though BiH has still not established a Designated National Authority for mechanisms under the Kyoto Protocol, several CDM projects are under development, and an additional three have been announced. Projects are designed to reduce N2O (coke industry), CH4 (mines), SF6 (a thermoelectric power plant), and CO2 (small hydro plants).
Systematic Monitoring BiH needs to improve meteorological monitoring. Plans include the modernization or establishment of a total of seven Class 1 weather stations in RS and further modernization of the 13 professional weather stations in FBiH. It is also necessary to establish a professional weather station in BrÄ?ko District. There is also a need to introduce Automatic Weather Stations connect them with hydrological stations, particularly with the purpose of automatic monitoring and software control of the situation at river basins, as well as for planning water consumption for the needs of electricity supply, water supply, agriculture, other activities, and the population.
Education, Training, and Awareness Raising The education system in BiH has not paid special attention to the environment, much less to climate change. One of the biggest gaps is the lack of a national strategy for environmental education in BiH. The Education for Sustainable Development initiative (Michele Biasutti, 2007) is of great importance. In addition, the concept of environmental protection and management as an administrative task is comparatively recent in BiH. There is, therefore, a need for strengthening the capacities of existing personnel in the environmental sector at all administrative levels. All of the activities related to education mentioned above, whether they relate to formal or informal education, need to be implemented in the constant presence of the media, as it is the fastest means of influencing public opinion. A bigger number of documentaries on climate changes is necessary as well as public debates and discussions on state TV stations with politicians and representatives of public companies.
Capacity Development Priorities for capacity building in the countries of Southeastern Europe are related to the following: capacity building for participation in systematic observation networks; development/strengthening/improvement of national activities for strengthening public awareness and education as well as access to information; a vulnerability assessment of nature, populated areas and the living world; adaptation of primary activities to climate change (agriculture, forestry, cattle breeding); redirection of technological development in the area of energy, industry, construction; finding/coping with technological demands and capacity building for assessment of technological needs and ways of obtaining and adopting, preparation, assessment and acceptance of projects; and inclusion into international programs for decreasing GHG emissions.
Constraints and Gaps and Related Technological and Capacity Needs Constraints and Gaps Institutional Constraints: One of the findings of a functional review (Functional Review, 2005) was that the jurisdiction of the state is very limited, which affects country-wide coordination. With three levels of autonomy and up to four levels of administrative layers, public administration is in general very complex also in the environmental field. The study also found that the environmental administration was still undersized and unskilled for the challenges and obligations it would have to face. Understaffing in environmental agencies remains a serious obstacle to fulfilment of the obligations of BiH considering the implementation of requirements under UNFCCC. Policy Constraints: There is no comprehensive environmental policy at the state level and no institution entirely dedicated to the environmental protection issues, either from the policy and legislative point of view, or from the technical and implementation point of view. The only state-level ministry that has responsibility for environmental issues – Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of BIH (MOFTER) – only deals with selected aspects of environmental issues, primarily those related to international relations and coordination. There is still no law on environment at the state level that would establish the legal framework for environmental policy at the state level and at the same time establish a legal basis for a national environmental policy. Environmental policy in BiH also suffers from an insufficient use of economic and fiscal resources. At present, some existing economic instruments do not work as they should, including charges and fees for water management. Other instruments do not work at all: for example, no charges are being collected from enterprises for the emission of air pollutants. Information Constraints: Statistics are incomplete and are compiled at the entity level (for example, the number of citizens was established for the last time in 1991). These are great problems that require constant improvement and updates, as well as the engagement of the entity and state governments. Documents as the NEAP and others that have been verified through official BiH procedures have at that time provided a good platform for coordination of activities in environmental sector, and on basis of that entity environmental strategies have been developed. International support in addressing constraints has included 1) Funding from the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) to support the preparation of this INC; and 2) Funding from the GEF to support the preparation of the National Capacity Self-Assessment, which is expected to begin in near future.
Initial National Communication of Bosnia and Herzegovina under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
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