Major international bodies have recognized the important linkages between rule of law and development. Laws, alongside the institutions and legal systems that ensure their implementation and enforcement, are an essential component of an enabling environment for green growth. As such, two essential factors must be in place for green growth - a robust legal framework and the proper implementation of environmental laws, where laws are fairly enforced and adjucated.
This working paper, Environmental Rule of Law: An analysis of data availability, aims to provide a comprehensive review of currently available datasets allowing for the measurement of environmental rule of law, using the OECD Pressure-State-Response model to determine suitable enforcement and compliance indicators. The review found that data is limited; global data sets are nearly non-existant, though promising initiatives exist. Some countries and their environmental authorities produce their own reports and databases, though data quality and availability varies. Publications such as Environmental Performance Reviews by UNECE and the OECD also contain useful data on enforcement and compliance, but clear disparties in data coverage are apparent. The paper concludes with a set of recommendations designed to enhance both the availability and collection of relevant compliance and enforcement data.
The GGKP Green Growth and the Law Working Group was formed given the importance that rule of law and legal frameworks play in enabling green growth. The goal of the group was to collaboratively assess and, where applicable, identify knowledge or data gaps on how environmental rule of law relates to green growth. As part of its mandate, the group assessed knowledge and data gaps around environmental enforcement and compliance.
This report, by UNEP and INTERPOL, focuses on illegal logging and its impacts on the lives and livelihoods of often some of the poorest people in the world set aside the environmental damage.
An enduring concern for developed and developing countries alike is to strike the right balance between ambitious environmental policies and the international competitiveness of both nations and individual firms.