| Transforming the Global Wood Trade to Support REDD and Fight Illegal Logging |
| |
12 December 2008 - During the “Transforming the Global Wood Trade to Support REDD and Fight Illegal Logging” side event, the Environmental Investigation Agency, INECE, and Global Witness discussed at legal tools designed to control demand for illegally logged wood products and evaluated mechanisms to assure compliance with these laws.
Demand-side policies against illegal timber trade such as the new U.S. Lacey Act amendments and EU legislation change the incentive structure for good governance practices and good business practices, reduces factors that generate corruption, increase value of standing forests, and address illegal logging leakage and permanence.
For a full description of the event, please see ENB On the Side (scroll to bottom of page). |
| Ozone Treaty Parties Agree to Start Cutting More Climate Emissions |
| |
20 November 2008 – The 193 Parties to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer agreed for the second year in a row to strengthen their treaty to provide additional protection for both the ozone layer and the climate system. The Parties will start collecting and destroying ozone-depleting substance from stockpiles and from discarded products and equipment that are the easiest to reach. These “reachable” substances will be emitted by 2015 without action through the Montreal Protocol. Destroying them will speed recovery of the ozone layer by up to two years, and avoid up to 6 billion tonnes or more of CO2-eq. in climate emissions. |
| Launch of Global Military Partnership to Protect Ozone and Climate |
| |
20 November 2008 – In cooperation with the governments of the United States, Argentina, Australia, The Netherlands, and Mauritius, the Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development (IGSD) and the INECE announced new plans to collaborate with military organizations worldwide to collect and ultimately destroy unwanted ozone-depleting substances (ODS) that are also potent greenhouse gases. This cooperation is significant because military organizations have developed the technology, logistical strategies, and management practices that minimize cost and chemical emissions. The United Nations Environment Programme estimates recovery and destruction of unwanted ODS can avoid the equivalent of 6 billion tonnes or more of carbon dioxide emissions by 2015, which is equal to 3 years of Kyoto targets. |
| Avoiding Tipping Points for Abrupt Climate Changes with Fast-Track Climate Mitigation Strategies |
| |
November 2008 - In a guest article in IISD's MEA Bulletin, Durwood Zaelke describes how "the paleoclimate records show that past climate changes have included both steady, linear changes as well as abrupt, non-linear changes, where small increases in global warming produced large and irreversible impacts once tipping points were passed. Climate scientists now warn that anthropogenic emissions are pushing the planet’s climate system toward such tipping points sooner than previously expected, and that impacts could be catastrophic. ...Many countries may have some existing legal authority to begin addressing some of these strategies. Where this is the case, improving compliance can help promote near-term climate mitigation." |
| INECE Climate Compliance Alert: New US Law Could Protect Forests Worldwide |
| |
October 2008 - Recent amendments to a US federal wildlife trafficking statute known as the "Lacey Act" extend capacity for combatting the import of illegally harvested timber. "The U.S. Lacey Act Should Help Protect Forests Worldwide" alert presents information and analysis of the potential impact of the new amendment. Given the US’s status as the world’s largest importer of wood products, proper enforcement of the Lacey Act has potential to help protect forests around the world. Further, the approach used in the Lacey Act – in which violations of the law of the country of origin of the timber are enforced domestically – offers a model worthy of consideration to other countries with a strong commitment to preserving forests globally. |
| INECE Convenes Kick-Off Meeting of its Seaport Environmental Security Network |
| |
October 2008 - INECE EPC Co-chair Gerard Wolters welcomed a global group of environmental and customs experts to Interpol's Headquarters on 9 October to respond to "one of the big global environmental challenges: transboundary movement of hazardous wastes." The group worked over the next two days to identify capacity building, informational, and operational needs of developing countries and to select priority areas for enforcement cooperation under the Seaport Environmental Security Network. |
AELERT to Host Conference in Australia for Environmental Regulators in October 2008
|
| |
October 2008 - The Australasian Environmental Law Enforcement and Regulators Network (AELERT)  is a network of environmental regulatory agencies that are responsible for the management of natural resources or the protection of the environment. It aims to build relationships between agencies and jurisdictions to facilitate the sharing of information and to improve the regulatory compliance capacity of member agencies. It also seeks to develop national standards for training and best practice in environmental regulation.
The Western Australian Department of Environment and Conservation will host the 5th annual AELERT Conference in Perth, Western Australia. The conference will be held on the 22 - 24 October 2008 at the Esplanade Hotel in Fremantle with the conference dinner to be held at the Red Herring Restaurant on the evening of the 23rd.
A range of domestic and international keynote speakers will be in attendance, including Dr Paul Leinster, CEO of the Environment Agency England and Wales, Professor Richard Macrory - University College London, Judge Brian Dwyer, Environment Court New Zealand, and Ray Wills, Western Australian Sustainable Energy Association and Adjunct Senior Research Fellow, University of Western Australia
Information about the conference, including details for registration and accommodation, see http://www.conlog.com.au/aelert. |
|
INECE EPC Member
Represented Plaintiffs before The Philippines
Supreme Court in Unprecedented
Pollution Case |
|
 August
2008 – Antonio Oposa Jr., respected
litigator and Executive Planning Committee member for the International
Network
for Environmental Compliance and Enforcement (INECE), presented an oral
argument on Tuesday, 12 August, calling for an unprecedented ruling in
The
Philippines: to request that The Philippine Supreme Court monitor the
implementation of an Action Plan by the Government to clean up the
excessively
polluted Manila Bay. The lawsuit was
originally brought to the Supreme Court in 1999 by concerned residents
of Manila Bay and law students at the University of the Philippines,
who targeted 12
government agencies, including: the Departments of Environment and
Natural
Resources, Interior and Local Government, Health, Budget, Education,
Philippine
National Police, and the Coast Guard, among others. The petition called
for the
Government to develop and implement a detailed Action Plan to clean up
the Bay. continue article |
|
Seaport Network Update |
|
August
2008 - INECE plans to host a kick off
meeting for the
Seaport Network on 9-10
October 2008 at the Interpol Headquarters in
Lyon, France, as follow up to the 8th INECE Conference held in
April 2008. Workshop participation is by
invitation; for additional information, please contact Ms. Nancy Isarin
(Nancy.Isarin at
ambiendura.com) or Mr. Tim Whitehouse
(twhitehouse at inece.org).
Please visit the Seaport network page at http://inece.org/seaport/
and the 8th
Conference background paper for more
information. |
| News Update from Tony Oposa:
"Adversaries to Allies" |
|
July
2008 - INECE
EPC member Tony Oposa reports on recent achivements of from
the Philippines Visayan Sea Squadron: "Melino was the worst,
most
notorious (and most elusive) blast fisherman in the waters of Sta Fe,
in the Visayan Sea. Now he is with us. He has even joined and helped in
an enforcement operation vs blast fishing! More than anything else,
this is what gives us the great joy and hope." For background
on
the Visayan Sea Squadron and the Visayan ecosystem, please see INECE
Newsletter 9, Tony
Oposa's recent presentation at INECE's 8th Conference,
the Harvard Law Bulletin, and Tony
Oposa's video presentation on the natural heritage of the Philippines.
Tony also reports that the School of the
SEAs,
Oposa's environmental education center which was destroyed
by Typhoon Fengshen, will be rebuilt using green design
principles, and that the inaguration of the new school will take place
on April 22, 2009. |
| 8th Conference Keynote Address Explores How Combatting Illegal Trade In Wildlife and Timber Supports the Rule of Law |
| |
April 2008 - Claudia A. McMurray, Assistant Secretary of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs to the U.S. Department of State, delivered a keynote at INECE's 8th International Conference on Environmental Compliance and Enforcement on April 8, 2008, in Cape Town, South Africa. |
| IMPEL Transfrontier Shipment Cluster Publishes Newsletter |
| |
April 2008 - The TFS Newsletter shares information about the developments and activities of the network and relates stories regarding the enforcement of waste shipments. |
| The
Importance of Military
Organizations in Protecting the Climate: 2008 |
|
July 2008 - The
European Commission Defence Environmental Network, the US
Environmental Protection Agency, the US Department of Defense, the
United
Nations Environment Programme, the Institute for Defense Analyses,
Ministries of Environment and Defence Ministries of France, Germany,
Italy,
Netherlands, UK, and others will meet in Paris in November
to
discuss how militaries
worldwide are responding to threats of climate change and acting now to
reduce greenhouse
gas emissions. For more information, please see the
event announcment and
agenda
overview. |
| Harvard
Law Bulletin Profiles the "Visionary of the Visayan Sea" |
|
June
2008 - INECE EPC Member Tony Oposa's enforcement campaign
to protect the environmental heritage of the Philippinnes is profiled in the most recent edition of
Harvard Law Bulletin. The article reports that Oposa's new
environmental education center "School of the Seas" on Bantayan Island
was destroyed
by Typhoon Fengshen. |
| Jump-Starting
Climate Protection: INECE Targets Compliance with Laws Controlling
Black Carbon |
|
June
2008 - INECE is launching a program to protect
the climate by strengthening compliance and enforcement with national
policies and measures pursuant to Article 4 of the UN Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that mitigate climate emissions
and enhance carbon sinks. "INECE Targets Compliance with Laws
Controlling Black Carbon," the first in a series of INECE
Climate Compliance Alerts, focuses on black carbon, an aerosol
component of soot. |
|
Carbon Trade, Finance and
Trends Conference: 13 June 2008, Washington, D.C. |
|
May 2008 - The Carbon Trade, Finance and Trends Conference
addressed the issue of carbon trading and finance in the US and
provided an overview of the main agreements in this area, present a
comparison with the emissions trading schemes in the EU and other
countries, and put forth the latest trends to reduce greenhouse gases
and carbon emissions.
The Conference brought together
practitioners, in-house legal personnel, executive officers and
regulatory policy advisors to exchange information of practical
relevance. |
|
8th
INECE Conference Concludes with Call from Nobel
Peace Laureate to Strengthen
Enforcement and Compliance with Climate Change Treaty, Other
Environmental Laws |
|
April 2008 -
Nobel
Peace Prize winner
Wangari Maathai urged the world’s top environmental
law enforcement specialists to toughen enforcement and compliance with
environmental laws, including those that address climate
emissions and
protect the world’s forests, which absorb and store carbon dioxide, the
principle greenhouse gas responsible for warming the planet. |
| "The
Ivory Poaching Wars" Airing on BBC World This Friday, 8 February
2008 |
| |
 February 2008 - BBC
World presents “The Ivory Poaching Wars,” an Earth Report
documentary that tracks illegally poached elephant ivory on its journey
from Africa to Japan and the United States, with the help of an African
enforcement agency and DNA analysts from the United States.
Treaties such as the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora
(CITES) have been introduced over the years to protect wildlife against
illegal poaching, but the elephant ivory trade remains a very lucrative
one and has grown in recent years. In 1996, a group of African
countries came together to draft and implement the Lusaka
Agreement.
The film will be broadcast on BBC World
Friday, 8 February at 20:30, with repeats at 10:30 on Monday, 11 Feb.,
15:30 on Tuesday, 12 Feb., and 02:30 and 08:30 on Wednesday, 13 Feb.
(all times in UK time zone, GMT). Please check your BBC World station for local
screenings. Visit INECE's
Update for more information.
|
| INECE Newsletter 16 Now
Available |
| |
January
2008 - Visit the 16th Edition of INECE's Newsletter
for  news on INECE's 8th International
Conference; a Special Report on Ozone & Climate; ongoing INECE
initiatives, including the Seaport Environmental Security Network;
Central America Workshop; INECE's Water Legislation and Compliance
Survey; Compliance & Enforcement Reports from Tanzania, Rwanda,
South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, the Ukraine, Argentina
and other locations |
| INECE Seeks Participants for
Seaport Environment Security Network |
| |
December 2007 - INECE
is looking for more participants to join a new, unique, and practical
initiative - the Seaport Environmental Security Network. In recent
years, awareness has increased regarding the existence of illegal
movements of waste. Major seaports act as an important hub for the
movement of dangerous substances. If not shipped in compliance with
relevant provisions and rules, these movements can have catastrophic
effects on human health and the environment. As a result, the need for
greater enforcement of waste shipments and international collaboration
has grown. INECE has taken up this challenge. For more information,
please visit http://www.inece.org/seaport/
or contact Ms. Nancy Isarin,
. |
| Building a Framework for a
Global Training Professionals Network |
| |
December 2007 - Capacity
building is one of the main themes within the environmental compliance
and enforcement community. In order to encourage and support training
activities, INECE is assessing the benefits of forming an International
Network for Environmental Compliance Training Professionals. If you
wish to explore opportunities to assist INECE in its work to shape the
goals and activities of such a network or would like to share any
thoughts or comments, please contact Ms. Machteld Brokerhof,
VROM-Inspectorate at
. |
| Water Legislation and
Compliance Survey |
| |
November
2007 - INECE, Columbia
University’s
Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN),
and the Yale
Center
for Environmental Law and Policy (YCELP) are sponsoring an
international survey on the compliance and enforcement of water quality
and water resource management laws at the national
level.
To receive the survey link and password,
please email inece@inece.org.
The survey will end on Monday, 14 January 2008.
The survey is a pilot test of a method for
developing expert-based metrics of compliance and enforcement that we
expect to expand to other environmental sectors. The
responses will help INECE to assess country capacity building
needs, and will assist CIESIN and YCELP in their analysis of the
determinants of country environmental performance.
Preliminary results of the survey will be
presented at INECE's 8th International Conference and shared with INECE
participants via the INECE web site. |
| INECE Newsletter 15 Now
Available |
| |
August
2007 - Visit the 15th Edition of INECE's Newsletter
for  news on INECE's 8th International
Conference; ongoing INECE initiatives, including the Seaport
Environmental Security Network; Arab Regional Meeting; Guidelines on
Benchmarking; Compliance & Enforcement Reports from Uganda,
Tanzania, Cote d’Ivoire, Jordan, the Phillippines, South China, Kenya,
South Africa, Argentina, and other locations |
| 8th International Conference -
Call For Papers |
| |
 July 2007 - In
advance of INECE's 8th Conference, interested parties are invited to
submit original papers for publication in Volume 1 of the Conference
Proceedings.
The most useful papers will provide expert
analysis and discussion on a relevant topic to the Conference,
illustrate a “success story,” or describe the accomplishments and
challenges of a particular enforcement initiative. Papers must relate
directly to compliance and/or enforcement aspects one of
the workshop themes and topics.
The first deadline for abstracts is 12 November 2007;
please download the the full paper guidelines here
 . |
|
|
| 8th International Conference on
Environmental Compliance and Enforcement to be held in South Africa |
| |
June 2007 - INECE
will hold its  8th
International Conference on 5-11 April 2008 in Cape Town, South Africa.
Opening with two days dedicated to local
capacity building and networking events, the Conference will feature
action-oriented thematic workshops, distinguished keynote speakers, and
networking opportunities for more than 150 participants, and will
include a day for field visits to sites of innovative environmental
enforcement initiatives in South Africa. Please note that
Conference participation is by invitation only.
See http://www.inece.org/conference/8/
for additional information.
In English: 8th
International Conference on Environmental Compliance and Enforcement to
be held in South Africa
En français: L’INECE
annonce sa huitième Conférence International portant sur l’application
et la conformité environnementale, en Afrique du Sud.
En español: INECE anuncia su octava Conferencia
Internacional sobre Aplicación y Cumplimiento Ambiental, a realizarse
en Sudáfrica.
|
| Meeting on Environmental
Governance in the Arab Region |
| |
 June
2007 - Senior officials from the Ministries of
Environment and the Environmental Enforcement Authorities in the Arab
region, including Jordan, Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, Oman, Yemen, Qatar
and Saudi Arabia met in Amman, Jordan, on 9-10 May, along with
observers from INECE, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the
Network for Environmental Compliance and Enforcement in the Maghreb,
the Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Network for Accession, and
the United Nations Environment Program to discuss and agree upon
cooperation in the field of environmental governance in the Arab
region.
The participants made
a number of presentations about their respective enforcement programs,
other regional enforcement networks, partnership opportunities, and
discussed the benefits of creating an Arab Enforcement Network. See http://inece.org/mena/arabregion/. |
| Investigation of Philippine
Blast Fishing to Premier on BBC World |
| |
 May
2007 - On May 19-20, TVE/BBC World's new documentary "Blast"
will
investigate the courageous battle to prevent illegal blast fishing from
further destroying of one of the world's richest marine environments --
the Visayan Sea
in the Philippines. Click here for the full
press release.
The film will be shown on Saturday, 19 May
at 9:30 and 16:30 GMT, and on Sunday, 20 May at 2:30, 13:30,
and 20:30.
Please check your BBC World station for
local screenings. |
| INECE Newsletter 14 Published
Online |
| |
May 2007- The 14th
Edition of INECE's Newsletter is now available
online. In addition to international and regional enforcement news, the
newsletter describes rec ent activities, including the Emissions
Trading Workshop, efforts of Argentina's Environment Secretariat to
protect water resources in Buenos Aires, the climate benefits of
repairing the ozone layer, and new regulations in the Philippines that
make public officials more accountable for preventing illegal blast
fishing operations. Newsletter 14 also features a new Expert Commentary
section.
Articles for Newsletter 15
are requested by Friday, 22 June 2007.
|
| INECE Releases 2006 Year in
Review |
| |
March 2007 - INECE's
newly released Year in Review
reports on the progress and results of the network during 2006,
including publishing INECE’s 2006-2009 Strategic Implementation Plan;
expanding INECE’s regional and topical networks; and co-sponsoring an
International Colloquium on Implementing Environmental
Legislation: The Critical Role of Enforcement and Compliance |
| Interpol's Ecomessage: A
Standard Reporting Form for Environmental Crimes |
| |
 January
2007 - Interpol's Ecomessage system was created to
facilitate the monitoring and analysis of environmental crime. Visit INECE's new Web page on
Environmental
Crime for more information about Ecomessage,
including the standard reporting form, sample Ecomessages,
instructions, and background information.
|
| INECE
Newsletter 13 Now Available |
| |
 December
2006 - The 13th
Edition of INECE's Newsletter is now available online. In
addition to international and regional enforcement news, the newsletter
describes recent INECE activities, including the UN Climate Change
Convention meeting, the IUCN/INECE/UNEP Colloquium on Environmental
Compliance and Enforcement, and INECE's graduate level course. |
| Designing
Effective Compliance Systems to Support Emissions Trading |
| |
November 2006 -
INECE is hosting a workshop on the elements necessary for
cooperation among different emissions trading
systems in Dublin, Ireland, on 8-9 March 2007. The workshop will
explore the shared responsibilities of regulatory, industrial, and
financial communities to ensure compliance. |
| INECE Co-sponsors 4th IUCN
Academy of Environmental Law Colloquium |
| |
October 2006 -
More than 200 practitioners, members of civil society, and
environmental law professors from 47 countries gathered at Pace
University's School of Law in White Plains, New York, on 16-20 October
2006. The 4th IUCN Academy of Environmental Law
Colloquium focused on enforcement of, and compliance with,
environmental
law at the local, national, and international level. |
| Improving Competitiveness
Through Good Environmental Regulation |
| |
September
2006 - An expanding international body of research is
leading experts to understand that good, modern regulation can help
reduce operating costs for industry and business. 
A statement by the Heads of Europe's
Environment Agencies, agreed to in Prague, concludes that "good
environmental management and regulation does not impede overall
competitiveness and economic development."
INECE Secretariat Director Durwood Zaelke
had the opportunity to discuss the Prague Statement with Barbara Young,
the Chief Executive of the Environment Agency for England and Wales and
a lead author of the publication.
A short film of their conversation is
available at http://inece.org/praguestatement/,
along with a link to the full text of the Prague Statement and other
background information.
|
| |
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