Improving Environmental Governance

Last summer I addressed the World Justice Forum on the importance of effective environmental governance; this was part of a robust conversation about the rule of law and its role in governance.  This conversation has been steadily gaining momentum over the last year and has led to an explicit recognition of the core elements of effective environmental governance, as well as growing momentum for initiatives to enhance cooperation to strengthen environmental governance in countries around the world.

Implementation of national environmental protections as well as international environmental goals and treaty obligations depends on effective environmental governance at the national level. In an article I co-authored last year with the Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Antonio Benjamin, we outlined some of the thinking that has evolved over the last 3-4 decades on effective environmental governance. 

We have now begun to see convergence around the key elements of effective governance systems; these elements were highlighted recently by a document developed out of The World Congress on Justice, Governance and Law for Environmental Sustainability, a side event to the U.N. Rio + 20 Conference on Sustainable Development that convened more than 200 high-level judges, prosecutors, auditors, and other legal experts. 

More information on this meeting is available here.

This consensus arrives at five foundational elements of effective governance.

1. Environmental laws that are clear, implementable and enforceable;
2. Meaningful public engagement, including: public access to environmental information, the opportunity for participation in environmental decision making, and access to justice;
3. Accountability and integrity, from the individual level to the institutional level;
4. Effective institutional arrangements between and within governmental entities involved in environmental protection; and
5. Provision for fair and responsive resolution of environmental disputes, principally through the courts.

These elements come together to combine to form an integrated and self-reinforcing system.They are the essential building blocks that lay a foundation to support the successful implementation of environmental protections everywhere.

A floor that -

1. Rests upon the rule of law,
2. That makes environmental information the primary language of environmental protection,
3. That guarantees participation in environmental decisions by all those affected by those decisions,
4. That ensures true accountability by government and industry alike,
5. That eliminates institutional inefficiency and confusion, and
6. That brings swift and meaningful justice to environmental grievances and disputes.

As we continue this dialogue, efforts to strengthen environmental governance can be more effective and efficient if we engage in cooperative efforts including through new forum to work together to strengthen environmental governance. We can see this work gaining momentum:

1. The World Bank’s global forum on law, justice and development includes a working group on environment and natural resources law.
2. The World Justice Project is working to incorporate environment into its Rule of Law Index^®.
3. UNEP, the UN Institute for Training and Research, and the World Resources Institute are expanding efforts to implement principle 10 of the Rio Declaration.

These and other initiatives reflect the growing momentum for new partnerships and initiatives to strengthen environmental governance and provide opportunities to enhance cooperative efforts to strengthen environmental governance  by promoting information-sharing, strengthening links, and fostering collaboration.

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Comments:

Thank you for your efforts in these important matters. I ask you to never lose site of the fact that sustainability and corruption cannot co-exist.  I believe that all efforts to promote and support sustainability must have strong anti-corruption components to be successful. Your work with the new regime in Tunisia, in coordination with WFEO, shows the importance of anti-corruption programs in all development, but especially sustainable development.

Regards,
Bill Henry

William P. Henry, P.E.

President.2005.American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)

Chair, 2006, American Association of Engineering Societies (AAES)
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