EANECE Concludes Successful Principles Training Course

On 14-18 November, 2011, the East African Network for Environmental Compliance and Enforcement (EANECE) in partnership with the International Network for Environmental Compliance and Enforcement (INECE) and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) conducted a regional training on the Principles of Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Course and the Facilitators Course for the Principles of Environmental Compliance and Enforcement.

The training was held in Mombasa, Kenya, and brought together 24 participants from various government agencies in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. Among the participants were environmental inspectors, attorneys, planners, police officers and managers of compliance and enforcement programs. The courses were facilitated by a team of highly qualified and experienced trainers from the USA, Netherlands, Tanzania and Kenya.

The Principles of Environmental Compliance and Enforcement training course, which ran from 14-16 November, is designed to enable participants to develop their own management approach to an environmental problem, to draft enforceable requirements where appropriate, to design a unique compliance strategy and enforcement program, and to role-play in a negotiation session to resolve a specific enforcement case.  At the end of the course, all the participants were optimistic that they will be able to apply the common principles to their specific environmental challenges and design efficient strategies to use their national laws to their most effective outcomes.

The Principles course was developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA), in cooperation with the Netherlands Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and Environment in response to requests from new enforcement programs and has been taught to thousands of participants in different countries and environmental programs worldwide.  It presents a compilation of international experience on the fundamental principles for designing and implementing environmental compliance and enforcement programs and is designed for delivery in a wide variety of cultural settings.

On 17-18 November, 12 participants out of the 24 who had successfully completed thePrinciples course proceeded to undertake the Facilitators Course for the Principles of Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Training. The aim of the Facilitators course was to build capacity for future delivery of the Principles courses and other related courses in East Africa. It is expected that with some additional mentoring, this team of facilitators will be able to replicate the Principles course in many organizations across East Africa.

 “I am extremely excited because EANECE’s goal for joint capacity building for environmental compliance and enforcement in East Africa has finally materialized through this training. We also achieved our other goals of networking and information sharing. I thank the USEPA and INECE for sponsoring this event. It is my dream that we will in the near future be able to have other similar training in East Africa and, that each EANECE member country will one day be able to replicate these courses nationally and within their member organizations.”  — Dr. Robert Ntakamulenga, EANECE Executive Committee Member, at the official closing of the Principles Course.

Illegal Waste Shipments: Authorities Meet with Shipping Industry to Join Forces

INECE (together with IMPEL) co-facilitated an international workshop in which authorities and organizations met with stakeholders from the shipping industry to find common ground for effective approaches to fight illegal transnational hazardous waste shipments. Such shipments are in conflict with the provisions of the Basel Convention and cause serious risks for public health, safety and the environment. Apart from this, upon detection, illegal shipments may cause reputational damage and economic costs for the industry. The workshop was hosted by Dutch Customs and the Environmental Inspectorate of the Netherlands.

Participants mutually learned from views, practical examples and discussions. Illegal waste shipments are generally perceived as a serious problem that needs to be addressed by appropriate measures. In doing so, however, the legitimate trade and transport should not fear unnecessary interventions. It was concluded that ways forward may be found through improved exchange of information, both within and between stakeholders’ communities. Further work will be initiated along those lines, also in anticipation of a potential follow-up workshop in 2012.

Reducing the Risks of Illegal HCFC Trade

The most recent UNEP OzonAction Newsletter, Tipping the Balance Towards Climate Protection through the HCFC Phase-Out, presents a selection of articles controlling HCFCs.

Of particular interest to compliance and enforcement practitioners is the article Reducing the Risks of Illegal HCFC Tradeon page 16. The article, written by Tapio Reinikainen of the Finnish Environment Institute and by Heli Lampela of the Finnish National Board of Customs,  looks at the conditions that can be conducive for illegal trading in HCFCs and at the potential solutions, with a focus on capacity building among customs officers.

Australia Announces First Carbon Legislation

On November 8, 2011, Australia’s parliament passed the country’s first carbon legislation, known as Clean Energy Bill 2011.  The new law establishes a tax on carbon emissions at a fixed level for a three-year period beginning in July, 2012, after which the carbon tax will be transformed into an emissions trading scheme.  Initially, only about 500 of the country’s largest emitters will be covered by the new regulation, but this will gradually expand to cover broader segments of the economy.

Under the new legislation, covered entities will be issued a limited number of Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) and must surrender a certain number of units for each tonne of emissions for which they are liable or make payment to cover the shortage.  Covered entities may purchase additional units from the government, but may only satisfy up to 5% of their total emissions obligations by surrendering ACCUs.

Transition to an emissions trading system

Following the initial three-year period, the carbon regime will transition into an emissions trading system.  During the first three years of the trading scheme, there will be a transitional price ceiling and price floor. The intent is that these be set at a level significantly higher than the expected price for the price ceiling and lower than the expected price for the price floor.

Linkage to international trading markets

The new regulation anticipates that liable entities will eventually be able to use both eligible ACCUs and eligible international units to meet their liabilities to provide emitter with additional flexibility under the mechanism. Covered entities may exceed the emission cap if they offset the excess emissions with eligible ACCUs or eligible international units. The use of international units will be subject to qualitative and quantitative restrictions in order to ensure the environmental integrity and ongoing credibility of the emission trading system.

Official Australian carbon legislation site

link to: http://www.climatechange.gov.au/en/government/submissions/clean-energy-legislative-package.aspx