Environmental studies

1. MODULE 3- LESSON 8
MANAGE
ENVIRONMENTAL
PLANNING AND
EVALUATION

2. CONTENT
 Explore
environmental law
and policy
 Carry out
environmental
planning
 Implement and
evaluate
environmental plans
 Manage watershed
and river basin

3. INTRODUCTION
 It was not until the late 20th century that serious
scientific, public, and political attention focused on
the world’s environmental problems
 Immergence of international environmental law
 A “growth industry,” today international
environmental law already consists of over 1,000
multilateral agreements and 1,500 bilateral
agreements,13 as well as declarations, resolutions,
judicial decisions, and other legal authorities, most
since 1970

4. INTRODUCTION
 The earliest known treaty of all – the very
beginning of the “Law of Nations” – was an
environmental one, a 3100 BC treaty settling
a literal “water war” between two
Mesopotamian city-states in what is now Iraq
 In 1609, Hugo Grotius, the “father” of modern
international law, established the doctrine of
freedom of the seas in his monumental
treatise Mare Liberum, even before the
emergence of the modern “state” later in that
century
 International watercourse-use treaties began
in earnest in the 18th century,17 and early in
the 20th century, treaties began to take
account of environmental values other than
human consumption, but only sporadically.

5. INTRODUCTION
 Prior to 1970, international law largely left the
environment alone
 The most prominent statement of this
nationalistic or “statist” view is found in one of
the best known international environmental
legal authorities, Principle 21 of the Stockholm
Declaration: “States have, in accordance with
the Charter of the United Nations and the
principles of international law, the sovereign
right to exploit their own resources pursuant
to their own environmental policies. . . . ”
 Or, as Professor Edith Brown Weiss puts it
more bluntly, “states have traditionally
asserted the right to pollute at self
determined levels.”

6. INTRODUCTION  Today, to paraphrase John Donne, no state is an
island, and the pollution, resource utilization, or
environmental damage done in one country now is
routinely seen to have impacts in other countries,
in areas outside any country’s jurisdiction, and even
globally
 Fortunately, an equally fundamental premise of
international law is that states can “surrender”
portions of their sovereignty through the creation
and acceptance of international laws
 International law can arise from several sources:

7. SOURCES OF
INTERNATIONAL
LAW
 Long-term practice of legal customs
(customary international law)
 Binding treaties and other formal written
agreements (conventional international
law);
 General principles widely adopted in
national laws
 Judicial decisions and experts’ writings

8. INTERNATIONAL
LAW
 It is tempting to dismiss all
international law as “vague,”
“unenforceable,” or “irrelevant.” The
“Law of Nations” does operate very
differently from the national laws we
are used to
 However, the temptation to ignore
international law should be avoided.
In the famous observation of
Professor Louis Henkin:
 “Almost all nations observe almost all
principles of international law and
almost all of their obligations almost
all of the time.”

9. ENVIRONMENTAL LAW
Developing international environmental law is a vital component of environmental management, although it can be
argued that this task does not fall squarely within United nation environment programme’s express mandate
UNEP’s early law-developing activities included draft principles for the guidance of states in the conservation and
harmonious utilization of natural resources that they have in common
At its 34th session, the General Assembly requested that all states use the draft principles in the formulation.

10. ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CREATION
Much of the debate about environmental law creation takes place during the policy formation stage
A government will formally and informally seek input from the public about things it is thinking about doing
It may release a ‘green paper’ setting out possible alternatives for discussion or a ‘white paper’ showing the alternative that the
government likes the best
Once the policy the government wants to adopt becomes more firm, laws can be created
For example, in Canada- The federal, provincial and territorial governments can create statutes or regulations

11. ENVIRONMENTAL
LAW
CREATION
 A government agency will be asked to prepare a proposal for
legislation
 Legal experts in the civil service will review the draft to make sure it
complies with the Canadian Constitution
 If the policy has environmental implications (good or bad), a
review must be conducted to ensure it complies with the federal
Sustainable Development Strategy
 The proposal is then submitted to Cabinet for review by the
Cabinet Committee on Environment, Climate Change and Energy
 If there are no concerns, legal staff prepare a ‘bill’, which is the first
draft of the actual wording of the proposed new law
 Now the bill enters the process of being approved, modified or
rejected by Parliament. The Environment Minister introduces it in
the House of Commons
 The government will later reintroduce the bill for ‘second reading
 The bill then goes to the House of Commons for a final vote,
where it can be passed with or without the recommended changes.
 Once passed by the Senate the bill receives the formality of ‘Royal
Assent’ from the Governor General (or the Lieutenant Governor of
the province) and becomes law on the date set out in the bill

12. ENVIRONMENTAL
LAW
CREATION
 A statute can say that the government can pass regulations
 The statute may provide limits about what can be included in
the regulations and each government has a process that has
to be followed
 The process will provide for legal review, approval by the
federal or provincial cabinet
 Regulations are supposed to fill in blanks left by the
legislation or deal with things that change comparatively
often
 The process is simpler but doesn’t offer as many
opportunities for public review and input
 A federal or provincial statute can also say that rule-making
authority is delegated to an agency or to a government
official
 Municipal governments create many bylaws which could be
considered to be environmental laws

13. ENVIRONMENTAL
POLICIES
AND
PLANS
(JAMAICA)
The National Energy Policy
The National Renewable Energy Policy
The National Energy Conservation and Efficiency Policy
National Solid Waste Management Policy
Master Plan for Sustainable Tourism Development
Public Sector Procurement Policy
Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) and
Policy

14. ENVIRONMENTAL POLICIES AND PLANS- JAMAICA
EMS implementation must be
encouraged in all sectors to
improve environmental
performance and reduce
operational costs while addressing
risks and opportunities
01
These green programmes can
enhance the brand reputation and
public image of organizations with
respect to environmental
protection
02
Vision 2030 Jamaica - National
Development Plan outlines the
importance of EMS
as the country aims to reach the
status of a developed country by
the year 2030
03

15. ENVIRONMENTAL
PLANNING

16. ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING
The term "environmental planning" refers to the
of human development and construction projects that
both practical as well as sustainable
Achieving the goals of the projects while also
protecting the environmental and conserving
undeveloped land are both essential to environmental
planning
On a planet with more than 7 billion people, where
more than half of Earth's surface has been developed
or modified, environmental planners view their goal
essential

17. COMPONENTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING
The current status of the environment
The vision for the project
Details of implementation

18. STEPS FOR INTEGRATING TRANSPORTATION, LAND USE, AND
ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING
Be clear about
goals, identify and
remove policy
conflicts, and
improve policy
coordination
Allow some flexibility
in how goals are
met, without
requiring lengthy
discretionary
approvals
Identify and pursue
actions that fit
different
circumstances
Engage everyone
and expect
everyone to
contribute
Lead by example
Seek greater private
sector action
Move from
voluntary programs
to mandates
Continue to pursue
pricing strategies
Focus on
implementation, not
just on creating
plans and policies
Experiment and
evaluate:
communicate results
to grow successes.
Increase
interdisciplinary
planning processes,
interdisciplinary
teams, and
interdisciplinary
training
Back policy priorities
with adequate
funding
Continue to fund
research and
development

19. THREE WAYS TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF PLANNING HAVE
EMERGED IN RECENT YEARS
CREATE PLANNING
PROCESSES THAT INDUCE
GREATER CONSIDERATION
OF MULTIPLE OBJECTIVES
CREATE MULTIDISCIPLINARY
TEAMS OF SPECIALISTS
CHANGE THE TRAINING
PLANNING PROFESSIONALS

20. ENVIRONMENTAL
PLAN
EVALUATION

21. KEY CONCEPTS FOR EVALUATIONS OF ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY
INSTRUMENTS
Goal-achievement Goal-free evaluation Side-effects evaluation

22. ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY/PLAN
The unanticipated effects to be evaluated can only be partially known before an evaluation is
actually undertaken
The conflicting objectives involved in many environmental problems often trigger long and
resource-intensive processes of policy formation
Often it will be necessary to focus the evaluation on outputs and administration and limit the
evaluation of outcomes,

23. WATERSHED AND
RIVER BASIN
MANAGEMENT

24. WHAT ARE WATERSHEDS
AND RIVER BASINS?
 A watershed is the area of land
where all of the water that falls
in it and drains off of it goes to
a common outlet
 Watersheds can be as small as
a footprint or large enough to
encompass all the land that
drains water into rivers that
drain into Chesapeake Bay,
where it enters the Atlantic
Ocean
 A river basin refers to the total
area of land that is drained by a
river and all of its tributaries.
Tributaries are rivers or streams
that flow into a larger river

25. WATERSHED VS RIVER BASIN
A river basin is a body of land where water from different
sources converge, while a watershed may also mean the
as a water basin
A river basin drains out towards a larger body of water such
as the ocean or the sea, while a watershed may drain
a smaller body of water
A river basin collects water and moisture from different
sources, while a watershed divides the river basins or
collection points that contain the water that is collected

26. RIVER BASIN AND WATERSHED MANAGEMENT
 Watersheds face a range of degradation challenges associated with
human activities
 Although watersheds play a critical role as the basic hydrological unit
within a river basin they are often neglected in river basin management
 Over the past decade, principles and practices have evolved to ensure
that IWRM approaches used at the broader basin level to address
sustainable development and management of land and water resources
also apply at the smaller watershed level

27. WATERSHED
MANAGEMENT
COMPONENTS
 Good watershed management will attempt to
control runoff and degradation to conserve soil
and water as far as reasonably practicable
 It will also attempt to manage and utilize any runoff
water
 The system will also try to protect and enhance the
water resources that come from the watershed
 It will have some policy for moderating the peak
flood flows at downstream areas
 It will attempt to improve and increase the
production of timbers, fodder, and wildlife resource

28. TAKEAWAYS – CLASS ACTIVITY
In your group, discuss the question assigned to the corresponding group number
(1-3).
20 minutes discussion and 5 minutes presentation.
1. Name and discuss one environmental plan/policy used in Jamaica
2. Explain why the vision is important in environmental planning
3. Discuss one downside of the goal-achievement model in evaluations