AUTHORS: OECD

Institutions in developing and transition countries face major challenges to ensure that they have sufficient capacity to implement environmental law. In order to provide a systematic approach to assessment clear diagnostic tools are needed. The OECD has developed such a tool with support from Andrew Farmer of IEEP. It sets out the background to institutional diagnosis and then addresses the elements of a reference framework from broad policy setting to aspects of compliance enforcement. The work is to be further elaborated with the development of benchmarks for different core functions as well as to form the basis for self-assessment by countries. A trial for such an assessment has begun in Armenia with a launch workshop in May 2009.