Report Explores the Role of Negotiation in International Environmental Governance

The Mediterranean Programme for International Environmental Law and Negotiation (MEPIELAN) recently published a collection of papers and simulation exercises exploring a holistic approach to international environmental governance and the potential for negotiation in the environmental context.

Contributions to International Environmental Negotiation in the Mediterranean Context was written by Evangelos Raftopoulos, Associate Professor of International Law at Panteion University of Athens, and Moira L. McConnell, Professor of Law at Dalhousie Law School, Canada .

It is the second in a series of publications by MEPIELAN, a forum for improving environmental protection by promoting enhanced cooperation among negotiating partners in the international sphere. The papers and exercises were originally designed for, and used at, the first MEPIELAN seminars.

The contributors pose wide-ranging and provocative ideas in the papers and in associated exercises, including questions such as: Can international environmental negotiations be approached as a distinct process of governance technique relevant to the emergence and operation of conventional environmental regimes? What is the difference between the effectiveness of institutions and the effectiveness of international environmental agreements? How does a convergence of security and defense and environmental/human security/health concerns impact on environmental negotiations? What is the impact of the European Union and its directives on international environmental negotiations?

For a copy of this publication, visit http://www.mepielan.gr/.

Paper Analyzes Environmental Policy Integration

The European Environment Agency (EEA) recently published Environmental Policy Integration in Europe - Administrative Culture and Practices. This paper presents an overview of administrative culture and practices for environmental policy integration (EPI) in Europe , and investigates some of the main management styles used. It reviews institutional structures and practices in the EU, the candidate and applicant countries, the countries of the European Free Trade Area (EFTA) and the countries of Eastern Europe, Caucasus, and Central Asia (EECCA).

Environmental Policy Integration involves a continual process to ensure environmental issues are reflected in all policy-making, with a view to achieving sustainable development. Environmental Policy Integration also supports more general efforts to coordinate activities which are also desirable from a purely economic and effectiveness perspective. While political commitment to Environmental Policy Integration has received much attention, there has been less attention given to ensuring that administrations are fully supportive. The European Environment Agency has thus developed a new Environmental Policy Integration evaluation framework which includes ‘administrative culture and practices' among its main categories.

An administrative culture and practices conducive to Environmental Policy Integration can be promoted in many different ways, using top-down and bottom-up approaches such as improvement of budgeting and auditing practices, internal management tools, institutional change and enhanced coordination mechanisms. The European Environment Agency’s evaluation framework uses four questions to evaluate the extent to which administrations reflect Environmental Policy Integration in their day-today working practices.

The general picture that emerges is one of a small but growing body of practice in getting legal and political commitments to Environmental Policy Integration reflected in administrations, their practices and their cultures. Various mechanisms, including instruments and institutional changes, are being employed in efforts to embed environmental thinking in government departments, activities and mindsets. The suite of mechanisms variously engages departments, as well as politicians and external stakeholders. The extent to which mechanisms are used differs from country to country, particularly if one focuses only on Environmental Policy Integration specific mechanisms, rather than those introduced for sustainable development or broader governance purposes.

Adoption of Environmental Policy Integration mechanisms is highest in a small group of EU and EFTA countries, notably the Anglo- Saxon, Nordic (including the Netherlands) and German-speaking countries. Within this group, the UK , Germany , Sweden and the Netherlands stand out as having made particular efforts to promote Environmental Policy Integration although each has done so in different ways. In some cases, this has involved the introduction of new top-down structures, such as Germany’s Green Cabinet and instruments such as budgetary processes, to push environmental integration down through the administration.

Environmental Policy Integration is an ongoing process, not something that is simply ‘achieved’. This underlines the importance of changing not only current practices but also administrative cultures, with a view to institutionalizing Environmental Policy Integration and protecting it from sudden changes. Administrations ensure that policy goals continue to be respected, long after politicians have moved to other issues, which is particularly problematic for challenges like Environmental Policy Integration, which generally have a low political profile over the longer term.

The report draws a number of conclusions from this review:

• there is a need for accessible information to support the use of the European Environment Agency’s evaluation framework, particularly as regards the quality of structures, processes or other Environmental Policy Integration-related developments and their impacts;
  
• areas where information was particularly difficult to obtain related to Environmental Policy Integration internal management systems and coordination mechanisms;
  
• the information deficit creates the possibility of a few practices, i.e. Those most clearly related to Environmental Policy Integration and those of a more directorial (and thus explicit) top-down nature, being held up as good examples, without there being any real appreciation of the more ‘hidden’ bottom-up initiatives;
  
• among the developments that are most explicit, both in terms of institution building and the introduction of instruments or tools for improving coordination, the majority are in fact concerned with sustainable development rather than Environmental Policy Integration. Sustainble development cannot be achieved without Environmental Policy Integration, but the two are fundamentally different. In practice, a focus on the more nebulous concept of sustainable development may be insufficient to ensure environmental objectives are fully reflected in policies;
  
• the European Environment Agency evaluation framework has demonstrated its usefulness for analyzing and drawing lessons from countries, benchmarking and to inform ‘soft coordination.’ Further more detailed and qualitative evaluations could be undertaken on a case study basis, allowing proper in-depth assessment of more fundamental and subtle changes.

A copy of the report is available at http://reports.eea.eu.int/technical_report_2005_5/en.

Report Finds Legislative Reform Need to Control Traditional Chinese Medicine Trade

Trade in musk products, derived from the threatened Musk Deer species, is by-passing wildlife trade controls in Malaysia and Singapore and there is a pressing need to reform the legislation in both countries to enable better monitoring and law enforcement for wild animal and plant-based Traditional Chinese Medicine preparations, according to TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network.

A new TRAFFIC Southeast Asia report titled Against The Grain: Trade in Musk Deer Products in Singapore and Malaysia found that trade in Traditional Chinese Medicine preparations containing musk from CITES-listed Musk Deer is not being properly controlled. Between 1990 and 2001, CITES export statistics show Singapore as the destination for 86kg of raw musk. During the same period, both Malaysia and Singapore reported no imports of musk derivatives, despite CITES export records from China, the world’s major exporter of musk derivatives, showing that over 1 million specimens were destined for Singapore, as well as 800 kilograms of derivatives sent to Malaysia.

Inadequate national legislation of both Singapore and Malaysia as significant consumer countries of musk from musk deer is a cause for concern. The Endangered Species Act 1989 of Singapore and the Protection of Wild Life Act 1972 of Malaysia do not allow for the effective control of musk deer in trade because they fail to explicitly cover derivatives of protected species. Only animals and their “readily recognizable” parts appear to be covered by Singapore ’s and Malaysia ’s legislations. Once the musk is extracted from the musk gland of the male Musk Deer and processed or manufactured into derivative medicines, it is no longer explicitly controlled under national law in these two countries.

While both countries need to consider improvements in legislative coverage, Malaysia is a particular priority as it is currently under review by the CITES National Legislation Project. In recent weeks, calls for amendments to Malaysia ’s national list of Protected Species have captured the attention of the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment. TRAFFIC Southeast Asia ’s report demonstrates that holistic legislative reform needs to take place so that Malaysia is in a position to comprehensively regulate its trade in wild plants and animals. Malaysia ’s progress with legislative reform will be reviewed at the Meeting of the CITES Standing Committee, which will begin in Geneva on 27 June.

The report investigates the demand for musk in Singapore and Malaysia , documents the trends in musk consumption, identifies the sources of musk and analyzes the role played by both countries in the international trade of musk. The report’s recommendations highlight concerns pertaining to the gaps in coverage by the national legislations of both Singapore and Malaysia as significant consumer countries of musk from musk deer, and the fact that musk derivatives are only rarely appearing in trade statistics collected by these two CITES Parties. TRAFFIC hopes that the report will serve as an incentive to improve the legislation, trade monitoring and law enforcement effectiveness in both countries.

A copy of the report is available at http://traffic.org.