As more democracies emerge and advance in Africa, they are forced to confront the environmental impacts caused by economic and social forces. The first step in this process is designing and establishing carefully constructed laws and administrative agencies to handle the mounting pressures on natural resources. These authorities can extend from the country’s constitution to the smallest enforcement agency. But, for these efforts to have a real effect, the public must become familiar with the rules and structure and have a legitimate means of enforcing them through the courts. Environmental organizations, local lawyers, and scholars need to understand the laws and, more importantly, how they can use them to advocate for environmental protection and the health and well-being of the country’s people. Judges must be trained in the policies and the science behind them so that they can make intelligent and well-informed decisions. Perhaps most critically, the public should be allowed to participate in the political and enforcement process, including access to learn about the issues and forums to express their opinions, because cooperation and voluntary responsibility can be far more effective than artificial incentives and punishment.
Click on the following links to explore ELI’s work in Governance in Africa:
DEVELOPMENT OF LAWS AND REGULATIONS
- Strengthening the Framework for Environmental Legislation in Liberia
- Strengthening Environmental Law in Tanzania
- Finalizing Ethiopia’s Draft Framework Environmental Law
- Promoting Principles of Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development in Kenya’s New Constitution
- Improving Environmental Governance through Natural Resource Certification
- Enhancing the Law Governing Air Quality in South Africa
- Aiding Natural Resource Valuation and Damage Assessment in the Niger Delta
CAPACITY-BUILDING AND AWARENESS-RAISING
- Building the Capacity of African Professionals and Community Activists to Use Environmental Advocacy Tools
- Strengthening Environmental Law and Advocacy in Morocco
- Implementing Constitutional Environmental Protections in Africa
- African Visiting Scholars at ELI
- Protecting the Environment through Islamic Law
- Nigerian Study Tour on Environmental Law, Enforcement, and the Petroleum Industry
- Facilitating Roundtable Discussion for African Environmental Law Professors
- Distributing Legal Reference Materials and Computers to African Environmental Advocates and Professionals
- Disseminating African Environmental Law Resources via the Internet
ACCESS TO INFORMATION, PUBLIC PARTICIPATION, AND ACCESS TO JUSTICE
- Promoting Access to Information, Public Participation, and Access to Justice in Africa
- Africa-wide Initiatives
- East African Initiatives
- Nigerien Initiative
- Access to Information in East Africa
- Helping East African Lawyers Use Legal Tools to Protect the Environment
- Judicial Training
- Strengthening the Capacity of Uganda’s Judiciary: Symposiums on Environmental Law
- Enhancing the Capacity of Tanzania’s Judiciary: Judicial Symposium on Environmental Law and Policy
- Environmental Litigation Study Tour for Cameroonian Jurists and Magistrates
- Promoting the Ability of African Judiciaries to Implement Constitutional Environmental Protections
- Seminars on Environmental Law
Please also see ELI's work on Creating a Sustainable Legal Framework for Forestry in Liberia.