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Environmental Management Compliance, Law and Policy Regimes in Developing Countries: A Review of the Zambian Case

Received: 28 May 2015     Accepted: 6 June 2015     Published: 19 June 2015
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Abstract

This paper is a review of environmental management compliance of the extractive industry; particularly mining in Zambia and the government’s commitment to environmental protection in view of sustainable development .The main objective of this work was to review industrial compliance against Zambia’s environmental legal regime for the period between 2009 and 2014, track environmental policy development, its implementation within the institutional functional framework in view of precautionary principle, polluter pays principle and sustainability. The authors concluded that while the environmental legal framework may be considered relatively new compared to developed nations like United Kingdom, it dates back to the 1970s and is comparable in terms of strength, to that of developed nations. However, there are many challenges regarding effective implementation. Thus, although there are many stiffer and tougher regulations enacted in Zambia (to a point where some advocates of neo-classical frontiers economics have criticized Zambia as slowly introducing one-more among the most highly regulated environmental sectors in the world, deterring development) the authors concluded that implementation was a huge challenge: implementation of Zambia’s environmental regulatory regime faces wide range of problems, from a highly centralized financial and decision-making system and budgetary allocation of negligible size, to lack of appropriate tools, equipment and personnel technical capacity. It was found that while the environmental regulations have been further stiffened around 2011-2013; compliance of mining companies was lagging behind. This was evidenced by failure of 8 in 10 mining firms to submit periodic reports as per regulatory conditions on their permits. Cases of discharging and disposing of hazardous waste to gain savings from the expenses that would otherwise arise through normal disposal procedures still exist. The authors concluded that while new and stronger measures have been put in place by government to ensure that the environmental degradation caused by mining and other extractive industry activities are adequately managed, the measures are not working effectively. These findings are consistent with the findings of the 2014 Auditor General’s Report. It was clear that co-ordination within the government’s regulatory institutional framework with interacting mandates was weak, while the selective nature on the application of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) regulations was demeaning environmental protection and socio-economic justice.

Published in International Journal of Environmental Protection and Policy (Volume 3, Issue 4)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijepp.20150304.11
Page(s) 79-87
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2015. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Extractive Industry, Triple-Bottom-Line, Sustainability, Environmental Management, Compliance, Law and Policy

References
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[21] E., Matthews, C. Amann, M. Fischer-Kowalski, S. Bringezu, W. Hüttler, R. Kleijn, Y. Moriguchi, C. Ottke, E. Rodenburg, D. Rogich, H. Schandl, H. Schütz, E. van der Voet, and H. Weisz, The weight of nations: Material outflows from industrial economies, Washington, DC: 2000. World Resources Institute.
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[24] C. J., Cleveland, “Biophysical economics: From physiocracy to ecological economics and industrial ecology,” in J. Gowdy and K. Mayumi, eds. Bio-economics and Sustainability: Essays in Honor of Nicholas Gerogescu-Roegen, Cheltenham, England: 1999. Edward Elgar Publishing, pp.125-154
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Cite This Article
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    Cuthbert Casey Makondo, Sydney Sichilima, Matthews Silondwa, Richard Sikazwe, Lombe Maiba, et al. (2015). Environmental Management Compliance, Law and Policy Regimes in Developing Countries: A Review of the Zambian Case. International Journal of Environmental Protection and Policy, 3(4), 79-87. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijepp.20150304.11

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    Cuthbert Casey Makondo; Sydney Sichilima; Matthews Silondwa; Richard Sikazwe; Lombe Maiba, et al. Environmental Management Compliance, Law and Policy Regimes in Developing Countries: A Review of the Zambian Case. Int. J. Environ. Prot. Policy 2015, 3(4), 79-87. doi: 10.11648/j.ijepp.20150304.11

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    AMA Style

    Cuthbert Casey Makondo, Sydney Sichilima, Matthews Silondwa, Richard Sikazwe, Lombe Maiba, et al. Environmental Management Compliance, Law and Policy Regimes in Developing Countries: A Review of the Zambian Case. Int J Environ Prot Policy. 2015;3(4):79-87. doi: 10.11648/j.ijepp.20150304.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijepp.20150304.11,
      author = {Cuthbert Casey Makondo and Sydney Sichilima and Matthews Silondwa and Richard Sikazwe and Lombe Maiba and Chawezi Longwe and Yvonne Chiliboyi},
      title = {Environmental Management Compliance, Law and Policy Regimes in Developing Countries: A Review of the Zambian Case},
      journal = {International Journal of Environmental Protection and Policy},
      volume = {3},
      number = {4},
      pages = {79-87},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijepp.20150304.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijepp.20150304.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijepp.20150304.11},
      abstract = {This paper is a review of environmental management compliance of the extractive industry; particularly mining in Zambia and the government’s commitment to environmental protection in view of sustainable development .The main objective of this work was to review industrial compliance against Zambia’s environmental legal regime for the period between 2009 and 2014, track environmental policy development, its implementation within the institutional functional framework in view of precautionary principle, polluter pays principle and sustainability. The authors concluded that while the environmental legal framework may be considered relatively new compared to developed nations like United Kingdom, it dates back to the 1970s and is comparable in terms of strength, to that of developed nations. However, there are many challenges regarding effective implementation. Thus, although there are many stiffer and tougher regulations enacted in Zambia (to a point where some advocates of neo-classical frontiers economics have criticized Zambia as slowly introducing one-more among the most highly regulated environmental sectors in the world, deterring development) the authors concluded that implementation was a huge challenge: implementation of Zambia’s environmental regulatory regime faces wide range of problems, from a highly centralized financial and decision-making system and budgetary allocation of negligible size, to lack of appropriate tools, equipment and personnel technical capacity. It was found that while the environmental regulations have been further stiffened around 2011-2013; compliance of mining companies was lagging behind. This was evidenced by failure of 8 in 10 mining firms to submit periodic reports as per regulatory conditions on their permits. Cases of discharging and disposing of hazardous waste to gain savings from the expenses that would otherwise arise through normal disposal procedures still exist. The authors concluded that while new and stronger measures have been put in place by government to ensure that the environmental degradation caused by mining and other extractive industry activities are adequately managed, the measures are not working effectively. These findings are consistent with the findings of the 2014 Auditor General’s Report. It was clear that co-ordination within the government’s regulatory institutional framework with interacting mandates was weak, while the selective nature on the application of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) regulations was demeaning environmental protection and socio-economic justice.},
     year = {2015}
    }
    

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    AB  - This paper is a review of environmental management compliance of the extractive industry; particularly mining in Zambia and the government’s commitment to environmental protection in view of sustainable development .The main objective of this work was to review industrial compliance against Zambia’s environmental legal regime for the period between 2009 and 2014, track environmental policy development, its implementation within the institutional functional framework in view of precautionary principle, polluter pays principle and sustainability. The authors concluded that while the environmental legal framework may be considered relatively new compared to developed nations like United Kingdom, it dates back to the 1970s and is comparable in terms of strength, to that of developed nations. However, there are many challenges regarding effective implementation. Thus, although there are many stiffer and tougher regulations enacted in Zambia (to a point where some advocates of neo-classical frontiers economics have criticized Zambia as slowly introducing one-more among the most highly regulated environmental sectors in the world, deterring development) the authors concluded that implementation was a huge challenge: implementation of Zambia’s environmental regulatory regime faces wide range of problems, from a highly centralized financial and decision-making system and budgetary allocation of negligible size, to lack of appropriate tools, equipment and personnel technical capacity. It was found that while the environmental regulations have been further stiffened around 2011-2013; compliance of mining companies was lagging behind. This was evidenced by failure of 8 in 10 mining firms to submit periodic reports as per regulatory conditions on their permits. Cases of discharging and disposing of hazardous waste to gain savings from the expenses that would otherwise arise through normal disposal procedures still exist. The authors concluded that while new and stronger measures have been put in place by government to ensure that the environmental degradation caused by mining and other extractive industry activities are adequately managed, the measures are not working effectively. These findings are consistent with the findings of the 2014 Auditor General’s Report. It was clear that co-ordination within the government’s regulatory institutional framework with interacting mandates was weak, while the selective nature on the application of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) regulations was demeaning environmental protection and socio-economic justice.
    VL  - 3
    IS  - 4
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Environmental Engineering Department, Copperbelt University, Kitwe, Zambia

  • Environmental Engineering Department, Copperbelt University, Kitwe, Zambia

  • Environmental Engineering Department, Copperbelt University, Kitwe, Zambia

  • Environmental Engineering Department, Copperbelt University, Kitwe, Zambia

  • Environmental Engineering Department, Copperbelt University, Kitwe, Zambia

  • Environmental Engineering Department, Copperbelt University, Kitwe, Zambia

  • Institute for Water Research, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, Republic of South Africa

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