Introduction

Policy and regulatory instruments play an important role in keeping environmental problems under control. They operate at three different levels: international, national and local. International environmental laws and conventions are established to address global environmental issues, including depletion of the ozone layer, climate change, loss of biological diversity, desertification, etc. Regional environmental agreements and protocols, such as the Convention for the Protection of the Mediterranean Sea against Pollution, serve as an effective means to co-ordinate actions among different countries concerned with specific environmental issues. At the national level, environmental laws and various policy and regulatory frameworks have been set-up to guide the environmental protection of governmental agencies and regulate the environmental performance of different sectors of society.

Key elements

• Scientific assessment of the environmental problem and communicating with relevant parties;
• Integration with existing environmental policy and regulation frameworks;
• Integration with economic and social development policies;
• Applying preventive strategies;
• Awareness raising and capacity building;
• Monitoring and enforcement.

Further Information

Environmental Treaties and Resource Indicators Service [http://sedac.ciesin.org/entri/] - ENTRI is a fast, convenient, comprehensive online search service for finding information about environmental treaties and national resource indicators.

Food, Agriculture and Fisheries home page of OECD [http://www.oecd.org/agr/] - This specific OECD page is dedicated to food, agriculture and fisheries and includes information on policies and reforms. In particular, the following page describes the process to follow to integrate economic and environmental policies: [http://www.oecd.org/env/policies/index.htm]

European Commission - Environment [http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/index_en.htm] - This page of the EU website is dedicated to the environment and it contains links to a section on the environmental legislation in force and on the European policies related to different environmental themes.

Environmental Web Resources [http://www.environmental-expert.com/directory.htm] - This page is a guide of links to environmental resources on the web and continuously updated by Environmental Expert.com. In particular there are links to environmental government agencies and information on laws and regulations, including a link to Environmental Law Net.

Dutch Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment [http://www.minvrom.nl/minvrom/pagina.html?id=1308] - This section of the website provides information on environmental regulations adopted in the Netherlands related to different issues, including packaging, wastes and climate.

The Norwegian Pollution Control Authority (STF) [http://www.sft.no/e4.html] - The SFT is a subordinate agency of the Ministry of the Environment, its powers of authority are laid down in the Pollution Control Act and the Product Control Act. This web page contains a list of some of the acts and regulations stipulated by the Ministry of Environment.

UK Environment Agency [http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/] - This page of the website of the UK environmental agency provides information and guidance, mainly for industries, to protect the environment and comply with legislation.

Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency [http://www.ceaa.gc.ca/0009/index_e.htm] - This website describes the Environmental Assessment Act and Regulations, explaining how (EA) can be used as a tool to help decision-makers achieve the goal of sustainable development.

Environment Australia [http://www.ea.gov.au/about/legislation.html#legislation] - This is the Australian Department of Environment and Heritage website, providing information on environmental acts and bills and a link to Commonwealth and State legislation.

United States Environment Protection Agency [http://www.epa.gov/epahome/rules.html] - This page provides information on US environmental laws, regulation and events. This web page provides links to all the Environmental protection Agencies listed by topic or program [http://www.environmental-expert.com/directory/government-us.htm]. This web page provides links to all the US Environmental State agencies departments listed by state [http://www.environmental-expert.com/directory/government-state.htm].

South Africa Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism [http://www.environment.gov.za/] - This page is dedicated to the Law Reform Programme in South Africa, describing its aims and objectives and the priority focus areas.

UNEP - Environmental Legal Instruments [http://www.unep.org/unep/convention/sec.htm] - The page provides information on environmental conventions, helping countries implement legal instruments, developing international environmental law and a register of environmental conventions.

UNEP – Information Unit for Conventions (IUC) [http://www.unep.ch/index.html] - This site provides information about environmental conventions, links to UNEP programmes and UNEP's newsletter on international environmental treaties.

 

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Last Update: 10 August, 2001