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6 Rev. Eur. Comp. & Int'l Envtl. L. iii (1997)

handle is hein.journals/reel6 and id is 1 raw text is: Editorial The African picture on the development of international law on the environment is a rather patchy one, full of aspiration and style, but falling short on technique and substance. Developments in environmental law in the continent as a whole are attributable to the Organization of African Unity (OAU), which, over the past three dec- ades, has overseen the adoption of the 1968 African Con- vention on the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, the 1981 African Charter on Human Rights, the 1991 Bamako Convention on Hazardous Wastes, and the 1991 African Economic Community. Over the years, these efforts have been reinforced by individual states' National Environmental Action Plans, and global conven- tions, such as the 1994 Desertification Convention. These have tended to cloud the picture and make it more com- plicated in terms of direction and consistency. As it stands at the moment, Africa's contribution to inter- national law on the environment can be said to be pion- eering at the start, faltering in the middle, and uncertain at present. In 1968, Africa took the lead in concluding a comprehen- sive agreement for the protection of natural resources. The African Convention on Nature and Natural Resources includes provisions on research, conser- vation education, development plans, and national con- servation services. It aims to protect the soil from ero- sion and misuse through the development of land-use plans and agricultural practices and agrarian reforms which would ensure long-term productivity. Water con- servation policies and protection of flora are promoted by the use of scientifically-based conservation measures which take into account social and economic needs. However, the inherent weakness of the Convention is that it has no institutional arrangement for implemen- tation. This has fundamentally weakened its effective- ness. Moreover, certain defects have been identified in the Convention. As a result, the OAU convened a Meeting of Experts in 1983 to recommend amendments. At a Pan African Conference on Environment and Sustainable Development in Africa in Bamako in January 1992, it was observed that the responses of states on the proposed amendments were still 'inadequate'. Still to be ascer- tained is the root of the problem on implementation. Is it states' technical capacity for implementation? Is it a clash between national interests and the substantive provisions? Or is it the technical and financial com- petence of the OAU on follow-up with states? The answers to these questions have implications for the expectations on implementation of the Bamako Conven- tion and the environmental provisions of the Treaty on the African Economic Community. The Bamako Convention, also an ambitious agreement which goes further than the norm, again suffers from a lack of firm institutional structure. The OAU and the UN Economic Commission for Africa assume interim sec- retariat functions until a permanent Secretariat and Con- ference of the Parties can be established. Certainly, one of the above mentioned questions can be answered by reference to the experience of the Bamako Convention. The Convention, on the face of it, cannot be said to be an agreement in which states' interests clash with the substance of the agreement. Indeed the Bamako Conven- tion's intention was to go further than the 1989 Basel Convention on the transboundary movement of hazard- ous waste, and give effect to the positions many African governments had adopted in the negotiations on the Basel Convention. It establishes a regional regime which prohibits trade in hazardous waste: parties must pro- hibit the import of all hazardous wastes into Africa from non-contracting parties and such import is deemed illegal and criminal. So here is a case where states, unhappy with the UN treaty, decide to adopt their own, according to their particular problems and interests. Yet the Convention has still to come into force, let alone be subject to effective implementation. This does not bode well for the environmental pro- visions of the Treaty establishing the African Economic Community. Like the 1968 African Convention and the 1991 Bamako Convention, the treaty includes ambitious language: commitment to the 'harmonization and co- ordination of environmental protection policies', to the promotion of 'a healthy environment', and the negoti- ation of a future 'Protocol on the Environment'. These are all the ingredients for the development of region- wide environmental policies, but one has a sense of hav- ing heard it all before. How strong will the institutional arrangements be this time? What makes this treaty any different? Will any lessons be learnt, and what will they be? Professor C. 0. Okidi, (Task Manager of the joint UNEP/UNDP Project on Environmental Law and Insti- tutions in Africa), has suggested that a useful exercise would be to carry out detailed studies in respect of each treaty on environmental protection in Africa, in order to ascertain the position of each state on implementation of the agreement generally or on specific provisions. He also suggests that the OAU should not proceed with the development of any new agreement until the position of past regional treaties is clarified. This is sound advice which should be taken if the picture on the development of international environmental law in Africa is to become significantly improved. iii Volume 6 Issue 1 199 7 Editorial

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