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Summary
of Accomplishments
6th International Conference on Environmental Compliance and Enforcement
The Sixth
INECE International Conference was held in San Jose, Costa Rica
from April 15-19, 2002 and featured a full program of panels, workshops
and field visits for the participants. Conference accomplishments
included:
· Hosting a successful pre-conference
workshop on “Environmental Issues of Importance to Costa
Rica and other Central American Countries for Local Professionals”,
in Spanish, for 90 local compliance and enforcement practitioners
on Saturday, April 13, 2002.
· Hosting 172 Conference participants from more than
80 countries and organizations, including 37 who were assisted with
outside funding.
· Presenting
ten plenary panels with 35 speakers, 22 workshops with 59 facilitators
and rapporteurs, and six regional meetings.
· Publishing
Volume 1 of the Conference Proceedings in print and electronic
formats.
· Drafting
and presenting the Conference Statement from the Co-Chairs.
· Reviewing
and discussing the Annotated Outline on the Compliance and Enforcement
Indicator project, including two workshops, as well as a specially
scheduled breakfast meeting.
· Reviewing and discussing
a draft list of projects for INECE Strategic Plan.
·
Arranging field visits to six sites, with local experts as guides,
and providing written case studies.
· Posting
presentations and other Conference documents on the inece.org
Web site every evening during the Conference.
· Video
taping all plenary sessions of the Conference.
· Providing
a Cyber Café with ten high-speed Web connections and other business
services.
· Hosting
a Press Conference for Co-Chairs with resulting news story in
The Tico Times.
· Presenting
copies of the best-selling text on International
Environmental Law & Policy to all participants, along with
a Treaty Viewer CD with over
70 environmental treaties in a searchable database by i-Sciences
and the World Resources Institute.
In addition
to the accomplishments listed above, several additional accomplishments
resulted from the rich networking opportunities at the Conference,
including:
· Forming the INECE International Network for Environmental
Prosecutors.
·
Agreeing on funding from the European Commission to support follow-up
planning for regional networks in Africa, Asia, and South America.
· Agreeing on INECE partnership with UNEP to host the
Global Judicial Symposium at the World Summit on Sustainable Development
in Johannesburg, South Africa, in August.
· Agreeing
on funding from the European Commission for the Global Judicial
Symposium.
· Establishing the Asian Environmental Compliance and
Enforcement Regional Network, with funding for initial meeting committed
by the Ford Foundation.
· Hosting
various side meetings at the Conference, including meetings by Prosecutors,
NGOs, Inspectors, Judicial Symposium organizers, and funders; African
meeting with World Bank and UK; and an additional session on INECE
Compliance and Enforcement Indicators.
The Conference
concluded with a Call to Action developed by the Conference Co-Chairs:
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a.
Urge the International Community, through the
World Summit on Sustainable Development and other related meetings,
to reaffirm the commitment to strengthening environmental enforcement
and compliance as an essential part of sustainable development
governance; |
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b.
Appeal to developed countries to provide necessary
resources and technical assistance, on request, to developing
countries to strengthen their enforcement capacity and performance; |
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c.
Encourage INECE to continue expanding its training
and capacity building initiatives, and to strengthen its partnerships
with international, regional, and national organizations, as
well as NGOs and academic institutions, with a view to pooling
their respective comparative advantages, avoiding duplication
and optimizing the use of available resources; |
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d.
Reaffirm INECE's commitment to strengthen and
develop regional networks, especially in Africa, Latin America
and Asia; |
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e.
Recognize the important role non-governmental
organizations can play in enforcement and compliance, as independent
actors and as adjuncts to government enforcement and compliance
efforts; |
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f.
Call upon INECE to develop uniform minimum criteria
and pilot test INECE Environmental Compliance and Enforcement
Indicators, in cooperation with regional networks, with a view
to improving performance, public policy decisions, and environmental
governance globally, as well as the quality of the environment; |
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g.
Note that, INECE, in partnership with UNEP, is
planning a Global Judicial Symposium in conjunction with the
forthcoming World Summit for Sustainable Development, with the
view to promoting networking initiatives and international cooperation
amongst members of the judiciary in order to more fully integrate
national environmental governance and sustainability principles
into the judicial process; |
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h.
Commit INECE to build upon its accomplishments,
including its conferences, newsletters and Web site, and to
develop new products and services, including new ways to disseminate
information through continuing expansion of the INECE Web site
and other appropriate means; |
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i.
Draw the attention of the World Summit on Sustainable
Development to INECE's accomplishments and its future efforts,
noting in particular the contribution that INECE Enforcement
Indicators can make to the need for the International Community
to measure progress under Agenda 21, including at future summits,
and request cooperation with INECE in accomplishing these critical
goals; and |
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j.
Request the INECE Secretariat to forward this
Conference Statement to the World Summit on Sustainable Development,
as well as to other relevant national, regional, and international
institutions and meetings; and |
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k.
Also request conference participants to promote
the Conference Statement within the process of the World Summit
on Sustainable Development, and subsequently, in their own national
systems, with a view to strengthening and enhancing environmental
enforcement and compliance at the national, regional, and international
level. |
The Full
Text of the Conference Statement, including the Call to Action,
is available online.
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