DAR warns about
possible absorption of SERFOR, SERNANP and ANA functions by SENACE and their assignment to the PCM, which would seriously weaken the country’s environmental institutions.
- Instead of accelerating projects, the proposal could lead to greater social conflicts and generate unsustainable investments.
Lima, August 16, 2023. Several organizations, including Derecho, Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (DAR), have raised their voice of alert against a set of risky proposals for environmental management and evaluation promoted by the National Society of Mining, Petroleum and Energy (SNMPE).The initiatives that the Executive Branch would have welcomed, according to information published yesterday in the media.
Downsizing environmental institutions
One of the main proposals of the SNMPE is the merger of the National Environmental Certification Service for Sustainable Investments (SENACE) with other environmental institutions such as the National Water Authority (ANA), the National Forestry and Wildlife Service (SERFOR) and the National Service of Natural Areas Protected by the State (SERNANP); authorities that are currently part of the National Environmental Management System (SNGA) and issue binding technical opinions for the environmental evaluation processes of investment projects. After this, the «new» SENACE would no longer belong to the Ministry of the Environment and would become part of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers (PCM).
This would imply that the functions of ANA, SERNANP and SERFOR would be «absorbed» by SENACE, and the latter in turn within the PCM, which, in practice, could mean their disappearance. These proposals The Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) is already working with other sectors in order to reduce the procedures related to environmental certification, mainly in the mining sector. However, an Inter-institutional Coordination Strategy (ECI) was already underway, bringing together SENACE, ANA, SERFOR and SERNANP to reinforce the joint work of these organizations. In addition, SENACE was already being strengthened with guidelines and instruments on transparency, climate change and technical aspects.
The absorption of SENACE within the PCM would be detrimental to the environmental evaluation of investment projects, as it would undermine the impartiality of the certification processes, since the PCM is an entity that does not specialize in environmental issues and lacks the technical capacity to assume this function. This could generate greater pressure from various stakeholders for the approval of environmental management instruments. This would also affect the collective rights of indigenous peoples, as other important processes such as citizen participation and technical opinions from entities such as the Ministry of Culture would be lost sight of.
It also means the weakening of entities such as SERFOR, ANA and SERNANP, which have specific functions in the forestry, water and natural protected areas sectors, as well as being technical reviewers in the environmental certification process. This would represent the disarticulation of the National Environmental Management System (SNGA) and the National Environmental Impact Assessment System (SEIA), which have been hard to build in our country.
Vanessa Cueto, vice-president of DAR, points out that «this proposal would seriously weaken the country’s environmental institutions in favor of investments; on the contrary, environmental authorities such as SENACE, ANA, SERFOR and SERNANP should be strengthened, promoting more solid environmental evaluation processes with greater evaluation capacities, which would allow projects to be carried out sustainably within the framework of national regulations and international agreements».
Other proposals of the new package
Other proposals in the package include implementing a «revamped» Sustaining Technical Report (ITS).
Recall that in 2013 and 2014 with the so-called «environmental packages» weak instruments such as ITS were created; the deadlines for the approval of environmental impact studies (EIA) were reduced; the functions of the Environmental Evaluation and Oversight Agency (OEFA) were reduced; and the Single Window for Environmental Certification was used, among other changes.
«This is another attempt to strike a blow to environmental institutions that seeks to make environmental procedures more flexible in accordance with private interests, without considering that this could generate greater socio-environmental conflicts due to the lack of transparency and participation, and is totally contrary to Peru’s efforts to join the OECD,» emphasizes Cueto.
«Therefore, we warn about the serious setback that would mean the promotion of this proposal that leads to the merger of environmental agencies. Let us remember that the creation of SENACE represented a key process for environmental governance in the country. The Executive Branch should reevaluate these proposals not only with the private sector but also with civil society and indigenous peoples, in order to generate sustainable investments», commented the specialist in environmental issues.
[1] These were pointed out on August 4 by Víctor Góbitz, president of the National Society of Mining, Petroleum and Energy (SNMPE) in an interview in digital media:
https://mineriaenergia.com/snmpe-propone-reactivar-la-economia-priorizando-los-proyectos-en-la-huella-ambiental-de-las-minas-y-fusionando-el-senace/