of success of such actions, often competition for scarce resources and the lack of information create a situation of mistrust. Overcoming these barriers and discussion regarding the grounds for cooperation is essential for the success of lobbying one’s interests and in influencing the environmental decision-making in Belarus.

Over the short history of the environmental movement, a lot has happened: improvement in professionalism of representatives of environmental organizations, expansion of the areas of activity, gained experience of interaction with various stakeholders to discuss major policy and program documents, positioning themselves as experts, experience in implementation of their own ideas, etc. However little is planned for the future. Further subordination to the naturalness of the situation and the randomness of actions would not turn the environmental organizations into a movement, and would not make them a subject of influence on the shaping of the environmental policy in Belarus. Are there people in the environmental organizations who could grasp the entire scope of the situation in the country, and to plan carefully the development of the environmental movement?

Antonina Elistratova, Irina Sukhiy
[email protected]