Achieving Effective National Environmental Governance in Africa
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has been the forerunner in involving governments in developing and implementing Environmental Law. However, since its establishment in 1972, the number of Governmental institutions and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO’s) dealing with environmental matters and related issues in the African continent have increased.
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has been the
forerunner in involving governments in developing and implementing
Environmental Law. However, since its establishment in 1972, the number
of Governmental institutions and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO’s)
dealing with environmental matters and related issues in the African
continent have increased. In 2000 for example, statistics show that
there were respectively 49 and 59 NGOs per million people in East and
North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa. The role of Environmental NGOs’
include but are not limited to promoting activities such as
environmental education and advocacy, participation in environmental
policy-making and implementation, and business-NGO partnerships. It is
unfortunate that with all NGO-government efforts, the economic
significance derived from environmental governance is yet to be fully
understood and acted upon hence the myriad of environmental challenges
currently presented to the African continent.
Burgeoning challenges in Africa are linked to environmental
insecurity and the development catastrophe, and include poverty, water
scarcity, degradation and inequitable distribution of natural resources,
loss of arable land, food insecurity, coastal degradation and wetlands
intrusion. These have posed (and continues to pose) great institutional
challenges in Africa. These problems are intricately intertwined and
compounded with population growth and migration which has led to
unanticipated pressure on the resource base. Many African countries are
severely strained by these problems and as a result hard hit by immense
demands from the international community, yet they lack the capacity to
cope with these changes and where they do, it is negligable.
Many environmental institutions in Africa therefore require an
overhaul in its guiding principles, policies and laws and for effective
environmental governance in Africa; national governments require a lot
of assistance if at all they are to contribute to sustainable
development. However, it is unfortunate to observe that more often than
not, the role of national governments in international forums has
received less attention and action than it deserves. Contributions to
global environmental governance structures have been observed to come
from the industrialized nations and as Joy Havarien and Duncan Brack
from the Royal Institute for International Affairs, Energy and
Environment Programme put it, discussions will continue only if the
views of the developing countries are sort from initial stages.
National implementation of the Agenda 21 and Multilateral
Environmental Agreements (MEAs) in Africa has progressed at a snail’s
pace and results are yet to be seen. This is owed to diverse
institutional and policy challenges most common being ineffective
governance structures, lack of adequate expertise, inadequate finances,
lack of tools and equipment to implement and enforce current laws and
international conventions, conflicting sectoral strategies towards human
and natural development, unsustainable trade policies and corporate
unaccountability. To address these challenges it is important to
effectively address the synergies created between different MEAs.
Institutional synergies also work in reaping benefits from MEAs and
other stipulations. Governments should prioritize on expanded
capacity-building programmes and build on stronger commitment and
discipline.
Environmental protection and sustainable development therefore cannot
be achieved without three key elements; wider public participation
coupled with information flow, transparency and accountability. This
calls for rationalization of the environmental system so as to ensure
responsibility of all institutions and officials in Africa. Institutions
should be provided with adequate power and resources to attain the
demands and goals of the international community.
Communication is a tool that has been overlooked but it is an
integral part in environmental governance. According to the UN Task
Force on Environment and Human Settlements effective environmental
governance can only be achieved through national level coordination. It
further notes that the only entities that can give consistent guidance
to environmental specialized agencies allocated with sectoral missions
to respond to specific elements within national governments are the
national governments. These can only be done through effective
communication strategies. Full Implementation of the Agenda 21 and MEAs
can be achieved through advanced communication by MEA secretariats - a
role played by the UNEP. However, communication is faced with challenges
that include false reporting and it’s important to have shared
environmental databases among institutions. Rwanda for example is
working toward enhancing the Rwanda Information Technology Authority
(RITA) which consolidates and coordinates the State’s information
technology resources. This is great initiative for other African
countries to borrow from since it ensures information flow among
national sectors.
Regulatory approaches in environmental management and protection
should be implemented concurrently with a wide range of economic
instruments and legal incentives with total engagement of all
stakeholders. This should address the never-ending debate on
development versus human welfare for both development and ecological
sustainability. It is worth emphasizing that the World Trade
Organization (WTO) should ensure that trade policies promote ecological
sustainability. On the other hand, the national governments should show
their commitment through effective coordination and action in the
environmental arena. This will enable them to fully participate and push
on crucial matters in international forums. Coordination must be
extended to all sectors that have an impact on the environment with
clearly laid down coordination agreements that must be strictly adhered
to in order to achieve development goals through the sectors and
maintain sustainable development efforts.
Environmental policies and mechanisms should have stricter
accountability measures for corporations for all the environmental
negative impacts caused by their activities. Greater finance structures
for enhanced environmental governance in Africa cannot be overstated.
This can be achieved through borrowing from the World Bank and reforms
of trade and market policies so as to boost participation of developing
countries in international affairs.
In a nutshell, African countries will achieve effective environmental
governance, if all countries demonstrate their capacity to tackle
environmental challenges at hand. It is true that Africa’s environmental
institutions have fundamental weaknesses, but it equally has
opportunities and potential with sound legislation and administrative
procedures for environmental management and protection. The compromise
placed on enforcement of environmental laws and policies can change if
participation and commitment from top to bottom (from laws to individual
actions) becomes a daily routine. It is also imperative that literature
and any other media of public information positively explain the role
of environmental institutions and its contributions to the economy
rather than focus on empirical findings.
Beatrice Chemutai, Intern, Environmental Security Programme (ESP)
