AECEN UPDATE

Overview

• Background on AECEN

• 2008 AECEN Achievements

o Country Activities

o Regional Activities

o International Activities

o AECEN Secretariat Support

• 2008 AECEN Forum Objectives

AECEN Mission

• Established in 2005

• Mission – To promote improved compliance with environmental policies, laws and regulations through the exchange of innovative policies and practices

AECEN Membership

• 12 Members

• 10 national agencies – People’s Republic of China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Nepal, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam

• 2 sub-national agencies – Laguna Lake Development Authority of the Philippines, and West Bengal Pollution Control Board of India

• West Bengal joined AECEN in 2008

• Other participating countries – Korea and Pakistan

Network Activities

• Rapid country program assessments

• Country pilot and twinning activities

• Regional forum

• Asian Justices Forum on the Environment

• Targeted studies

• Regional capacity building

• Website

Regional Principles

• Promote effective compliance and enforcement programs

• Reflect national experiences in Asia and worldwide

• Provide framework for AECEN activities

• Developed with member inputs

Pilot Projects – Objectives

• Projects address priority challenges of member agency

• Demonstrate best practices with potential for regional replication

• Build capacity in key program areas

• Achieve measurable results on the ground

Pilot Projects – 2008 Achievements

• Philippines and Thailand Compliance Assistance Centers

o Expanded operations and reach of virtual centers for pig farms and slaughterhouses

o Establishing physical centers

• West Bengal Compliance Assistance Center

o Established first center in India targeting metal production industry

o Partnering with World Bank to build infrastructure and capacity

Pilot Projects – 2008 Achievements

• Sri Lanka Wastewater Pollution Charge Program

o Amended laws, developed guidelines and completed capacity assessment

o Targeting textile industry

• Vietnam Inspector Training Program

• Established national training manual to standardize inspections

• Planning national training initiative

Member-to-Member Twinning Program

• Twinning partnerships

o Focused technical exchange between two Members

o Collaborative engagement leads to measurable results in one or both countries

o Small grants program with significant member cost share

• Launched at 2007 forum in Beijing

• Solicited grant proposals from Members

• Established 3 twinning partnerships

New Member Twinning Partnerships

• Japan – Thailand Partnership

o Natural resources damages policy and guidelines in Thailand

o Coordinated by Institute for Global Environmental Strategies

• Singapore – Indonesia Partnership

o Inspection and investigation capacity in Indonesia

o Coordinated by Indonesia Center for Environmental Law

• Philippines – Sri Lanka Partnership

o Wastewater pollution charge program capacity in Sri Lanka

o Technical exchanges with Laguna Lake Development Authority

Asian Justice Forum on the Environment

• Builds on Global Judges Symposium convened at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002

• Objective: strengthen human and institutional capacity of courts on the environment

• Key partners: UNEP, EEPSEA, Vermont Law School

Asian Justice Forum – 2008 Achievements

• Philippines established 117 environmental courts

• Philippine Judicial Academy and US EPA trained Philippine judges with new environmental law curriculum

• AECEN and EEPSEA conducted regional training on natural resources damages

• AECEN and UNEP organized roundtable on judicial capacity building to set action agenda on capacity building

New Targeted Studies

• Secretariat initiated 2 new studies to provide future programming priorities in response to Member interests

o Institutional Capacity Benchmarking

o Strengthening Legal and Policy Frameworks for Addressing Climate Change in Asia

• Developed with partner organizations

• Secretariat to present preliminary findings at forum to gain member feedback

• Complete studies in 2009

Institutional Capacity Benchmarking

• Evaluate institutional capacity of selected member agencies to perform mandated compliance and enforcement responsibilities

• Seek to establish regional capacity benchmarks to support agency resource requests

• Conducted member survey with assistance from Vermont Law School

• Present findings at AECEN forum

Climate Change and Enforcement

• Evaluate climate change law and policy, as well as enforcement

• P.R. China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Philippines and Thailand

• Identify country and regional advances and gaps

• Cooperation between USAID, UNEP and IGES

• Present findings at CAI-Asia BAQ workshop and at AECEN forum

International Cooperation and Training

• AECEN members presented results at 8th Conference of International Network for Environmental Compliance and Enforcement (INECE) in April, 2008

• AECEN members shared experience on capacity challenges and benchmarking at OECD workshop in September, 2008

• AECEN members presented findings from climate change study at Clean Air Initiative-Asia Better Air Quality conference in November, 2008

Knowledge Management

• Conducted member survey on communications

• Upgraded website capabilities with support from ADB

• Enhance best Practices Inventory with assistance from ADB

• Solicit feedback from members at AECEN forum

2008 Forum Objectives

• Share innovative approaches in Indonesia on strengthening environmental compliance and enforcement

• Identify best practices for effective decentralization of environmental compliance and enforcement

• Conduct focused workshops on priority topicso Agency institutional capacityo Natural resources damages assessmento Climate change and enforcement

• Present progress on twinning initiatives

• Solicit Member feedback on activities and priorities

AECEN Partners

• United Stated Agency for International Development

• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

• Asian Development Bank

• The World Bank

• United Nations Environment Programme

• Institute for Global Environmental Strategies

• Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development

• Vermont Law School

• Economy and Environment Program for Southeast Asia

• Clean Air Initiative for Asian Cities

• Asia Pacific Jurists Association

• International Network for Environmental Compliance and Enforcement

• Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Network for Accession

Thank you!