Making Law Work: Environmental Compliance & Sustainable Development (Volumes I & II)
| Author | Cari Shiffman |
| Position | JD and MA candidate (International Affairs), 2007, at American University |
| Pages | 20 |
Page 68
As populations grow and environmental problems become more pervasive at both a regional and global level, nations must increasingly examine environmental practices and their enforcement. Making Law Work: Environmental Compliance & Sustainable Development1 seeks to address this need through its discussion of sustainable development theory and the legal frameworks necessary to promote environmental goodwill. The book also considers the practical efficacy of such laws.
The compilation, produced by the Secretariat of the International Network for Environmental Compliance and Enforcement ("INECE"), along with the Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development and the Program on Governance for Sustainable Development at the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, at the University of California in Santa Barbara, is a two volume collection of literature by both academics and practitioners that details the strengths and weaknesses of environmental compliance within legal systems. Editors Durwood Zaelke, Director of the INECE Secretariat, Donald Kaniaru, Managing Partner of Kaniaru & Kaniaru Advocates in Nairobi, Kenya, and Eva Kružíková, co- founder and Director of the Institute for Environmental Policy in the Czech Republic, offer valuable, introductory overviews to each of the topics and articles included in the book, in addition to the included literature. These introductions are a helpful synthesis of the included articles as they incorporate background information on each category and outline the articles. Furthermore, by having editors from both developed and developing countries, as well as from a country with a transitioning economy, the book is able to effectively broach topics important to both the developing and developed world. As such, the book successfully strives to confront concerns in both the global North and South.
The compilation first introduces the theory behind compliance and then presents compliance strategies that build on theoretical understanding. The book further incorporates empirical data on tactics that induce compliance, in addition to discussion of ineffective approaches. Making Law Work is unique in its comprehensive overview of compliance issues relevant to both scholars and practitioners. By including articles from experts and cutting edge sources, this book combines textbook and treatise, incorporating a hybrid legal and policy approach to environmental compliance concerns. Making Law Work is arguably the only book that covers the whole arena of environmental compliance and enforcement issues. It is an essential read for practitioners, policy makers, businesses, lawyers, and researchers who are involved with the enforcement and compliance fields, as it includes insights on how to better design effective laws, regulations, and remedies.
The first volume explores everything from good governance and compliance theories to multilateral environmental agreements ("MEAs") and domestic enforcement strategies to courts, tribunals, and non-governmental organizations ("NGOs"). This first section raises questions on how to strengthen laws regarding the environment and what must be done in order to induce compliance with these laws. The book discusses pressing environmental and humanitarian concerns, and then considers what laws and institutions will be most effective in dealing with these threats.
In order to effectively address non-compliance, the included articles examine why different actors choose to comply with or ignore various environmental laws. The first chapter sets the stage for the rest of the book. This chapter is essential to understanding what solutions can be developed to assist in compliance with laws. The inclusion of compliance theories in the second chapter strengthens the book, by providing a theoretical background to all of the subsequent topics covered. The editors also consider whether MEAs have begun to solve any of the emerging environmental crises, through specific case studies and articles that dissect the efficacy of MEAs. The book includes not only international approaches to environmental compliance, but domestic strategies as well. This inclusion of domestic solutions to sustainable development concerns strengthens the book considerably, as domestic resolutions are important in addressing sustainable development. Additionally, the first volume of the compilation presents dialogues on the role of the judiciary, both domestically and internationally, and NGOs in ensuring environmental compliance. Although in the section on courts, the included article on domestic courts focuses on New Zealand, the proposed tactic of a specialized court for environmental disputes can be applied in other domestic settings. The compilation further succeeds in exploring how compliance issues at both the international and domestic levels are connected and how they influence each other.
The second volume of this book discusses topics such as access to information, emissions trading, compliance assistance, the indicators necessary to measure compliance, and the success of trans-governmental networks. This section also evaluates the most useful tools for regulators, as well as how firms can benefit from compliance with environmental rules. In particular, Michael Porter's and Class van der Linde's important and highly relevant article on their "Porter Hypothesis," discusses how environmental rules can be designed to induce innovations to offset the cost of compliance that can create profits or save money for firms that comply. The book also highlights that access to information from both governments and the private sector is essential for a thorough understanding of environmental issues and, as the editors point out, to "empower civil society." Additionally, Making Law Work successfully explores the aforementioned emission trading schemes, compliance assistance strategies, and the role of trans-governmental networks. Finally, the second volume includes a significant discussion on utilizing indicators to measure when compliance is working in the sustainable development and environmental continuums. INECE's project on environmental compliance and enforcement indicators, overviewed in an included article, makes INECE, as one of the sponsors of this book, particularly suited to discuss indicators for environmental compliance and enforcement.
The comprehensive selection of topics allows for a thorough discussion in the field of environmental compliance and enforcement, via articles that examine how nations and individuals can comply with environmental decisions. Furthermore, the book explores the rationales behind non-compliance and then builds on the theoretical understanding of compliance to explore compliance strategies. In terms of improving behavior, the compilation excels at suggesting effective strategies for better implementation and compliance with international and domestic governance. The reader can readily understand how the establishment of the rule of law, good governance, and sustainable development requires compliance. Most significantly, the book raises the critical questions of implementation and compliance, without which laws are ineffective.
The articles, while they lay the groundwork for understanding compliance and sustainable development issues, only overview the key issues and may raise additional questions that readers desire to understand in more detail. For practitioners or researchers who want to delve further into a specific area presented in the book, INECE has listed an extensive bibliography, invaluable for further investigation, with additional readings for each of the subjects explored in the volumes.2
While the articles in Making Law Work recognize that not all past solutions to tackle these issues have succeeded, the book as a whole strives to focus on effective strategies and potential improvements. Furthermore, the book encourages all sectors of society to assist in designating successful strategies for environmental compliance and securing future sustainable development. Making Law Work provides an essential starting ground for exploring the key factors in the struggle to create legal, economic, and social systems to combat environmental degradation and other dangers to human well-being.
----------------------------
ENDNOTES:
[1] Excerpts from Making Law Work: Environmental Compliance & Sustainable Development and ordering information are available at http://inece.org/makinglawwork.html.
[2] The bibliography is available at http://inece.org.
