|
Co-Chair Final Conference Statement
Sixth International INECE Conference
San Jose, Costa Rica, April 19, 2002
Introduction
1. As
the international community prepares to meet in Johannesburg
for the World Summit on Sustainable Development from 26 August
to 4 September 2002, the need to strengthen environmental
enforcement and compliance continues to be a dominant theme.
There is a growing recognition that past environmental lawmaking
has not sufficiently arrested environmental degradation and
that enforcement and compliance must become a priority in
the coming decades. Building the capacity to carry out the
needed enforcement and compliance initiatives requires global
cooperation.
2. One
key actor in this effort will be the International Network
for Environmental Compliance and Enforcement (INECE), a global
network of practitioners that has done pioneering work in
this field since its founding in 1990 by the environmental
agencies in the Netherlands and the United States, in partnership
with UNEP, the European Commission, the World Bank, OECD and
others. The INECE Co-Chairs are Gerard Wolters, Inspector
General, the Ministry Inspectorate of Housing, Spatial Planning,
and the Environment, The Netherlands, Sylvia Lowrance, Acting
Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance,
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; and Charles Sebukeera,
Director, Department of Environmental Monitoring & Compliance,
National Environmental Management Authority, Uganda.
3. The
Sixth INECE 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 selected to attend this
event. Mr. Wolters, Ms. Lowrance, and Mr. Sebukeera served
as the Co-Chairs of the Conference, and issued this Conference
Statement affirming the critical role environmental compliance
and enforcement must play in achieving the rule of law, good
governance, and sustainable development.
4. The
conference participants acknowledge the assistance and support
of the Costa Rican government and express their deep gratitude
for the generous hospitality provided, including the cultural
event at Pueblo Antiguo, and the field visits to explore and
appreciate the natural environment and its management for
which the country is so justly renowned.
5. The
conference participants also acknowledge the assistance and
support of the organizations providing financial and other
assistance for the Conference, including the Ministry of Housing,
Spatial Planning & the Environment in The Netherlands,
the US Environmental Protection Agency, the European Commission,
the World Bank, the NAFTA Commission for Environmental Cooperation,
Environment Canada, and the International Fund for Animal
Welfare, as well as the embassies of the United States and
The Netherlands.
6. The
conference participants also thank the governments, agencies,
international organizations, and non-governmental organizations
that have, since the Rio Earth Summit, supported enforcement
and compliance efforts, and express the hope that they, as
well as others in a position to do so, will continue to support
the implementation of measures aimed at enhancing and strengthening
enforcement and compliance of environmental laws at the national,
regional, and international levels.
The
Enforcement Gap
7. Despite
a growing body of environmental law at the national and international
level - more than 300 international and regional agreements
have been developed in the thirty years since the 1972 Stockholm
conference - measures of environmental quality show continuing
degradation across a broad spectrum, with serious consequences
for ecosystems and public health, as well as the rule of law
and good governance. A telling example is the substantial
mortality from lack of clean water, lack of clean air, and
other forms of industrial pollution.
8. While
poverty is a major cause and consequence of environmental
degradation and calls for urgent remedial action, the failure
to invest in the strengthening of enforcement and compliance
programs is a key reason for the continuing degradation of
environmental quality.
9. The
Capacity Development Initiative of UNDP and the Global Environmental
Facility concludes that there is a need to strengthen domestic
capacity to enforce laws and policies to implement global
environmental conventions. The enforcement gap is pointedly
illustrated by the Convention of International Trade in Endangered
Species (CITES): of the 154 parties, 76 are believed generally
not to meet one or more of the requirements for implementing
CITES. Without stronger enforcement and compliance, CITES
cannot succeed in protecting endangered species, nor can the
other conventions. This situation is repeated in other agreements
at the international, regional, and national level, and is
unacceptable if we hope to leave a positive environmental
legacy for future generations.
Mandate
to Strengthen Enforcement
10. The
need to address the enforcement gap was recognized at the
Rio Earth Summit in Agenda 21, Chapter 8, which specifically
directs that States develop their compliance and enforcement
capacity; in the European Commission's effort with the current
twelve accession countries and in the recent 6th Community
Environmental Action Program; in the Ministerial Communiqué
from the Meeting of Environment Ministers of the Americas,
held in Montreal, Canada March 29-30, 2001; in UNEP's final
Montevideo III Programme, adopted in February 2001; in UNEP's
Guidelines for Compliance and Enforcement, adopted February
15, 2002 in Cartagena, Columbia; and in the G-8 Ministers'
Statement on Environmental Enforcement, International Cooperation,
and Public Access to Information, issued in 1997 in Miami,
U.S.A.
11. Most
recently the preparatory discussions for the upcoming World
Summit on Sustainable Development recognize the important
role of enforcement and compliance in sustainable development
governance and cite the need to "promote the establishment
or strengthening of existing authorities and mechanisms necessary
for policy-making, coordination and enforcement" and
" develop and maintain effective legal systems, including
strong and clear laws related to compliance, monitoring, enforcement,
and for citizen participation."
Benefits
of Enforcement
12.
Protection and maintenance of our life-sustaining natural
ecosystems is the fundamental benefit realized from addressing
the enforcement gap. These benefits generally outweigh costs,
especially when the ecosystem benefits are considered along
with the resulting benefits to public health, enhanced respect
for the rule of law, improvements in governance, and improvements
in the competitiveness of countries and firms, as well as
new jobs and assistance in combating unemployment.1
Expanding
Role for INECE
13. The
growing emphasis on enforcement and compliance is expected
to increase the demand for a more active involvement of INECE
and the enforcement practitioners who participate in the network
from 130 countries. These practitioners come principally from
governments, but also from NGOs and academia.
14. The
INECE mission is to strengthen enforcement and compliance
at the national, regional and international levels, thereby
contributing to the strengthening of the rule of law and good
governance. INECE is the only global environmental network
exclusively dedicated to this critical mission. Its goals
are to:
a. Strengthen
institutional capacity, inter alia, by exchanging
experience and developing best practices,
b. Develop effective interlocking networks at the national,
regional and international levels, and
c. Raise awareness of the importance of environmental enforcement
and compliance.
15. The
accomplishments of INECE include the landmark INECE Principles
of Environmental Enforcement issued in 1992 to "help
individuals responsible for environmental protection in difference
countries, regions and localities design and implement compliance
strategies and enforcement programs." Other accomplishments
include the conference proceedings from the six
INECE international conferences, training materials, the
INECE Web site (www.inece.org),
and the INECE Newsletter.
16. These
accomplishments are mirrored in the efforts of regional enforcement
and compliance networks, most notably the work of the European
Network for the Implementation and Enforcement of Environmental
Law (IMPEL), the AC-IMPEL, comprised of candidate countries
to the European Union, New Independent States Environmental
Compliance and Enforcement Network (NIS-ECEN), the BERCEN
network, comprised of Balkan countries, and the North American
Working Group on Environmental Enforcement and Compliance
Cooperation of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation.
17. Continuous
efforts are required to be undertaken by all countries and
relevant organizations and operational agencies, including
local governmental agencies and non-governmental organizations,
concerned with ensuring the effective implementation and enforcement
of national, regional, and international environmental law.
INECE will play a vital role in these efforts.
18. The
Internet is an important and valuable part of INECE's efforts
to establish national, regional and international networks,
promote their cooperation, build capacity around the world,
link the society of environmental practitioners, and raise
awareness of the importance of enforcement and compliance.
Call
to Action
19. Therefore,
the Co-Chairs of the Sixth International Conference of the
International Network for Environmental Compliance and Enforcement:
| |
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; |
| |
b.
Appeal to developed countries to provide necessary
resources and technical assistance, on request, to developing
countries to strengthen their enforcement capacity and
performance; |
| |
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; |
| |
d.
Reaffirm INECE's commitment to strengthen and develop
regional networks, especially in Africa, Latin America
and Asia; |
| |
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; |
| |
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; |
| |
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; |
| |
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; |
| |
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 |
| |
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 |
| |
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. |
April
19, 2002, San Jose, Costa Rica
_________________________________
1.
The Benefits of Compliance with the Environmental Acquis
for Candidate Countries (2001); Esty & Porter, Measuring
National Environmental Regulation and Performance, in The
Global Competitiveness Report 2001-2002 (Oxford 2001);
Pratt, Rethinking the Private Sector-Environment Relationship
in Latin America, Inter-American Development Bank Annual
Meeting (March 25, 2000); and Dowell, Hart & Yeung, Do
Corporate Global Environmental Standards Create or Destroy
Market Value?, 46 Management Science 2000.
|
