The official goal
of the Summit was-not to establish new principles, commitments, or
institutions-but rather to review progress towards the existing principles
and commitments set at the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and
Development. Also know as the Rio Earth Summit, the 1992 conference
adopted the Rio Principles, new conventions on climate and biodiversity,
a set of forestry principles, and created the Commission on Sustainable
Development to assist with implementation.
Besides the two
substantive documents, seven Partnership Plenaries and four high-level
Round Tables, the Summit also hosted a full program of side events
in and around Johannesburg. INECE was an active participant in several
side events. (See Summary of INECE Summit Participation).
The Johannesburg Declaration on Sustainable Development and
the Plan of Implementation (hereinafter "the Plan")
were the major substantive accomplishments of the Summit. The Plan,
discussed in more detail below, consists of eleven chapters spelling
out the framework for action to implement the commitments made at
the 1992 Earth Summit.
However, the Johannesburg
Summit is being criticized by some participants for merely repeating
many of the commitments made in the United Nations Millennium Declaration,
including the various commitments dealing with income and drinking
water, which are taken almost verbatim from the Millennium Declaration.
Others have criticized the Summit for failing to include targets and
timetables for implementing renewable energy resources, and maintaining
the legitimacy of pursuing fossil fuel technologies. Additionally,
many participants and observers believe that the Summit did not adequately
address the $350 billion in annual agricultural subsidies paid by
developed nations, and others complain that the Summit virtually overlooked
education for sustainable development as a critical issue.
But many of the
Summit commitments, particularly regarding biodiversity, chemicals,
and fisheries, set forth for the first time, targets and timetables
that present a tremendous challenge for those responsible for implementing
the Rio commitments and enforcing environmental law and policy.
To assist in
meeting this challenge, INECE announced at the Summit that it was
launching the INECE Enforcement Indicator Project to develop
a set of indicators to measure and manage enforcement and compliance
efforts. In addition to assisting countries manage their enforcement
resources for improved performance; INECE contemplates using the indicators
to identify opportunities to expand its training and capacity building
program. Other strategies for helping enforcement practitioners meet
the targets and timetables set by the Summit are being considered
in the development of the 2003-05 INECE strategic plan.
3. THE SUMMIT PLAN OF IMPLEMENTATION
The Johannesburg Summit reaffirmed the commitment to the Rio Principles,
and to the full implementation of Agenda 21, and recognized that good
governance is essential to sustainable development, as is respect
for human rights and fundamental freedoms (Summit Plan, Chapter I).
The means of implementation include a focus on access to environmental
information as well as judicial and administrative proceedings (Chapter
X.). The Summit Plan also notes the need for better market signals,
including full cost internalization and the elimination of harmful
subsidies, as well as regulatory frameworks for achieving a level
playing field, and better assessment and reporting, including an environmental
vulnerability index for Small Island States, and a comprehensive review
of implementation of the Barbados Programme of Action by 2004 (Chapters
III, IV, and VII).
The Summit Plan addresses poverty eradication through a commitment
to cut in half by 2015 the number of people living on less than US
$1/day, and agreed to establish a solidarity fund (Chapter II).
In addition, it calls for action to immediately enforce national Forestry
Laws and to halt illegal trade in forest products (Chapter IV), to
return fisheries to maximum sustainable yield levels by 2015 (id.),
to cut in half the number of people without access to safe drinking
water and sanitation by 2015 (Chapter II), to minimize significant
adverse effects on human health and the environment from chemicals
by 2020 (Chapter III), and to achieve by 2010 a significant reduction
in the current rate of biodiversity loss (Chapter IV), including coastal
and marine biodiversity of small island states (Chapter VII), as well
the negotiation of a legally binding instrument on benefit sharing
(Chapter IV).
The Plan also focuses on actions to limit health impacts from air
pollution and from lead exposure (Chapter VI), and on the need to
strengthen corporate accountability (Chapter IV).
3.1 Implementation
of MEAs
The Summit Plan calls on nations to ratify and effectively implement
a number of multilateral environmental instruments, including:
3.2 Targets
and Timetables
The Plan also sets additional targets and timetables to assist with
full implementation, including:
3.2.1 2004
· Develop a process for global reporting and assessment of
the marine environment.
· Create an international plan of action to prevent, deter
and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.
3.2.2 2005
· Develop integrated water resources management and water efficiency
plans.
· Begin implementation of national strategies for sustainable
development.
· Adopt an international plan of action for management of fishing
capacity.
· Develop a strategic approach to international chemicals management.
3.2.3 2008
· Implement a globally harmonized system for the classification
and labeling of chemicals.
3.2.4 2010
· Significantly reduce the rate of biodiversity loss
3.2.5 2012
· Establish marine protective areas.
3.2.6 2015
· Halve the proportion of people without access to safe drinking
water and basic sanitation.
· Return fisheries to maximum sustainable yield levels.
3.2.7 2020
· Achieve sound management of chemical use and production to
minimize their significant adverse effects on health and environment.
3.3 Strengthening
Implementation
The Summit Plan calls for the mobilization of financial and technological
resources, including capacity-building programs, to strengthen implementation
in developing countries. In addition, the Plan highlights several
specific areas where assistance is needed, including the following
areas relevant to the work of INECE:
The World Bank
and the International Emissions Trading Association unveiled
a $100 million project to encourage emission trading in developing
countries.
The Asia Development
Bank announced a $5 million grant to United Nations Human Settlements
Program (Habitat) and $500 million in fast-track credit for the
Habitat Water for Asian Cities Programme.
The Global
Environment Facility announced an agreement totaling $3 billion
to replenish its funding commitments. The GEF funds projects in four
focal areas: biodiversity, climate change, international waters, and
ozone. Projects to address land degradation, as it relates to the
four focal areas, are also eligible for funding.
5. "TYPE
TWO" PARTNERSHIPS
The Political Declaration and the Plan of Implementation
were "type one" outcomes agreed to by governments. "Type
two" partnerships are so-called "partnerships of the willing"
between various countries and stakeholders that were agreed to outside
the formal Summit negotiation process. Several "type two"
partnerships that may be relevant to INECE are listed below. It is
anticipated that at lest some of these partnerships will receive funding
in the form of the development assistance detailed above.
Other significant
partnerships were formed outside the "type two" structure,
reflecting the suspicion voiced by a number of developing countries
at the Fourth WSSD PrepCom in Bali, Indonesia that "type two"
partnerships were a distraction from the "type one" government
commitments. In response, many organizations decided not to list their
projects as "type two." For example, the Global Judicial
Symposium announced an international effort to strengthen the environmental
capacity of the judiciary, but this event and the follow up capacity
building initiative is not included in the "type two" listing.
Nevertheless, many of these partnerships may be relevant, and they
will be reviewed separately.
The following are partnerships that are officially listed and that
touch on issues of environmental implementation, enforcement and/or
compliance.
An
Integrative Approach to Organic Agriculture: Social, Environmental,
and Economic Challenges, Benefits, and Opportunities
This initiative, launched between the Ministry of Environment
in the Dominican Republic and Physicians for Social Responsibility
(ISSER), is designed to provide capacity building and technology transfer
to decision-makers and other major groups in the Dominican Republic
regarding the principals and practices of organic agriculture with
a view to fostering long-term sustainable food production, health,
rural development, and the conservation of natural resources. It involves,
inter alia, promoting legal frameworks and enforcement.
Asia Forest Partnership
The Government of Japan, in cooperation with the Center for International
Forestry Research, is leading an initiative to promote sustainable
forest management in Asia by addressing, inter alia, good governance
and forest law enforcement; capacity for effective forest management;
and control of illegal logging. The partnership will promote
forest policies, plans and programs; land use and natural resource
management arrangements; use of satellite data; and a variety of measures
to address illegal logging. The first phase of this project will run
from August 2002 to 2007.
Sustainable
Land Resources Management in the Caribbean
The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is leading this initiative to reverse
land degradation and desertification in the Caribbean. The partnership
will address, inter alia, integrated land use management and environmental
protection. The initiative will strengthen public sector capacity
and develop effective legislation and policies through a process that
is based on economic and social goals, community participation, technologies,
and non-agricultural land use that prevents/minimizes detrimental
effects to the environment, local communities or future generations.
In addition, it aims for effective enforcement of new policies
and laws for sustainable land management formulated through participatory
processes. This project will run from January 2003 to December 2007.
IUCN
Initiatives
IUCN's Environmental Law Programme Capacity Building Initiative
will continue to develop national capacity to take part in the international
policy debate, to implement what is agreed through coordinated policies,
laws and institutions, and to ensure effective compliance with
environmental laws. Key mechanisms include academic education,
practical training, expert forums, internationals experience, publications,
technical assistance and information. In addition, IUCN will continue
to work with UNEP on the ECOLEX project, a database of treaties,
national legislation, legal literature and court decisions.
Global
Technology Transfer and Knowledge Management Partnership
This partnership, which builds upon the knowledge management networks
of the UNEP-GEF Technology Transfer Networks, promotes access to technology
and knowledge by facilitating information exchange, finance and investment
in sustainable products and services in the energy, agriculture, textile,
water, waste, and forestry sectors. To foster increased transfer of
sustainable technologies, the partners provide: an inventory of replicable
technology transfer case studies; a directory of experts; a directory
of innovative national regulations and policies; and a directory
of planning and distance learning tools. This is an open-ended project.
Global
Partnership Toward Cleaner Fuels
This partnership, lead by the International Fuel Quality Center in
Brussels, aims to assist developing countries in improving fuel quality,
including the elimination of lead from gasoline, by building capacity;
encouraging more effective inspection and maintenance programs;
improving availability and accessibility of technical information;
and setting up a network of experts to advise on a number of topics.
This project will begin in August 2002 and conclude in December 2005.
International
Sustainable Development Legal Partnership
This initiative, lead by the Center for International Sustainable
Development Law in Quebec, has several objects. First is to found
a user-friendly web-based legal resource center, involving
developed and developing country jurists, to assess, promote, and
implement the integration of international social, economic and environmental
law. Second is to carry out legal research and capacity building
in international sustainable development law (ISDL) to assist governments,
NGOs, judges and local a community effectively addressing inter-linked
environmental, economic and social challenges. And third is to produce
a series of policy and educational publications on ISDL, which will
be made widely accessible to scholars, decision-makers and civil society,
particularly in developing countries.
Other
Partnerships
In addition to, a number of other initiatives may have an enforcement
and/or compliance component. The Medit-Air-aneo, lead by the
Italian National Agency for Environmental Protection, will assist
Mediterranean counties develop GHG inventories. The ASEAN Mineral
Database project, lead by the Indonesian Ministry of Energy and
Mineral Resources, seeks to, inter alia, strengthen cooperation of
related and competent institutions on mining and minerals in formulating
regulations and policies of mineral resources management. Indonesia
is also leading the Initiative to Lessen Marine Pollution in Indonesian
Waters that hopes to, inter alia, facilitate effective
regulation of marine biological resources. The United Nations Institute
for Training and Research is launching a Global Partnership for
Capacity Building to Implement the Globally Harmonized System for
Chemical Classification and Labeling. In addition, the Central
Asian Interstate Commission on Sustainable Development is launching
the Central Asian Initiative on Preparation and Implementation
of Sub-Regional Agenda 21 as a Model for Sub-Regions.
7. IMPLICATIONS
FOR INECE
Ensuring that the Plan of Implementation is successful, and
that the specific targets and timetables are met, will require full
implementation of the commitments made at the Earth Summit in 1992
and the Johannesburg Summit in 2002, as well as the rest of the body
of law on environmental protection and sustainable development, at
all levels of government. This in turn imposes a tremendous responsibility
on those involved with the enforcement of these laws, starting with
the government officials who have the primary responsibility for law
enforcement, but also on NGOs, the general public, and the business
sector. INECE will need to redouble its efforts to do its part in
meeting this challenge.