Environmental Regulation Increases National Competitiveness

The Network of Heads of European Environment Protection Agencies recently released The Contribution of Good Environmental Regulation to Competitiveness (November 2005). In the context of the current EU focus on growth and jobs, this paper, referred to as the Prague Statement, reviews the evidence on the links between environmental regulation and competitiveness.

It finds that a modern approach to regulation can: reduce costs for industry and business; create markets for environmental goods and services; drive innovation; reduce business risk and increase the confidence of the investment markets and insurers; assist competitive advantage and create competitive markets; create and sustain jobs; improve the health of the workforce and the wider public; and protect the natural resources on which business and we all depend.

The Report concludes that there is now significant evidence from international research that good environmental management and regulation does not impede overall competitiveness and economic development. On the contrary, it can be beneficial by creating pressure that drives innovation and alerts business about resource inefficiencies and new opportunities.

Click here for further information, including a copy of the report.

Governments Making Progress in Curbing Illegal Logging

New research conducted by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) suggests that governments are becoming increasingly innovative, and effective, in tackling the problem of illegal logging.

The research is summarized in a recently-published joint FAO-ITTO report, Best Practices for Improving Law Compliance in the Forest Sector, which highlights successful efforts to combat illegal logging undertaken in eleven countries: Bolivia, Cambodia, Cameroon, Ecuador, Honduras, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, Mozambique, Nicaragua and Peru.

"The report gives examples of some of the innovative approaches already being used by governments, and by focusing on success stories it is really the first study of its kind to outline remedial actions instead of just dwelling on the problem of illegal logging," said Eva Muller, an FAO forest expert.

Although it is too early to quantify the success of the measures highlighted in the report, added ITTO expert Steven Johnson, some of them are producing visible improvements. "By sharing these successful case studies, ITTO and FAO hope to provide guidance to other countries wrestling with the problem of illicit logging," he said.

FAO's most recent Gobal Forest Resources Assessment found that while the world's rate of net forest loss is slowing, deforestation is still happening at an alarmingly high rate -- about 13 million hectares per year. Most of that loss occurs as a result of forests being converted to agricultural land, but illegal logging plays a role too.

According to World Bank estimates, governments lose revenues totalling around US$5 billion annually as a result of illegal logging -- overall losses to the national economies of timber producing countries add up to an additional US$10 billion per year.

Beyond financial impacts, illegal logging also leads to unsustainable forest management, distorts timber markets and can exacerbate income disparities, note FAO and the ITTO.

Best Practices for Improving Law Compliance in the Forest Sector highlights a wide range of approaches being used by governments to deal with illicit logging.

For example, in 2000 Ecuador created a mechanism, called the Regencia forestal, under which independent professional foresters check to ensure that forest operators are complying with laws and regulations. Violations can lead to the revocation of operating licenses or other penalties.

Ecuador also established check-points between its forests and the locations where wood processing and marketing occurs -- this measure resulted in a six-fold increase in government seizures of illegally-produced timber during its first year of implementation.

In Cambodia, the promotion of community-managed forestry management, a system in which local communities own and manage forests, helped to limit forest crime.

The government of Gambia streamlined harvesting guidelines and recognized local forest management rules, making it easier for small-scale forest operators to comply with regulations and abide by the law.

The report, which provides numerous other examples of steps being taken to put an end to illegal logging, also highlights four overarching areas where policy reforms can help:

• making forestry laws and policies more rational, equitable, transparent and streamlined;
• improving monitoring and information gathering;
• strengthening national capacities to enforce compliance;
• ensuring that policies take into account the economic and social dynamics that underlie illegal logging.

Best Practices for Improving Law Compliance in the Forest Sector is available from the UN FAO.

Corrupt Practices Undermining Natural Resource Protection

The Open Society Justice Initiative released a report in September that assesses the availability of legal remedies for addressing corrupt practices in the natural resource industries. Legal Remedies for the Resource Curse: A Digest of Experience in Using Law to Combat Natural Resource Corruption (2005) looks at both criminal and civil means of redress and reviews some of the main legal instruments used to date to combat natural resource corruption, as well as new legal remedies that appear promising, in order to identify opportunities for civil society action.

Visit the Justice Initative for more information, including a copy of the report.

World Bank Study Looks at Illegal Logging in Economies in Transition

The World Bank released Ensuring Sustainability of Forest and Livelihoods Through Improved Governance and Control of Illegal Logging for Economies in Transitions. This study of illegal logging and forest governance was carried out between January and June 2005 by Savcor-Indufor Oy, a Finnish headquartered company, and covered the following countries: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, the Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova, Serbia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

Vist the World Bank for more information, including a copy of the report.

New Publication Addresses Legal Aspects of CDM Forestry Project Implementation

The IUCN Environmental Law Program recently released Legal Aspects in the Implementation of CDM Forestry Projects (2005). The establishment of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) under the Kyoto Protocol has been greeted with mixed emotions from climate, forestry and development experts. Afforestation and reforestation project activities under the CDM (CDM AR) raise particular issues, including legal issues that are unique to these types of activities, as opposed, for instance, to CDM energy project activities. The paper seeks to guide policy makers in host countries in designing a CDM framework that promotes the implementation of environmentally and socially sound project activities in the afforestation and reforestation sectors. Many of the observations and conclusions were based in part on four case studies conducted in Argentina, Chile, Ghana and the Philippines. The publication was made possible through the generous support of GTZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit), the German development agency for technical cooperation and the United Nations Environment Programme.

To view the paper, click here.
To view the case study questionnaire, click here.
To view the Argentinean case study, click here.
To view the Chilean case study, click here.
To view the Ghanaian case study, click here.
To view the Philippine case study, click here.

Two New Publications Address European Environmental Law and Policy

Two recent publications look at aspects of European environmental law, regulation, and policy. Environmental Policy in the European Union: Actors, Institutions & Processes (2 nd ed)(2005) brings together some of the most influential work on the theory and practice of contemporary EU environmental policy. It includes in-depth case studies of contemporary policy issues such as climate change, genetically modified organisms and trans-Atlantic relations; and an assessment of how well the EU is responding to new challenges such as enlargement, environmental policy integration and sustainability. The book's aim is to look forward and ask whether the EU is prepared or even able to respond to the 'new' governance challenges posed by the perceived need to use 'new' policy instruments and processes to 'mainstream' environmental thinking in all EU policy sectors. The author, Andrew Jordan, is a lecturer in the School of Environmental Sciences at the University of East Anglia, and a Programme Manager in the Centre for Social and Economic Research on the Global Environment (CSERGE) in Norwich. Ordering information is avaiable from EarthScan.

The Yearbook of European Environmental Law (Vol. 5)(2005) provides an overview of some of the most important events in the European Union in general, and its environmental policy in particular during the past year. The first half of this volume comprises articles dealing with a diverse range of interesting issues, including public participation, access to justice, emissions trading, biodiversity, wildlife, habitat, and the autonomy of member states. The second half presents sectoral surveys, a selection of book reviews and a number of summaries of reports, Commission Communications, Green Papers, and others. Ordering information is available from the Oxford University Press.