Bosnia and Herzegovina is a country that aspires to become a member of the European Union. Despite a socio-economic transition, the country is more than four times more energy intensive than the average of the Member States of the European Union. Since the end of the war in the 1990s, the country has received significant amounts of bilateral and multilateral development assistance, including environmental financing (e.g. climate finance, financing for biodiversity conservation, financing of impact).
Ensuring adequate financing for the environment, climate change and sustainable development proves difficult, particularly in low- and middle-income economies. The authors of this study conducted a literature review and detailed analysis of environmental financial flows for Bosnia and Herzegovina between 2015 and 2020. The results show that scientific knowledge on (the effectiveness of) environmental financing for Bosnia- Herzegovina are almost non-existent.
The country received $545.6 million in environmental funding during the period studied and more than 99% of this funding was spent on water, energy, waste and environmental management . In contrast, biodiversity, resource management, chemical safety and environmental noise received less than 1% of total funding. Bosnia and Herzegovina received 58% of the funding in the form of grants, while 38% was provided in the form of various types of loans.
The funding received by different sectors differs considerably. Donors have prioritized some sectors (e.g. water), while others (e.g. biodiversity and nature conservation, chemical safety and noise, and resource management ) have been neglected.
Bosnia and Herzegovina can advocate for a more equitable distribution of funding, given its minor contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions. Providing almost 40% of environmental financing to Bosnia and Herzegovina in the form of loans increases the country’s debt level. This distorts the principle of climate justice, since the country has emitted very little of the greenhouse gases responsible for climate change.