Albania’s rich ecosystems and biodiversity were preserved by the country’s political isolation up to the 1990s. However, as Albania develops an open economy and becomes more prosperous, the country’s natural assets are at risk from pressures including air and water pollution, poor waste management infrastructure, adaptation to a drier, warmer climate in the coming decades, soil degradation and deforestation.

Environmental civil society organisations (CSOs) in Albania often face difficulties in accessing decision-makers and being included in consultation processes. WFD’s ongoing cooperation with Albanian CSOs is set to expand and include leading environmental CSOs across a wide range of topics and help consolidate evidence-based policy input on the most pressing environmental problems that Albania is facing. These will inform local and national roundtable debates facilitated by WFD airing local and national TV channels, bringing together political candidates running for the 2021 elections and environmental CSOs, citizens and media. The focus of these discussions will be a review of past electoral promises on the environmental and the ones that are part of current party programmes.

WFD will also prepare a database recording all the electoral promises done in the past on environmental issues as the basis of post-election follow-up activities.