INECE Approves Ambitious Three-Year Plan
An ambitious three-year strategic plan ("the Plan") was adopted at the INECE Executive Planning Committee meeting, hosted by Pavel Šremer of the Czech Environmental Inspectorate October 17-18 in Prague, Czech Republic. The meeting, which included guest participation from the Czech Minister of Environment, Libor Ambrozek and his Deputy Minister, Ladislav Miko, and the Director of the Czech Inspectorate, Eva Tylová, built upon the momentum from the Sixth INECE Conference held earlier this year in Costa Rica, where the draft plan was discussed with conference participants. The Plan identifies a program of work to implement INECE's mission and goals from November 2002 to October 2005. The Plan will serve as the foundation for INECE work during the next three years, although much work remains for the EPC and the Secretariat to secure the necessary resources and recruit the relevant expertise to carry out the work program. The implementation strategy underlying the Plan is flexible and draws upon regional and thematic networks for support.

In addition to continuing with existing programs, such as the international conference, training programs and materials, the INECE Web page, and newsletters, the plan adds several new initiatives, including:

• Support for new regional networks in Africa, Asia, and Central America and South America;
• Creation of new topic-specific networks dealing with issues such as wildlife, water, illegal logging, and the role of prosecutors and the judiciary;
• Development and field-testing of environmental enforcement indicators; and
• Publication of a "best of enforcement" book drawing from the proceedings from the six INECE international conferences, as well as other peer-reviewed publications, and new articles by leading experts.

The INECE Secretariat also is directed to undertake analysis of several enforcement issues, including: Air emission trading programs; Benefits and costs of implementation, enforcement and compliance; and Implementation challenges under current and proposed Multilateral Environmental Agreements.

Several INECE partners offered assistance with projects, including, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, Dutch Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and Environment, the Environment Agency (U.K.), Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, UNEP, and the World Bank Institute. A complete copy of the plan is available at http://www.inece.org. The next EPC meeting is scheduled for May 2003 in Brazil.

Enforcement Indicators Project Gains Momentum
INECE launched its effort to develop indicators of effective environmental compliance and enforcement at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) this past August in Johannesburg, South Africa, by distributing copies of the special indicator edition of the INECE Newsletter. A copy of the special edition of the newsletter is available at http://www.inece.org/Newsletter6.pdf.

The EPC Indicator Sub-Committee and the Secretariat are working closely with regional partners and enforcement networks in all stages of project development. Initial consultations began with many potential partners prior to the Sixth INECE Conference and continued at the WSSD. Already, the Czech Ministry of Environment extended an offer to help with indicator development. In addition, the African, Central American, and South American enforcement networks all recently endorsed the project in their regional strategic plans and expressed interests in become active partners in both the development and testing phases. The Environment Agency has agreed to actively participate on the Subcommittee UNEP and the OECD also have expressed interest in joining the project, as has the World Resources Institute's Access Initiative project, which is designed to measure implementation and compliance with the Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters, held in Aarhus, Denmark June 25, 1998. To coordinate these efforts, INECE is hosting a Web-based discussion forum on indicators located at http://www.inece.org/forumsindicators.html. Individuals and organizations interested in participating in the Enforcement Indicator Project should contact the Secretariat at inece@inece.org. An experts' meeting will be held in early summer.

INECE Calls for Renewed Commitment to Enforcement at WSSD
INECE called for improved enforcement and compliance at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa this past August. EPC Members, the Secretariat, and other INECE partners coordinated several events, that highlighted the need for improved cooperation for enforcement capacity building, including the Global Judicial Symposium, Envirolaw 2002, the Summit Institute for Sustainable Development, and several events hosted by IUCN. In addition, INECE officially launched its Enforcement Indicator Project with the release of a special issue of the INECE Newsletter. Visit the INECE WSSD Web page at http://www.inece.org/wssd.html for more information.

Global Judicial Symposium
INECE co-sponsored the Global Judicial Symposium, organized by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), which brought together over 100 of the world's most senior judges from over 80 countries to discuss improving the adoption and implementation of environment-related laws. The Symposium issued an action plan, the Johannesburg Principles on the Role of Law and Sustainable Development, to strengthen the development, use and enforcement of environment-related laws in a move that signals a new era in the quest for sustainable development.

INECE was represented at the Symposium through the active participation of numerous EPC members including Donald Kaniaru, who spoke on a number of panels and was one of the principal coordinators of the event; Antonio Benjamin who served as counselor to the Brazilian judicial delegation; Antonio Oposa who accompanied Chief Justice Davide of the Philippines; Adriana Bianchi who represented the World Bank and made closing comments to the symposium; and Durwood Zaelke, who coordinated INECE's support for the Symposium.

Additionally, several justices affiliated with the INECE network attended the event, including Justice Michael Decleris from Greece, Justice Scott Fulton from the United States, and Justice Amadeo Postigliani from Italy. Numerous other judges expressed interest in joining INECE and working in conjunction with the INECE regional networks in the near future. For more information on the Symposium, see "INECE Joins UNEP to Host Global Judges Symposium at WSSD."

ENVIROLAW 2002
INECE also helped organize the International Environmental and Sustainable Development Law Conference (ENVIROLAW 2002), held in Durban, South Africa from August 22-25. The INECE Secretariat assisted in the development of the conference program, recommended speakers from the network, and lead several panel discussions.

The conference issued the Durban Statement, which noted the importance of "implementation and enforcement of environmental law" and called for the development of enforcement indicators, as well as an "Environmental Law Enforcement Index" that will build upon the INECE Enforcement Indicator Project. The statement also highlighted the important role of regional and international networks in improving capacity for "effective development, enforcement and monitoring of environmental law."

Durwood Zaelke served on the conference statement drafting committee and chaired the panel on perspectives on governmental enforcement and compliance, which included Antonio Benjamin. Kenneth Markowitz assisted in the development of the conference program and chaired the panel on the role of financial incentives in environmental and social development governance.

William Futrell delivered the keynote address on the importance of the WSSD as a vehicle for strengthening the role of national government. Adriana Bianchi addressed the plenary on establishing and strengthening of domestic environmental and sustainable development governance frameworks. Additional conference information, including copies of the program and conference statement, are available at http://www.envirolawsolutions.com.

Summit Institute for Sustainable Development
INECE also participated in the Summit Institute for Sustainable Development, a week of training courses in Johannesburg on environmental issues sponsored by the Smithsonian Institute, US EPA, and the South African Government, among others. The INECE Secretariat, along with the United States Department of Justice, developed a course on citizen participation in environmental policy and enforcement. Durwood Zaelke led the roundtable discussion among participants from governments, NGOs, multilateral institutions and students. The course focused on the importance of citizen participation in environmental policy formulation and enforcement.

Other INECE participants included: Mas Achmad Santosa from Indonesia, Carl Bruch from the Environmental Law Institute, Antonio Oposa from the Philippines, Antonio Benjamin from Brazil, Kenneth Markowitz from the INECE Secretariat, and Jim Rubin and Kelly Johnson from the US Department of Justice. Other panelists included Salim Ebrahim, a South African attorney specializing in human rights and environment and Jody Kollapen, of the South African Commission on Human Rights. Davis Jones and Don Gipe, of the US EPA, discussed INECE's Principles of Environmental Enforcement and their new course, Conducting Environmental Compliance Inspections. Both the Principles and course materials are available at http://www.inece.org. For additional information on the Summit Institute, visit http://sustainability.si.edu.

World Conservation Union (IUCN)
INECE participated in several IUCN events, including the conference on Environmental Law Foundations for Sustainable Development, that took place from August 20 to 22 at the University of Natal in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Donald Kaniaru spoke during the opening day on the topic of the Montevideo Action Plans in a panel focusing on the environmental legal foundations for sustainable development. William Futrell gave a presentation on strengthening legal resources for sustainability: implementation, coordination, compliance and enforcement of environmental law. This was followed by commentary from Antonio Benjamin speaking on environmental prosecutors and the enforcement of environmental law, and Durwood Zaelke speaking on the role of the INECE.

INECE members also participated in panels hosted at IUCN's Environmental Law Center at the WSSD in Johannesburg. Antonio Benjamin organized the event on biodiversity and poverty. Jacqueline Aloisi de Larderel of UNEP participated in one of the panels, and Durwood Zaelke chaired a panel that included Grethel Aguilar from IUCN Costa Rica and Juliana Santilli from the ISA in Brazil speaking on access to genetic resources in Latin America, as well as Jay Pendergrass from the Environmental Law Institute speaking on biodiversity and conservation on private lands. For more information on these and other IUCN events at the Summit visit http://www.iucn.org/wssd. For more news about INECE at the WSSD, visit http://www.inece.org/wssd.html.

INECE "Best of Enforcement" Book Under Development
INECE is producing a "best of enforcement" book on environmental enforcement and compliance, drawing upon the best articles from past INECE proceedings, as well as other published works by renowned authors and select new articles by leading experts. The goal of this project is to showcase the best practices, policies, and scholarship in environmental implementation, enforcement, and compliance around the world.

The principal audience includes inspectors, prosecutors and judges, as well as policy makers, academics, NGOs, and the related community. It is hoped that the book will raise awareness of the importance of enforcement and compliance, and ultimately help "brand" INECE in the enforcement and compliance community as well as the environmental community at large and the donor community.

In the process of reviewing articles for the book, the Secretariat compiled a bibliography of enforcement and compliance literature and reviewed the proceedings of past INECE Conferences. The bibliography is available at http://www.inece.org. The searchable database of past conference proceedings is located at http://athena.csee.umbc.edu:9080/ELIS.new/inece/search.jsp.