Gerphas K. Opondo Regional Coordinator, EANECE eanece@eanece

1. ENFORCING ENVIRONMENTAL LAW THROUGH INFORMAL NETWORKS: PERSPECTIVES AND INSIGHTS FROM EAST AFRICA International Conference on Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Kolkata, West Bengal, IndiaMarch 19-20, 2013 Gerphas K. Opondo Regional Coordinator, EANECE eanece@eanece.org

2. Introduction • Environmental Law operates to regulate the interaction of humanity and the natural environment, towards the purpose of reducing the impacts of human activity. • In order to achieve the above purpose, Environmental Law generally addresses the topics of pollution control and remediation, and natural resource conservation. • Over the past four decades, environmental law has become central to global efforts to implement a wide range of environmental programs designed to protect land, air, water, natural resources, wildlife and public health.

3. Development of Environmental Laws Over the Past 4 Decades • Since 1972, more than 200 environmental treaties have entered into force at the international and regional levels. • Most countries have adopted National Environmental Laws: • Laws to protect nature, water, air, waste etc • Environmental protection agencies established • New initiatives at the local, national, and international levels to protect human health, conserve biodiversity and wildlife, and manage natural resources.

4. The Compliance Gap • International – Countries not honoring commitments to multilateral environmental agreements and treaties • Domestic – Regulated community (individuals and firms) not meeting legal and regulatory obligations

5. Challenges to Achieving Compliance with Environmental Requirements • Lack of awareness among the regulated community • Lack of capacity and resources for enforcement institutions and practitioners • Lack of effective cooperation and coordination between key enforcement institutions and practitioners • Lack of awareness among prosecutors, judiciary, customs, police and other players of environmental crimes and their consequences • Deficient monitoring of environmental licensing systems • Inadequate penalties or other punitive measures • Lack of political good will

6. ECE Cooperation through Informal Networks • In the context of this presentation, an “informal network” is a form of cooperation involving governments, governmental institutions or government officials where members interact with their peers directly and operate without a formal legislative instrument, treaty or international institution. • Examples of ECE Networks at the international and regional levels include INECE, EANECE, NECEMA, AELERT, AECEN, IMPEL, Themis, and many more. • Informal networks help governmental institutions and officials to fulfill their mandates in harmony without contradicting each other, but rather cooperate, whenever necessary, in terms of expertise and resources to assure compliance to common environmental requirements.

7. East African Network on Environmental Compliance and Enforcement • EANECE was set up in 2010 as an informal network of environmental regulators in the East African nations of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. Ethiopia and Zanzibar are the latest entrants. • The mission of EANECE is to promote the rule of law, good environmental governance and sustainable development in East Africa through efficient and effective implementation and enforcement of environmental requirements. • EANECE creates value by leveraging local and donor funding for capacity building and harmonizes regulatory approaches

8. Recent Success Stories • Improved in-country coordination: EANECE has established national networks in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. This has resulted in improved coordination of efforts among various agencies involved in environmental regulation. • Capacity Building: • Over the past 3 years, EANECE with the support of INECE, USEPA and DANIDA has trained over 100 officials from 5 countries (inspectors, lawyers, prosecutors, police, customs and environmental officers) on Principles of C&E and Environmental Inspections. • EANECE has entered into a “twinning” arrangement with the Environment Agency of England and Wales whereby officials from E. Africa are attached to the agency to learn best practices on C&E.

9. Recent success stories/cont. • Joint Enforcement: EANECE has registered successful joint enforcement of environmental regulations by various agencies including customs, police etc. as demonstrated below: • CITES: Strengthened partnership between Kenya’s National Environment Management Authority, Kenya Wildlife Service and Kenya Police due to collaboration through EANECE resulted in detection, arrest, and successful prosecution of three suspects who illegally harvested aloe for trade.

10. Recent Success Stories/cont. • Montreal Protocol: seizure and reshipment of several consignments of cylinders containing banned Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS) following joint action by Kenya’s environment agency (NEMA), customs and police.

11. Recent Success Stories/cont. Operational Tools for C&E: • EANECE has recently developed and launched a Harmonized Environmental Inspection and Investigation Manual for East Africa. (www.eanece.org) • The Manual provides for a unified approach across institutions and nations for environmental enforcement.

12. Conclusion • Cooperation through informal networks helps to achieve compliance with environmental laws by: • Enabling efficiencies in the development of tools and programs through capacity building • Building communication networks for sharing and exchanging information and intelligence through informal communication channels • Standardizing approaches to compliance assurance • Fostering political will needed to strengthen implementation of environmental requirements • There is need to strengthen existing ECE networks and encourage the development of new networks at national and regional levels in order to reap greater benefits for green economy and sustainable development.