The international position of countries is ensured by environmental diplomacy. It also gives countries, especially developing ones, better access and financing to solve various environmental problems.
This diplomacy in Tunisia is almost non-existent according to Samir Medideb, an international consultant on environment and sustainable development. This naturalist by training, who has made a career in national environmental institutions (1990s), points to the “weak involvement of the Tunisian state in the various aspects of the environment” in an interview granted to TAP.
Interview.
First, let’s define what environmental diplomacy is.
Samir Meddeb: Environmental diplomacy is the standard-bearer overseas and with international institutions of a country’s official position in terms of environment internationally or regionally, with all the declinations that a national nature.
This multi-component position, that affects all environmental fields and especially those that directly or indirectly concern the country, is translated into practice, notably in three areas:
Firstly, the country’s vision in the environmental fields that are a priority for it, with concrete proposals for policies and programs.
Secondly, the partnership and cooperation modalities that need to be established at the regional and international level to concretize and implement the country’s vision, policy and priority programs.
The third is the country’s capabilities and skills in managing environmental affairs. This should be emphasized with particularity.
What are the opportunities that environmental diplomacy could offer Tunisia?
This diplomacy must be able to release, with the different bilateral and multilateral partners a set of possibilities that will be communicated, to the technical departments concerned, for study, investigation, and examination of their feasibility within the national context. This will allow for a back and forth between the technical structures and the diplomatic corps responsible for these aspects.
The indispensable approach of environmental diplomacy in any environment or sustainable development policy is now. It helps to ensure a country’s position in the international arena and offers a country, especially when it’s developing, better access and financing.
Does Tunisia have an “environmental diplomacy” today and if not, why not?
Tunisia seems to lack a similar, global, cohesive, and continuous diplomacy. We do see occasional interventions depending on the situation.
These practices, despite having some positive effects, are not sustainable and cannot be capitalized.
The main obstacles to the development and implementation of environmental diplomacy are currently the weak involvement of Tunisia’s State in various aspects of the environment, lack of visibility in this area and the absence support for national or local institutions responsible for environmental problems.
Tunisia still seems to have little visibility and not enough “aggressiveness” on the international environmental scene. What does Tunisia lose by not being more visible?
Indeed, apart from the fact that a large part of environmental and climate problems find their answers at national and local levels, it is increasingly common to turn to the regional and international levels to jointly identify, within the framework of partnerships, shared solutions to the various challenges that arise today for a given country, or individually for companies or territories.
The international dynamic benefits from leveraging experience, achievements, wealth and wealth in various fields related to climate and environment. It is possible to integrate them, position oneself within them, and constantly seek to make the most out of them.
The environment is becoming more globalized in the broadest sense of the word. It does not follow the traditional borders. Instead, it is managed using collective approaches, where each party is required make its contribution.
It is absurd to think that any given party at the level a country, territory, or company should commit to solving an environmental or climate issue without seeking to take its place in a global, multinational dynamic. This will allow it to position itself in technologically and financially the most promising and innovative mechanisms.
To remain today on the margins and outside the international mechanisms for climate and environmental change transition privies the party concerned with the knowledge, practices, and financing necessary to resolve the various problems that it is confronted with. Overall, Tunisia seems to be out of the international dynamics in climate and environment.
What advice would you give to a country as an international consultant to consider the environment as a development factor.
Tunisia is currently facing a number of environmental and climatic challenges that will impact its socio-economic as well as territorial development.
We will be severely and permanently limited if we fail to consider the many challenges that face us, especially in terms of conserving our natural capital and adapting for new climatic conditions.
Human activities, especially those that are performed in the context of strong interaction with natural capital such as agriculture, tourism and housing, must be executed from planning to implementation in the most harmony with the environmental imperatives and ecological limits.
Government policy must give prominence to the integration of climate and environment into development processes. Any new planning approach must focus on sustainable development both strategically and institutionally. Our natural resources (water and soil, forests, fishery and fishery resources) and various ecosystems from the interior to the coast and sea must be managed in the most sustainable way. This will ensure their sustainability and, consequently, the sustainability of economic activities that exploit them.
Our development must be built on the green economy of the continent and the blue economy on land and at sea. They should be seen not only as an obligation but also as an opportunity.
Tunisia must quickly develop a clear strategy that has been agreed upon by all development actors involved in the field. This strategy will be applied in a visible and practical manner to all socio-economic development sectors, as well as to the country’s various regions on the basis of their specific characteristics.
To achieve the desired integration of environmental issues, an institutional review is necessary. This will require a review of both the institutions responsible for the environment (which are currently inefficient) and the development and land-use planning agencies. These bodies must be brought together in the future under common dynamics. They should be freed from their current sectoral approaches and orientated towards more integrated, systemic systems.
