Legal reforms of the National Environmental Fund – a steppingstone to environmental protection in Moldova

The legal and normative base, administrative settings and daily management of the National Environmental Fund in Moldova are strengthened with the support of EU4Environment, funded by the European Union. 

The Republic of Moldova is pressing ahead with legal reform to improve spending under its national environmental funding entity. Under the leadership of the Minister of Environment, and with support from EU4Environment, Law 1515/1993 on environmental protection was amended and the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova adopted it in March 2022. The amendments to the Law include significant changes and will lay the foundations for further reform of the now renamed National Environmental Fund. This is a milestone that will ensure more funding can go towards environmental protection.

The Fund will now focus exclusively on environmental protection, climate change and sustainable resource management. Data shows that previously around 90% of spending under the Fund went to water supply and sanitation projects. While water and sanitation projects are important, the change in scope under the new Law will ensure that more money can go towards projects with specific environmental protection purposes. Other changes in the Law will help revise the administrative structure of the Fund. Based on that, the new Regulation and Operational Manual of the Fund were developed and submitted for approval. 

Since its establishment in 2019, EU4Environment has been providing support to the Eastern Partner (EaP) countries with, amongst others, a specific focus on selected national funding entities. The work includes reviewing and strengthening domestic public finance mechanisms that can finance green investments and providing support to setting up new ones. Subsidy reform and improved targeted support for poor and vulnerable households are integrated into this work.