|
| |
2006 Year in Review
|
|
| |
March 2007 |
|
Dear Friends,
On behalf of the International Network for Environmental Compliance & Enforcement (INECE), it is my privilege to report on the progress and results of our network during 2006.
Thanks to the contributions of our dedicated participants, INECE made great progress this year in demonstrating how strengthening compliance with environmental laws creates value, both in the public realm, and in the private realm. Compliance creates public value when environmental laws protect public health and ecosystem services. Compliance creates private value when strict but flexible environmental laws promote innovation off-sets in the form of improved competitiveness of firms.
We hope you will be inspired by our list of accomplishments and will redouble your efforts to contribute to the goals of INECE. We encourage you to follow the links to the INECE website for further information on the network’s activities.
Developing Regional and Topical Networks for Enforcement Cooperation
- Regional Networks. INECE supported the Network for Environmental Compliance and Enforcement in the Maghreb (NECEMA) through its evolution to a functional network, including projects on the country assessment process and on good water governance. The Secretariat also developed a chapter on environmental compliance and enforcement indicators for ECENA’s upcoming publication, Guidelines on Progress Monitoring and Benchmarking in Environmental Enforcement and Compliance for the South Eastern European Countries.
- Emissions Trading. INECE’s Expert Group on Emissions Trading held a series of meetings on the role of information technology in implementing and ensuring compliance with emissions trading systems and raised awareness of the shared responsibilities of regulatory agencies, industry, the financial sector, and non-governmental organizations in assuring compliance within such systems. The next workshop, Improving Efficiency, Effectiveness, & International Harmonization of Compliance Activities in Emissions Trading, will be held in Dublin, Ireland, in March 2007.
- Judiciary. INECE designed a new project to improve environmental governance through enhanced judicial oversight and review through the analysis of several leading environmental tribunals. INECE will gauge their efficacy in settling environmental disputes and identify common elements and lessons learned to form a framework of principles for other jurisdictions interested in forming new environmental tribunals.
- Water Governance. INECE formed a new Expert Working Group on Water Governance to identify and design products and services to improve fresh water governance.
Strengthening Capacity for Compliance & Enforcement Throughout the Regulatory Cycle
- Graduate-level Course on Environmental Compliance and Enforcement. INECE developed a graduate level program to convey the principles and practical application of environmental compliance and enforcement theories. The course was launched at American University’s Washington College of Law in June 2006 and will be repeated in June 2007.
- Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Indicators. The INECE Expert Working Group cooperated with AECEN to present INECE’s new training course on environmental compliance and enforcement indicators in Vietnam, Thailand, and the Philippines in June 2006. INECE also worked with UNEP and in-country partners to use indicators to identify opportunities for creating efficiencies in the implementation of biodiversity-related multilateral environmental agreements in Brazil, Costa Rica, Kenya, and South Africa. In addition, the Secretariat published An Introduction to Environmental Compliance & Enforcement Indicators brochure in English, French, Spanish, German, and Arabic.
- Country Assessment Methodology. In cooperation with GTZ, OECD, ECENA, and NECEMA, INECE presented its country assessment methodology
 to practitioners in the Maghreb region, during an international conference on “Enforcing Environmental Laws in the Maghreb Region: Country Assessment,” held in Rabat in October.
- Water Governance. INECE presented a capacity building program on “Compliance and Enforcement and Legal Aspects of Good Water Governance” in March 2006 as part of the Smithsonian Institution’s activities at the 4th World Water Forum (Institute@WWF4). The program introduced participants to environmental compliance and enforcement aspects of good water governance, including developing enforceable requirements, ensuring compliance with those requirements through mandatory and incentive programs, identifying the role of the public, conducting inspections, and creating an atmosphere of deterrence.
- Principles of Environmental Impact Assessment Trainings. INECE, the U.S. Middle East Partnership Initiative, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sponsored and delivered two successful workshops on the “Principles of Environmental Impact Assessment” in Bahrain and Oman in September 2006 and a follow-up review course in December. The programs resulted in the training of more than 80 practitioners in the region, including participants from Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, the UAE, and Yemen.
Raising Awareness of the Importance of Compliance & Enforcement
- International Colloquium on Implementing Environmental Legislation: The Critical Role of Enforcement and Compliance. INECE, IUCN Academy of Environmental Law, and Pace University Law School co-hosted a colloquium on the critical role of enforcement and compliance programs in realizing the expected benefits of national environmental legislation and of international treaties and conventions on 16-20 October 2006 in White Plains , New York. Over 200 practitioners, members of civil society, and environmental law professors participated from 47 countries . Delegates concluded the summit during a meeting at the United Nations, where they expressed the urgent need to strengthen environmental law compliance and enforcement
 to diplomats.
- Participation in Conferences of the Parties to Key Multilateral Environmental Agreements. The Secretariat participated in a High-Level Meeting on Compliance with and Enforcement of Multilateral Environmental Agreements, hosted by UNEP, in Sri Lanka in January 2006 and ensured that INECE was represented at the 18th Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol in India and the 2 nd Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (COP/MOP 2) and 12th Conference of the Parties to the Climate Change Convention (COP 12) in Kenya.
- Environmentally Sound Management of Waste: Local Action through International Cooperation. The Secretariat of the Basel Convention and INECE collaborated to develop a coordinated strategy to promote SBC activities, better engage civil society and other key stakeholders, and build a network for better compliance with and enforcement of waste management laws.
- Using Film to Promote INECE’s Message. INECE released a short documentary film entitled “The Prague Statement: The Contribution of Good Environmental Regulation to Competitiveness.” The film features Environment Agency Chief Executive Barbara Young discussing how the Prague Statement teaches that modern regulation, under a system of strict enforcement, can lead to high levels of compliance, resulting in cost savings, increased competitiveness, and innovation. The video has been viewed more than 400 times on Google Video.
- Expanding the INECE Website. INECE continued to expand the resources available through its website at http://www.inece.org, including newsletters 12 and 13 and regular updates to engage the network in INECE’s activities and events. The INECE website averages more than 1,200 unique visitors each day.
- Making Law Work. Making Law Work is in its third printing and sales continue at a good pace. Chapter 1 of the book was reprinted as a separate volume for distribution at international conferences and meetings. It was also translated into Chinese for an anthology.
INECE Governance
- New Strategic Implementation Plan. The INECE Executive Planning Committee (EPC) approved a strategy and work program for INECE to implement its mission and achieve its goals during the period of November 2006 to November 2009.
- New EPC Members. The INECE EPC welcomed Kunihiko Shimada, Japan’s Chief Advisor (International Negotiation Strategy) and Principal Negotiator in the Ministry of the Environment, and Romina Picolotti, Argentina’s Minister of Environment, as new EPC members. Ana Maria Kleyemeyer, who heads Argentina’s international environmental efforts, will be Ms. Picolotti’s alternate to the EPC.
- Long-Range Planning Process. INECE’s ad hoc group on the long-range planning process developed and circulated a draft long-range plan that identifies a broad set of global environmental trends of relevance to INECE. The three key recommendations are:
- to strengthen INECE’s regional, functional and topic-specific networks and forums;
- to improve INECE brand through enhanced products and services; and
- to secure a long-term and sustainable funding base for the INECE Secretariat.
INECE’s accomplishments in 2006 were only possible because of the active involvement and support of our participants. We would like to offer special thanks to our funders, especially the Netherlands Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment and the United States Environmental Protection Agency, as well as the United Nations Environment Programme, the Environment Agency for England and Wales, the Secretariat of the Basel Convention, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, the Smithsonian Institute, the World Bank Institute, the European Commission, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit, the Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Network for Accession, the International Fund for Animal Welfare, and others.
We look forward to working with you in 2007 as we seek to implement INECE’s new strategic implementation plan and plan for our next international conference in 2008.
On behalf of the EPC Co-Chairs, the EPC, and the Secretariat staff, we extend our best wishes for an exciting and productive year.
Respectfully,
Durwood Zaelke
Director, INECE Secretariat
|
