Post on 14-Dec-2015
TRANS-BOUNDARY ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS
HARI SRINIVASROOM: I -312 / 079-565-7406
Global Environmental Policy
Defining TEP
Trans boundary
Environmental Problems
across, beyond
national borders
TEPs broadly refer to cases in which pollution created in one country “moves” across national boundaries.Such TEPs have negative implications forliving standards in one or more countries in the region or the world in general.
What are TEPs?
Some environmental problems span a country’s borders and are felt regionally and globally, e.g. ozone layer depletion, loss of biodiversity, and climate change.
Population growth, industrialization and globalization are adding these global or trans-boundary environmental problems and their impacts on countries
What are TEPs?
Examples of transboundary environmental challenges:
Air and water pollution Shared natural resources
(river systems, forests coasts etc.)
Large ecosystems Toxic Waste management Movement of refugees Spread of disease/pests
Transboundary Environments
Major migratory bird routes of the world
Migratory birds and other migratory animals are a significant component of transboundary environmental resources
The map illustrates global migratory bird routes and shows that Africa has the highest concentration of such routes
A global map of nitrogen dioxide (NO2)
• Image shows the locations of high levels of nitrogen dioxide worldwide
• High concentrations of NO2 tend to be associated with large urban or industrial Areas
• Lower, but widespread, concentrations of the gas—produced by biomass
Transboundary ecosystems
KenyaUganda
Tanzania
Wildebeest crossing shared rivers and ecosystems of the three countries
Three shared national parks between Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania
Nile Basin Initiative
The Nile river and its tributaries run through a total of 10 countries (Burundi, Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda) before it flows into the Mediterranean sea
Nile Basin Initiative
The “Nile Basin Initiative” is a transboundary programme that covers the entire river system
The Initiative provides an institutional mechanism, a shared vision, and a set of agreed policy guidelines to provide a basin-wide framework for cooperative action.
Some of the projects carried out: Institutional Strengthening Community-Level Land, Forests, and Water Conservation: Wetlands and Biodiversity Water Quality Monitoring Environment Education and Awareness
Regional Haze Action Plan
From July to October 1997, ASEAN countries in particular Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore, were badly affected by smoke haze caused by land and forest fires
ASEAN Environment Ministers have agreed on a “Regional Haze Action Plan”, which sets out co- operative measures needed amongst ASEAN member countries to address the problem of smoke haze in the region arising from land and forest fires.
Regional Haze Action Plan
The primary objectives of the Plan are :
to prevent land and forest fires through better management policies and enforcement;
to establish operational mechanisms to monitor land and forest fires
to strengthen regional land and forest fire-fighting capability and other mitigating measures
Monitoring Impacts of TEPs
A key tool for TEPs is Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) – used at the regional level
It covers issues of (a) notification, (b) prior consultation and (c) agreement
The information that an Transboundary EIA generates is used for conflict resolution and sustainable development
Examples: EU Law United States, Canada, and Mexico ASEAN members
Understanding TEPs
There are two key issues to be considered in understanding TEP:
The duty to cooperate in international law - sovereignty vs. trans-boundary environmental problems
Beyond the duty to cooperate – international environmental law obligations
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TEPs and MEAs
Transboundary environmental problems can be solved only by multilateral environmental agreements
Most UN Agencies work on transboundary issues using MEAs
Transboundary Environmental
Issues
Multilateral Environmental
Agreements
PROBLEM SOLUTION
UN and Environmental Policy
• United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
• Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD)
• Inter-Agency Committee on Sustainable Development (IACSD)
• Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs)
• UNDP, FAO, WMO, IMO, UNU etc.
What are MEAs?
International legal instruments that: have a goal of environmental protectionare concluded between a large number of
states or international organizations as partiesare concluded in written formare governed by international lawcan be embodied in a single instrument or in
two or more related instruments (framework agreements)