By David Okul
July 26, 2019
INTRODUCTION AND DEFINITION
Environmental governance is a concept in political ecology and environmental management policy referring to defining elements and practices needed to achieve sustainability. In simpler terms, it is a whole set of rules, practices, and institutions concerned with environmental management. The term environmental governance has and can be defined in different ways depending on the scope and locus of decision making power (UNEP Yearbook, 2010). The United Nations defines environmental governance as follows;
‘ Multi-level interactions (i.e., local, national, international/global) among, but not limited to, three main actors, i.e., state, market, and civil society, which interact with one another, whether in formal and informal ways; in formulating and implementing policies in response to environment-related demands and inputs from the society; bound by rules, procedures, processes, and widely-accepted behavior; possessing characteristics of “good governance”; for the purpose of attaining environmentally-sustainable development.’
The Rio conference of 1992 gave the environmental management field a major impetus. Agenda 21 committed member states of the UN to sustainable management principles and showing the commitment. The main drivers of environmental governance issues include consumption, economic growth, biodiversity, pollution, and agricultural production. Similarly, major environmental governance issues include climate change, soil deterioration, water, precautionary principle, nuclear risks among others.
The process of governing the rich and diverse natural resources across the globe is a complex challenge. The UN Environment relates issues of environmental governance to seven sustainable development goals that include:
- Goal 1: No poverty
- Goal 5: Gender equality
- Goal 12: Sustainable Consumption and Production
- Goal 13: Climate action
- Goal 15: Life on Land
- Goal 16: Peace Justice and strong institutions
- Goal 17: Partnerships for the goals.
Environmental governance issues are mainly captured via agreements. There are over 1000 multilateral agreements, 1500 bilateral agreements and 300 other types of agreements on matters concerning the environment. A detailed database on environmental agreements is provided by International Environmental Agreement (IEA) database project of the University of Oregon. Silvica names some of the main multilateral environmental conventions under Rio Conventions to include:
- Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
- Ramsar conventions of Wetlands
- Convention of International Trade in Endangered species (CITES)
- Basel Convention on the Control of and trans-boundary movement of Hazardous Wastes
- United Nations Frameworks on Climate Change (UNFCC)
ENVIRONMENTAL GOVERNANCE IN KENYA
Kenya implemented a National Environmental Action Plan (NEAP) in 1994 that provided a benchmark for upscaling environmental management in Kenya (Mireri & Letema, 2010). The NEAP culminated to the Environmental Management and Coordination Act of 1999, which directs the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) to exercise all the coordination and supervision of matters relating to the environment in Kenya and is the principal instrument of the government in implementing all the policies related to the environment.
Prior to the promulgation of the EMCA, environmental matters had no locus standi[1] in Kenya (Mireri & Letema, 2010). The Act has provided instruments for good environmental governance with the potential of providing a clean environment for all. From the definition of environmental governance, it is clear that the concept entails multi-level interactions between state and society. Nevertheless, the main major governance instrument in Kenya EMCA 1999 has also been a subject of significant critique.
[1] Locus standi: In law, locus standi means the right to bring an action, to be heard in court, or to address the Court on a matter before it.
References and Resources
Mireri C. and Latema S. (2010) Review of Environmental Governance in Kenya: Analysis of Environmental Policy and Institutional Framework. In Handbook of Environmental Policy (371-380) ed Meijer and Der Berg. Nova Science Publisher
Mukundi G (2006). The impact of corruption on governance: an appraisal of the practice of the rule of law in Kenya. University of Pretoria. PhD dissertation.
UNEP Yearbook (2010). Environmental Governance. United Nations.
UN Environment. https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/7935/Environmental_Governance.pdf?sequence=5&isAllowed=y
David Okul is a freelance writer, and a PhD student at a Kenyan university
