Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Noga Levtzion-Nadan
2006
The Center for Environmental Policy Studies Series no. 22
The opinions expressed in this document are solely those of the author.
http://www.jiis.org.il
E-mail: machon@jiis.org.il
Abstract, Findings, and Conclusions
This research project analyzes the national budget in terms of environmental issues
and presents some conclusions regarding the way in which different government
ministries are budgeted and the ways in which their budgets are utilized.
The research shows that the vote on the budget at the beginning of the year does
not reflect the activities of the government in the environmental arena, and that
discussion and change of the budget continue even after the voting ends. There is a
wide gap between the proposed budget and its execution, and if the budget is not fully
utilized, its goals are not met. The way in which the budget is constructed and presented
make both debate about it and follow-up on its implementation difficult (the budget is
the primary document detailing government plans). While the budget appears highly
detailed and transparent, technical problems and redundancies make it and its
significance difficult to comprehend. The Knesset (which approves the budget), the
general public, and bodies appointed by the government cannot understand the national
budget in a comprehensive or thorough way. The quantitative expression of the
government’s activities is thus essentially hidden from the public eye.
A. Findings
1. The budget and its clauses are the technical, numerical expression of the
substantive problems in the areas of government authority and responsibility.
2. A rise in the level of the budget does not necessarily guarantee a rise in the level
of actual expenditure. The amount budgeted in 2001to environmental matters
was 18% higher than in 1996, but the real expenditure was actually 5% lower
(see graph no.1).
3. Statistics show the following trends (see table 2):
a. Both the budget and actual expenditure regarding water grew in real terms
since 1999.
b. Both the budget and the actual expenditures grew for the prevention of air
pollution, environmental education, international relations, and other areas
of expenditure of the Ministry of Environmental Protection.
c. The budgets for drainage, disposal of solid waste, the preservation of
biological diversity, and the support of environmental organizations all grew,
but actual expenditure shrank.
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d. The budget for subsistence agriculture shrank, but the actual expenditure
grew.
e. Budgets were cut for the treatment of sewage, dangerous chemicals, support
for industry, the reduction of noise and radiation, and landscape protection —
and their real expenditure also shrank
4. The splitting of budgets and the division of authority among different ministries
do not allow for a broad view of a given field and confound attempts to formulate
coordinated policy. The fragmentation of administration increases costs and may
damage communal interests. The result: solutions that would have been less
expensive if there were a unified authority seem more expensive because of the
duplication of costs to the different bodies involved. In the case of water
management, for example, the distribution of authority among different regional
councils prevented the implementation of a unified policy and affected the
willingness of different sources to invest in solutions that would have been
unquestionably cheaper — such as improving sewage treatment — had there
been a single governing authority. Instead of clearly less expensive options, more
expensive ones have been chosen, such as desalination of sea water.
1,800
Sum in Millions of Israeli Shekels
1,600
1,400
1,200
1,000
800
600
1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001
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Table 2: Total Environmental Budgeting Over the Years — According to Subject
(In thousands of Israel Shekels)
Year Type of Water & Land Treatment Protection Protection Advancing Additional
Budget Sewage Preservation: of Sewage of the Air, of Biological Environment Expenditures
Management Drainage, & Dangerous Energy Diversity & Awareness of the Ministry
Agriculture, Materials, Treatment, the Landscape of the Environment
& Quarries & Industrial Radiation,
Support Noise, &
Environmental
Health
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Source: Reports on Budgets and Spending of Government Ministries 1996-2001
Graph 3: Total Expenditures of Government Ministries Versus Rate of Budget
Utilization
2,000 100
1,800 90
1,600 80
1,200 60
Expenditure
1,000 50
800 40
600 30
400 20
200 10
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8. Special budget clauses in different government ministries, which are out of
appropriate context, are not taken advantage of at all. There are also directives
for which the budgeting is far too low, and are therefore never implemented .
9. There are also a number of ministries which receive environmental budgeting
that have not been utilized for years.
10. Budgets allocated to regional councils and environmental groups are made use of
less than those allocated for activities.
11. There is a problem with the transfer of funds among different ministries for the
funding of joint environmental projects. The problem may be the result of the
lack of interest of the contributing ministry or the lack of follow-up by the ministry
that funded the project.
12. “Directed funds” that receive income from fines or duties on the basis of the
principle that “the polluter pays”, succeeded in increasing their income and
invested it in a useful way (for example, the Cleanliness Fund and the Fund for
the Prevention of Marine Pollution).
13. The pooling of resources and cooperation among ministries creates incentives
for organizations to act in these areas, to take advantage of available budgets, and
to overcome existing barriers.
14. Joint efforts by several ministries in different fields of specialty (training, support,
and research) allow for a given issue to be dealt with in a thorough and positive
way.
15. There are a number of “technical” difficulties that infringe on the transparency of
the budget, both in the field of environment and in general:
a. there are budgeted “plans” that are not explained even in the detailed budget
proposals
b. due to “technical” failures, the names of particular programs and the standards
or regulations associated with them are not complete or clear. For example,
one program is given the headline “support for organizations for progress”,
but it is not possible to identify to what organizations or what kind of progress
is being referred.
c. There are a great number of slots, or clauses, for “activities”, the meanings
of which are not clear.
d. Wage costs sometimes appear in the department budgets themselves, but
usually they appear as part of the general management expenditures of the
ministry. It is therefore difficult to assess the cost of wages for these fields.
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16. Together with the investments in environmental budgets, the dominant approach
to budgeting is the traditional approach, which views development as a principal
goal, and therefore the largest budgets go to development.
2. In the fields of water and drainage, a wide and holistic view should be adopted, in
the framework of which the legal authority will coincide with budgetary authority
and improve decision making. Thus the unnecessary added costs of overlapping
responsibilities and divided authority will be eliminated, allowing for better and
more rational policies.
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provided by the relevant bodies — preferably, as early in the process as
possible.
c. the attainment of concentrated budgets, with clear, stable criteria over a
period of time, should be a goal. Such budgets facilitate the formation of a
“critical mass” which in turn are more likely to result in better and fuller
utilization of funds.
d. special functions for particular sectors should be concentrated in order to
prevent the waste resulting from double-budgeting.
e. efforts should be made to eliminate and prevent overlapping and duplication
of similar or identical posts within different departments of one ministry or
in different ministries.
f. small budgets in a given ministry should be consolidated into larger budgets
to increase their effectiveness.
6. It is important to improve the transparency of the budget and to avoid “technical”
vagueness:
a. it is important that budget proposals include detailed explanations of the
plans budgeted, including definitions of proposed posts.
b. plans and posts should be given clear names so that their purpose and role be
easily understood.
c. the number of posts associated with the general title of “activities” should be
limited and greater clarification should be given as to the intentions and
execution of the given role
d. distinction should be made between wages and activities.
Discussion of environmental budgeting can not only raise awareness but bring about
wiser and more effective spending. This research is designed to be a tool in promoting
these goals, to be employed both by the government and governmental bodies and by
environmental organizations. Appropriate use of its findings can improve the state of
the environment in Israel.
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