The International Network for Environmental Compliance and Enforcement (INECE) is a global network of environmental compliance and enforcement practitioners dedicated to raising awareness of compliance and enforcement across the regulatory cycle; developing networks for enforcement cooperation; and strengthening capacity to implement and enforce environmental requirements.
[INECE Strategic Implementation Plan, 2006-2009]
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Founded in 1989 by The Netherlands Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment
The Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment ( nl, Ministerie van Volkshuisvesting, Ruimtelijke Ordening en Milieu or ''VROM'') was a Dutch ministry. It was responsible for policies on public housing, spatial planning, the env ...
and by the United States Environmental Protection Agency
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it ...
(US EPA), INECE links the environmental compliance and enforcement efforts of more than 4,000 practitioners - inspectors, prosecutors, regulators, parliamentarians, judges, international organizations
An international organization or international organisation (see spelling differences), also known as an intergovernmental organization or an international institution, is a stable set of norms and rules meant to govern the behavior of states a ...
, and non-governmental organization
A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in ...
s - from 120 countries.
Organizational structure
INECE's organizational structure consists of its Executive Planning Committee, its implementing Secretariat, and its participants.
The Executive Planning Committee, as the governing body of INECE, defines INECE's cooperative efforts and makes decisions to realize the INECE mission. It is co-chaired by representatives of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), the Netherlands Ministry of Environment, Housing and Urban Development, and the Brazil Supreme Court. The INECE Secretariat provides technical, administrative, and communications support for Executive Planning Committee functions and helps to implement the INECE work program. Durwood Zaelke
Durwood Zaelke (born 15 May 1947) is an American environmental litigator, professor, author, and advocate. As President and founder of the Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development (IGSD) in Washington, D.C. and Paris, he currently focuse ...
, President of the Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development, is the current Director of the INECE Secretariat.
INECE participants include inspectors, prosecutors, regulators, parliamentarians, judges, other governmental officials, and members of international and non-governmental organizations. INECE is an informal network, and any environmental compliance and enforcement practitioners may join the network by registering through the INECE Web site. INECE participants support the mission and objectives of the network, and may carry out these activities on an individual, organizational, bilateral, and/or multilateral basis as appropriate.
Major Projects and Activities
International Conference
INECE conferences bring together enforcement officials from both developed and developing countries all over the world to share experiences and make plans to take environmental compliance and enforcement efforts to the next level. INECE has hosted eight international conferences since 1990:
* 8th International Conference, Cape Town, South Africa - April 2008;
* 7th International Conference, Marrakesh, Morocco - April 2005;
* 6th International Conference, San Jose, Costa Rica - April 2002;
* 5th International Conference, Monterey, California, USA - November, 1998;
* 4th International Conference, Chiang Mai, Thailand - April, 1996;
* 3rd International Conference, Oaxaca, Mexico - April, 1994;
* 2nd International Conference, Budapest, Hungary - September, 1992;
* 1st International Enforcement Workshop, Utrecht, The Netherlands - May, 1990;
INECE Expert Working Groups
INECE expert working groups provide opportunities for participants to collaborate to respond to environmental compliance and enforcement challenges and to share knowledge gained with the broader network through workshops, conferences, publications, and email discussion groups.
Capacity Building Programs for Environmental Compliance and Enforcement
INECE training resources developed to help individuals responsible for environmental protection in different countries, regions, and localities design and implement compliance strategies and enforcement programs include:
* The Principles of Environmental Enforcement
* Conducting Environmental Inspections Training Manual
* Performance Measurement Guidance for Compliance and Enforcement Practitioners (2nd edition)
See also
*Environmental law
Environmental law is a collective term encompassing aspects of the law that provide protection to the environment. A related but distinct set of regulatory regimes, now strongly influenced by environmental Legal doctrine, legal principles, focu ...
*Global governance
Global governance refers to institutions that coordinate the behavior of transnational actors, facilitate cooperation, resolve disputes, and alleviate collective action problems. Global governance broadly entails making, monitoring, and enfor ...
*List of environmental lawsuits
On this page, ''environmental lawsuit'' means "a lawsuit where the well-being of an environmental asset or the well-being of a set of environmental assets is in dispute". Also on this page, ''lawsuit with environmental relevance'' means "a laws ...
*List of international environmental agreements
This is a list of international environmental agreements.
Most of the following agreements are legally binding for countries that have formally ratified them. Some, such as the Kyoto Protocol, differentiate between types of countries and each na ...
*Sustainable development
Sustainable development is an organizing principle for meeting human development goals while also sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide the natural resources and ecosystem services on which the economy and society depend. The ...
*Timeline of environmental events
This timeline lists events in the external environment that have influenced events in human history. This timeline is for use with the article on environmental determinism.
For the history of humanity's influence on the environment, and humanity ...
*TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network
TRAFFIC (Trade Records Analysis of Flora and Fauna in Commerce), the Wildlife Trade Monitoring Network, is a global non-governmental organisation monitoring the trade in wild animals and plants that focuses on biodiversity and sustainable dev ...
References
Further reading
* Durwood Zaelke, Donald Kaniaru, and Eva Kružíkov (Eds.), Making Law Work: Environmental Compliance & Sustainable Development (Volumes I and II). Cameron May, 2005.
External links
The INECE Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:International Network For Environmental Compliance And Enforcement
International environmental organizations