The FEASIBLE model 

FEASIBLE is a software tool developed by COWI to support the preparation of environmental financing strategies. A major challenge when developing such strategies is often the lack of available data on investment and rehabilitation needs at the individual facility level. The key feature of FEASIBLE is the use of generic cost functions which allow easy estimation of the costs of alternative service and environmental targets with a limited data collection effort. The output generated by FEASIBLE has proven valuable for decision makers planning heavy-cost investments in the environmental sector.

The basic approach underlying FEASIBLE is to take public policy targets in areas like water supply and sanitation, determine the costs and timetables of achieving them and compare the schedule of these expenditure needs with available sources of finance.

This analysis generally reveals “finance gaps” during planned implementation. FEASIBLE can then develop various scenarios to determine how these gaps could be closed. This could be by: identifying policy reforms that could help achieve the targets at lower cost; identifying ways of mobilising additional finance; adjusting the ambition level of the targets; or extending the time period for achieving the targets.

An important feature of FEASIBLE is the emphasis on realism and affordability. The model can assess the levels of finance (public, private, domestic, foreign) that might be available under different macro-economic conditions. In this way, it provides a check on what public budgets might realistically be expected to contribute. It can also help to assess the potential social implications of increasing tariffs by determining the impacts of such price increases on household income.

By focussing on these issues, the application of FEASIBLE is more than a technical exercise: it also supports a process of dialogue and consensus building among the key stakeholders involved in financing environmentally-related infrastructure. In this way, it can build a bridge between policy development and implementation.

The FEASIBLE model was developed in close cooperation with the OECD and financed by the Danish Ministry of the Environment under the DANCEE programme.