History, Missions and Objectives

The Environmental Intervention Fund (FIE) comes from the desire of the Burkinabè State to equip itself with a new financial tool to respond to the country's environmental challenges. Its vocation is to become a new financing lever to mobilize additional national financing, as well as complementary external funds, linked to the environment, sustainable management of natural resources and climate change.

By creating the FIE, Burkina has a sustainable, national and flexible tool, extending beyond the lifespan of projects/programs alongside the State budget. The primary goal of this financial instrument is to support the achievement of the country's environmental objectives in terms of living environment, sustainable management of natural resources and growth methods ensuring sustainable development.

The FIE is also intended to be an economic tool with positive effects on the growth of Burkina Faso, by reducing current trends of environmental degradation and therefore related economic losses. It also generates direct economic development by supporting the development of a green economy, promising sectors or the creation of green jobs. The FIE is also called upon to be a tool serving national objectives in the fight against poverty, thanks to a mode of intervention taking into account the poorest populations and vulnerable categories, often those most exposed to the deterioration of the environment. Environment and Natural Resources.

The FIE is also intended to be a unifying tool, bringing together existing or planned funds in the Environment sector, in order to rationalize management, reduce costs and ultimately have a coordinated vision of sector financing.

Thus, through the FIE, the State also sets up the Forestry Fund provided for in the Forestry Code and the Climate Fund in accordance with international conventions which have been ratified in the Climate field.

WHY AN FIE?

The environmental situation in Burkina Faso has become increasingly worrying in recent years. Indeed, whether it concerns the phenomenon of land degradation, pollution and nuisances, there is unanimity among the various stakeholders concerning the negative consequences of the strong pressures exerted on natural resources over the last ten years.

The environmental impacts are direct and indirect with losses of natural resource capital, soil erosion, impoverishment of fauna and flora, etc. The current development of Burkina Faso is not based on sustainable modes of production and consumption and this endangers the rights of future generations.

The economic impacts are also serious. Environmental damage generates economic inefficiencies estimated at around 20% of GDP, or around 760 billion FCFA per year in losses linked to environmental degradation. On a social level, these negative impacts particularly affect the poorest households who derive the majority of their income from agriculture, livestock and natural resources in general.

The priority environmental problems identified in the 3rd Report on the State of the Environment in Burkina are:

• the changes climatic ;
• land degradation ;​​
• degradation of water resources potential;
• the unsustainable energy system;
• the problems environment urban ;
• the erosion of biodiversity .

An analysis of the causes of these problems reveals a lack of funding for environmental actions. Although the budget of the Ministry responsible for the environment has seen a slight increase in recent years, there is still an average deficit of more than 100 billion FCFA/year for programs linked to the environment and natural resources. .

However, today Burkina only has two main sources of financing for the environment: on the one hand the State budget, insufficient, absorbed largely by the operating expenses of the administration and not very flexible. , and on the other hand external financing marked by its limited duration (projects and programs of 3 to 5 years) and sometimes the complexity or cumbersome procedures. Existing funds in the sector, outside the administration budget, are non-existent or with very low resources. The share of local authorities' budgets devoted to the environment and natural resources is very low.

It is aware of this situation that the Government of Burkina Faso has operationalized the Environmental Intervention Fund.