Health in International Environmental Law: Implication for Environmental Governance for Sustainability in Developing Cou

1. Health in International Environmental Law: Implication for Environmental Governance for Sustainability in Developing Countries. William Onzivu Bradford University Law School University of Bradford United Kingdom

2. Health and the environment • Health is affected by environmental conditions. These include: • Environment-related diseases, for example, diarrhoeal diseases, due to access to unsafe water and poor sanitation • Acute respiratory infections such as pneumonia, leading killers of young children, associated with indoor and other air pollution. • Chemicals pose negative health effect • Because of this linkage, environmental governance often straddles both the environmental and health sectors

3. Some theoretical and functional issues • Cost benefit analysis in environmental regulation: Costing human health has limitations • The role of science in sustainability and environmental regulation: Health regulation often focuses on evidence based decision making. For example, the regulation of chemicals and clean water at international and domestic levels has been strengthened by scientific evidence from the health sector. • Both human (health) and natural capital is important for intergenerational equity for sustainability. • Health neither eco-centric nor anthropocentric but ......key to natural resource protection. An ecosystem approach to human health enhances human and environmental sustainability, e.g. Gorillas in Uganda. • Health promotes environmental advocacy to steer policy makers for action.

4. Health, the 3 pillars and international environmental (soft) law: Ambivalence • In Stockholm Conference, 1972, Health mentioned in the context of marine environments only. No agenda for health and environment • Rio Declaration 1992. The three pillars including the Social pillar (Health). Human beings are at the heart of sustainable development, entitled to be healthy in harmony with nature(Principle 1. Agenda 21 was comprehensive on health but no priorities or concrete mechanisms for implementation. • WSSD 2002:The three pillars and health included. Health impacts of air pollution, chemicals, water and sanitation, Aids, Malaria and TB included for action. WSSD did not produce a particularly dramatic outcome--there were no agreements that will lead to new treaties and many of the agreed targets were derived from panoply of assorted lower profile meetings.[Rajamani,2003 Pring and Nanda, 2003] • No concrete implementation mechanisms or funding for health or environmental protection.

5. Health, the third pillar and international environmental law Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants • Objective to promote human health and the environment • Bans or regulates pollutants that harm human health • Enlists the health sector to operationalize and implement the Treaty • However, treaty institutional mechanisms and implementation do not fully reflect this commitment.

6. Health, the third pillar and international environmental law The Ozone Conventions Objective to promote human health and the environment Requires parties to cooperate on scientific assessments and exchange of information on health effects of the Ozone layer. Requests WHO to support objectives of the Convention However, no follow up on implementation mechanisms as well as decisions of the COP on health sector issues of the Convention provided.

7. BASEL Convention on Trans-boundary Movement of Waste and their disposal 1989 • Objective the promotion of health and the environment • Regulates products that harm health, for example the illegal dumping of waste in Ivory Coast. • The institutional mechanisms and implementation had not addressed issue of human health in a coherent and comprehensive manner. • Finally, in 2008, the COP adopted the Bali Declaration on Waste Management and Human Health

8. BASEL Bali Declaration on Waste Management and Human Health • Mentions the role of health and environmental protection for present and future generations- sustainability. • Affirmed commitment to the Johannesburg POI on the three pillars for SD • Emphasized the importance of integrating health and environmental concerns for the benefit of both in the context of waste • Invites the WHO world Health Assembly to consider adopting a similar resolution • Encouraged inter-sectoral and interagency cooperation for waste management at global regional and international levels

9. The challenges of implementing sustainability (and a fine balance of the 3 pillars): The case of Lake Victoria Basin • Lake Victoria Basin covers Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda • Lake Victoria basin are faces environmental health (primary healthcare), water and sanitation challenges that undermine sustainability. • Market oriented development frameworks: EAC squeezing out the environmental and social pillar, despite EAC Treaty, Protocol for sustainable development of lake Victoria. Weak governance of sustainability: Institutional coordination by EAC of the three pillars, corruption and lack of accountability, failure of domestic health governance, joined up thinking of domestic institutions on health and the environment faces problems. • Weak framework and sectoral laws on sustainable development and their implementation. Sometimes, laws are inconsistent and contradictory: For example, decentralized functions for environmental health in Uganda but the Public Health Act is obsolete • Resource limitations: Donor conditionality, competing resources for health and the environment. • Barriers to civil society participation

10. Towards achieving a fine balance of the 3 pillars: International and domestic International: Macro and micro levels • Reforming global environmental governance • Institutional and procedural mechanisms in specific international regimes to clarify implement requirements of the social pillar Domestic: Integration both administrative and substantive • Legal reforms • Institutional coordination: Create a centralized coordination on sustainability • Impact assessments • NGOs: strengthened frameworks • Strengthening community sustainability efforts

11. Conclusions • International law has not yet found a fine balance between the 3 pillars as shown by the case of health. • Regional and domestic governance exacerbates this trend. • There is need for concrete legal and institutional reforms as well as efforts to find a fine balance between the 3 pillars, to protect the environment and human health and achieve sustainability in developing countries.