fiji: implimenting multilateral environmental agreements

329 Pages·2012·4.4 MB·English

by  Sai Navoti

FIJI:
IMPLIMENTING MULTILATERAL ENVIRONMENTAL
AGREEMENTS
(CHALLENGES & OPPORTUNITIES)

By
Sainivalati S. Navoti

A Supervised Thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirement of the
Degree in Masters of Science (Climate Change)

Copyright@2012 by Sainivalati S. Navoti

Pacific Centre for Environment and Sustainable Development
School of Geography, Earth Science and Environment
Faculty of Science, Technology and Environment
University of the South Pacific

September, 2012
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DECLARATION OF ORIGINALITY
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Acknowledgement

It all began on a beautiful sunny day in the picturesque resort town of Cancun, Mexico, December, 2010,
whereat, whilst endeavoring my utmost, as a Climate Negotiator, to advance Fiji’s and the Alliance of
Small Island States (AOSIS)’s position during negotiations at the 16th Session of the Conference of the
Parties (COP 16) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), I met
Professor Murari Lal, the Director, of the Pacific Center for Environment and Sustainable Development,
Faculty of Science, Technology & Environment, at the University of the South Pacific.

Professor Lal was the Technical Advisor to the Fiji Delegation at COP 16. He warmly encouraged me to
write this Paper, focusing primarily on how Fiji has been fairing in its implementation of the various
Multi lateral Environmental Agreements to which it is a party. I was then the Director of the Political and
Treaties Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Government of
Fiji and the Lead Climate Change Negotiator.

Information contained in this paper, the structure and its findings is attributed primarily to Professor Lal’s
guidance and advice. I wish therefore to acknowledge the good Professor for his encouragement, patience
and supervisory counsel.

Debt of my gratitude is also owed to the Director of the Department of the Environment of the
Government of Fiji, Mr. Jope Davetanivalu. Jope freely gave his advice and thoughts on how he saw
environmental issues are being addressed in Fiji and how it could be improved. Mr. Davetanivalu assisted
me tremendously as the Alternate Representative for Fiji in the Global Climate Negotiations. The
assistance of staff members of the Department of Environment is also hereby acknowledged.

Ms. Cassie Flynn, UNDP Climate Change Policy Specialist was instrumental in giving guidance on the
mechanics for the setting up of Climate Funds. Her expert suggestions and technical advice coupled with
the guide contained in her published work “Blending Climate Finance through National Climate Funds”
assisted me greatly in concluding Chapter Six of this paper. Vinaka Cassie.

Last but my no means least, I wish to acknowledge the support, encouragement and understanding of my
family, especially, my wife, Mrs. Asenaca R. B. Navoti who kindly proof read my work in addition to all
other household chores I threw her way. Also, a vina du rikhi to my eldest son, Ratu Selema K. Navoti
(Naqase), only daughter, Adisovanatabua U. K. Navoti (Nau) and youngest son, Ratu Delano Vitusaiva
K. Navoti (Boy) for being there for me. Mum & Dad of cause for all that is me. May God continue to
bless you all – always!
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Abstract

Implementing any kind of agreement to a mutually satisfactory level is in itself an arduous task.
Faithfully implementing obligations from a multitude of agreements is almost an impossible undertaking.
This Paper attempts to examine how the Republic of Fiji has been fairing in the implementation of her
obligations under the various Multi-lateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) to which she is a party.

In doing so, the paper provides background information of the relevant environmental treaties, accounts
the various obligations contained in each of them and then analyses Fiji’s implementation efforts. In such
analysis, the paper highlights some of the programmes, policies and legislative initiatives that the Fiji
Government has put in place over the years as measures towards implementation of Fiji’s treaty
obligations. This Paper also highlights some of the major challenges confronting Fiji and suggests certain
reform initiatives which in the Author’s assessment could provide opportunities, not only for better
implementation, but also secure, a sustainable long term development and implementation agenda,
suitable for a Small Island Developing State, like Fiji.

Since the 1972 Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment, the world has seen the proliferation of
environmental agreements both at a global and regional level. Many factors have been attributed to this
influx, there are two rationale being advance in this paper as reasons for the proliferation; the first being
historical development, or evolution of issues, i.e. the shift of emphasis from a purely environment
conservation perspective to a combined environmental conservation and sustainable development
emphasis. The second is the complexity of the issues themselves. Environmental issues are multi faceted
and the current international legislative environment has been found not conducive to the development of
coordinated, or synergistic, approaches to collective environmental – and sustainable development -
problem solving.

Given such a plethora of MEAs, Fiji, a Small Island Developing State, in the middle of the vast Pacific
Ocean, has ratified a total of twenty five (25) MEAs. Of these, fifteen (15) Agreements are of Global
nature, ten (10) are Regional Instruments. Analysis of the obligations in each of these MEAs reveals that
Fiji is duty bound to observe and implement a little over seven hundred (700) specific mandatory
obligations; immense burden for such a small nation.

Despite the revelation of the enormity of the duties to be fulfilled, this Paper reveals genuine attempts,
deliberate efforts and purposeful endeavors, by a Small Island State, eager to play her part in the
international arena. No such effort shall be deemed unimportant when one assesses the contribution it
makes in the attainment of the overall goal of world conservation.
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Overall, Fiji’s implementation of its MEAs obligations paints a mixed picture, when ranked, would range
from a “not so good” to a “good enough” effort. The picture certainly does not reflect a Rembrandt or
Leonardo Da Vinci type performance. Nevertheless, when one examines the contributory factors for such
a performance, one will appreciate, that like other developing countries, Fiji suffers from serious lack of
capacity, which has over the years been confounded by uncoordinated institutional arrangements and
inhibited by legislative boundaries in need of serious updating. Fiji’s picture does indeed suggests that a
lot more could be done to strengthen and improve Fiji’s implementation efforts. The Government of Fiji
has the onerous responsibility to ensure that Fiji’s Flag flies high within the community of nations and
one way to ensure this, is through self-assessment. It is all very well to join the bandwagon of treaty
ratification; it is the implementation of treaty obligations that defines the ride.

Systemic, institutional, and attitudinal reforms will assist Fiji to better implement her treaty obligations.
Innovative lateral thinking, identification, training and retention of qualified personnel and a deliberate
attempt at improving institutional capacity through empowerment of all stakeholders will also contribute
positively to this endeavor. Coordination and channeling of resources to identified appropriate objectives
also would assist.

To address the challenges identified, this Paper offers some suggestions at institutional reforms. These
include the revisiting of the role and authority of the Fiji Environmental Council. Suggestions are offered
to elevate the Council to be the highest environmental authority in Fiji to be serviced by a duly
constituted Ministry of Environment, supported by an autonomous Environment Protection Agency and
supervised by an independent Environmental Court. This Paper also suggests the establishment of a
National Green Fund to replace the ad hoc Trust Fund arrangements under the various environmental
legislative regimes currently in force in Fiji today.

Fiji still has a fair way to go, she is not isolated or alone, there are others (countries) that suffer from the
same predicaments. This paper reveals that in some treaties, Fiji has done tremendously well, so well in
fact, to receive International Awards for recognition of good work. There are no doubts, that such effort
can be replicated to other treaties. As a sovereign and an independent State, wishing to hold her place
among the community of nations, and if the maxim “Pacta Sunt Servanda” (Agreements must be kept) is
to have any relevance whatsoever, the onus is simply on Fiji to ensure replication of such good efforts, to
other MEAs.
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List of Acronyms

1 ACP African Caribbean Pacific
2 ALTA Agriculture Landlord and Tenant Act 1976.
3 AOSIS Alliance of Small Island States
4 AUSAID Australian Agency for International Development
5 AWGKP Ad Hoc Working Group on Kyoto Protocol
6 AWGLTC Ad Hoc Working Group on Long Term Cooperation
7 CCS Convention on the Continental Shelf
8 CITES Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species
9 CLCS Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf
10 CSD Commission on Sustainable Development
11 CTCN Climate Technology Center and Network
12 EEZ Exclusive Economic Zone
13 FAO Food and Agriculture Organization
14 FFA Forum Fisheries Agencies
15 FFC Forum Fisheries Committee
16 FLP Fiji Labour Party
17 GDP Gross Domestic Product
18 GEF Global Environmental Facility
19 GMO Genetic Modified Organisms
20 ICJ International Court of Justice
21 IMF International Monetary Fund
22 ITTA International Tropical Timber Agreement
23 IUCN International Union on the Conservation of Nature
24 JICA Japan International Cooperation Agency
25 LMO Living Modified Organisms
26 LULUCF Land- Use, Land- Use Change and Forestry
27 MARPOL International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships
28 MEA Multilateral Environmental Agreement
29 MRV Measurement, Reporting and Verification
30 NAMA Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action
31 NGO Non-Governmental Organization
32 NOU Fiji National Ozone Unit
33 NPT Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
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34 NWS Nuclear Weapon States
35 NZAID New Zealand Agency for International Development
36 ODS Ozone Depleting Substances
37 PACD Plan of Action to Combat Desertification
38 PIC Pacific Island Countries
39 POP Persistent Organic Pollutants
40 REDD United Nations Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from
Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries
41 RFMO Regional Fisheries Management Organization
42 SDL Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewanivanua
43 SIDS Small Island Developing State
44 SOPAC Secretariat of the Pacific Community Applied Geosciences and Technology
Division
45 SPNFZ South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone
46 SPREP Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme
47 UNCBD Convention on Biological Diversity
48 UNCCD United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification
49 UNCED United Nations Conference on Environment and Development
50 UNCHE United nations Conference on the Human Environment
51 UNCLOS United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
52 UNCOD United Nations Conference of Desertification
53 UNCTAD United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
54 UNDP United Nations Development Programme
55 UNEP United Nations Environment Programme
56 UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
57 UNGA United Nations General Assembly
58 VMS Vessel Monitory System
59 WCO World Custom Organization
60 WCPFC Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission
61 WHO World Health Organization
62 WMO World Meteorological Organization
63 WTO World Trade Organization
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Declaration of Originality ........................................................................................................................... 2
Acknowledgement ......................................................................................................................................... 3
Abstract ......................................................................................................................................................... 4
List of Acronyms ........................................................................................................................................... 6
Chapter One: Introduction & Methodology .......................................................................................... 11
1.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 11
1.2 Methodology .................................................................................................................................. 14
1.3 Fiji .................................................................................................................................................. 15
1.3.1 Location & Topography .................................................................................................... 15
1.3.2 Climate .............................................................................................................................. 17
1.3.3 History and Political Situation .......................................................................................... 19
1.3.4 The Economy .................................................................................................................... 21
1.3.5 Population .......................................................................................................................... 23
1.3.6 Environmental Challenges ................................................................................................ 24
1.3.7 Environment Legislation ................................................................................................... 26
Chapter Two: Multilateral Environmental Agreements ................................................................. 36
2.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 36
2.2 Definition ....................................................................................................................................... 36
2.3 History............................................................................................................................................ 38
2.4 Pre Stockholm ................................................................................................................................ 38
2.5 The Stockholm Conference ............................................................................................................ 38
2.6 The Rio Conference ....................................................................................................................... 41
2.7 Proliferation of MEAs .................................................................................................................... 43
2.8 Types of MEAs .............................................................................................................................. 48
2.9 MEAs and Fiji ................................................................................................................................ 49
Chapter Three: Fiji Global MEAs Implementation Analysis ......................................................... 53
3.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 53
3.2 Nature Conservation/Biodiversity – Related MEAs ................................................................. 54
3.2.1 Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD) ................................................................ 56
3.2.2 United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in those Countries Experiencing
Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa (UNCCD) ....................... 73
3.2.3 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna 1973
(CITES) ............................................................................................................................. 95
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3.2.4 The Convention on Wetlands (The Ramsar Convention) ............................................... 111
3.2.5 International Tropical Timber Agreement 2006 ............................................................ 120
3.2.6 International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture .................. 126
3.2.7 Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage .... 141
3.3 Hazardous Materials/Wastes and Chemical – Related MEAs .............................................. 151
3.3.1 Cartagena Protocol on Bio-safety to the Convention on Biological Diversity .............. 151
3.3.2 Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) .................................. 160
3.4 Climate Change/Atmosphere – Related MEAs ....................................................................... 179
3.4.1 Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer 1985 .................................... 180
3.4.2 Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer 1987 ........................... 184
3.4.3 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 1992 ................................. 189
3.4.4 Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 1997
………………… ............................................................................................................. 194
3.5 Marine and Freshwater- Related MEAs .................................................................................. 200
3.5.1 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982(UNCLOS) ............................. 201
3.5.2 United Nations Agreement for the Implementation of the Provisions of the United
Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 Relating to the
Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish stocks and Highly Migratory Fish
stocks 1995 ..................................................................................................................... 214
Chapter Four: Fiji’s Regional MEAs Implementation Analysis ................................................... 228
4.1 Introduction Regional MEAs ....................................................................................................... 228
4.2 Ocean Governance & Fisheries ................................................................................................ 229
4.2.1 1979 South Pacific Forum Fisheries Agency Convention ............................................. 229
4.2.2 1990 Convention for the Prohibition of Fishing with Long Driftnets in the South
Pacific……….. .............................................................................................................. 234
4.2.3 The Treaty on Cooperation in Fisheries Surveillance and Law Enforcement in the South
Pacific Region 1992 (“The Niue Treaty”) ..................................................................... 236
4.2.4 2000 Convention on the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish stocks
in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean ..................................................................... 241
4.2.5 Fiji and the Ocean& Fisheries Related MEAs .............................................................. 249
4.3 Chemicals, Hazardous Wastes, and Marine Pollution ........................................................... 256
4.3.1 1985 South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty (Treaty of Raratonga) .......................... 256
4.3.2 1986 SPREP Protocol for the Prevention of Pollution of the South Pacific Region by
Dumping (SPREP Dumping Protocol) .......................................................................... 259
4.3.3 1990 SPREP Protocol Concerning Cooperation in Combating Pollution Emergencies in
the South Pacific Region (SPREP Pollution Emergencies Protocol) ........................... 263
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4.3.4 1995 Waigani Convention to Ban the Importation into Forum Island Countries of
Hazardous and Radioactive Wastes and to Control the Tran boundary Movements and
Management of Hazardous Wastes within the South Pacific Region (Waigani
Convention) ................................................................................................................... 267
4.4 Biodiversity ............................................................................................................................. 279
4.4.1 1976 Convention on the Conservation of Nature in the South Pacific (Apia Convention)
...................................................................................................................................... 279
4.5 Land and Marine Resources ................................................................................................. 282
4.5.1 Convention for the Protection of the Natural Resources and Environment of the South
Pacific Region 1986 (Noumea Convention) ................................................................. 282
Chapter Five: Implementation Challenges ..................................................................................... 288
5.1 Capacity ....................................................................................................................................... 288
5.1.1 Systemic Capacity Constrains ........................................................................................ 288
5.1.2 Institutional Level Capacity Constrains ......................................................................... 290
5.1.3 Individual Level Capacity Constraints ........................................................................... 291
5.2 Funding Constraints .................................................................................................................... 292
5.3 Research and Data Management ................................................................................................. 293
Chapter Six: Opportunities ................................................................................................................... 294
6.1 Attitudinal Reform ....................................................................................................................... 294
6.2 The Fiji National Environment Framework ................................................................................. 295
6.3 The National Environment Council ............................................................................................. 297
6.4 The Ministry of the Environment ................................................................................................ 300
6.5 The National Environment Protection Authority of Fiji .............................................................. 303
6.6 The National Green Fund of Fiji .................................................................................................. 305
6.7 The Environment Court ............................................................................................................... 311
Chapter Seven: Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 314
7.1 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 314
Bibliography ............................................................................................................................................ 317
List of Figures .......................................................................................................................................... 327
List of Tables ............................................................................................................................................ 328