Pacific Islands Case Study

Venue: Palau, Vanuatu, Cook Islands
When: July to December 2001

Efforts to enhance synergies for environmental governance must continue at the global level, while challenges and opportunities for increased coordination at the regional and national levels also need to be addressed. Implementing global MEAs often requires regional frameworks and cooperative action plans between neighboring countries. National governments might know best which issues they prioritize and which of these should be linked. Consequently, opportunities for regional coordination should be kept in mind, when addressing issues at national levels. In order to determine these local challenges, the UNU undertook a national and regional case study in the Pacific in cooperation with the South Pacific Regional Environment Program (SPREP). National studies have been conducted so far in three Pacific island countries: Cook Islands, Palau and Vanuatu. Papua New Guinea also expressed its interest and will join the regional approach probably in Autumn 2002.

The South Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) in collaboration with the United Nations University (UNU) is presently conducting case studies on Inter-linkages: Synergies and Coordination among Multilateral Agreements. The case studies will be carried out at the national level focusing on the experiences of three member countries when implementing Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs), the countries chosen represent the three principal Pacific Island environs; Melanesia, Polynesia and Micronesia.

MEAs have been identified as one of the leading areas for regional environmental cooperation, and in this respect SPREP serves to promote regional cooperation in the negotiation and implementation of MEAs. This study will therefore assist SPREP member countries in assessing the implementation of MEAs, identify constraints, and propose solutions especially in terms of the inter-linkages approach towards effective implementation of MEAs.

The UNU developed the inter-linkages initiative, a three year programme that commenced in 1999 aiming at providing input into the World Summit for Sustainable Development (Rio+10) through the identification of ways to promote a more integrated and comprehensive approach to MEAs negotiation, ratification and implementation. Such effort will require the strengthening of the institutional and legal framework of countries and will assist with the avoidance of overlap among instruments as well as possible contradictions.
Case studies have been recognized as the best means to provide concrete examples of how Inter-linkages principles may be operationalized at the policy as well as executive level. At the Informal Regional Consultation on Inter-linkages held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 26-27 February, 2001, members of a working group that focused on the exploration of Pacific Island case studies agreed: that the lack or weakness of national policies, legal and institutional arrangements and human resource capabilities are obstacles to effective negotiation, ratification and implementation of MEAs.

A goal therefore, should be to strengthen national governance structures within negotiation, ratification, and implementation of MEAs by using synergies and inter-linkages. It was agreed that this could best be achieved by carrying out case studies to examine the use of linkages in strengthening national governance structures, identify gaps and obstacles in the use of synergies between MEAs and develop practical solutions for national governance structures while encouraging greater regional and international coordination.

The overall goal of conducting the case studies is to strengthen national governance structures and promote regional cooperation in the negotiation, ratification, and implementation of MEAs by identifying inter-linkages and synergies both between MEAs as well as between different national institutions involved in their implementation. The Study will cover policy priorities, strategy and planning, institutional and legal frameworks, financing, scientific mechanisms, capacity building, information and data, communications, networking, outreach, and stakeholder participation.

The Case Studies will be initiated with a preliminary assessment of existing national frameworks. Gaps and obstacles in the use of synergies and inter-linkages between MEAs in the negotiation, ratification and implementation process will be identified leading to the formulation of options, solutions and recommendations for follow up activities at the national, regional and global levels.