July 3, 2012: Panel 5F - Environmental Justice and Energy Development

Environmental Justice and Energy Development Video

Tue, 03 Jul 2012 14:40:00 PDT

Environmental Justice and the Green Economy- Risks and Opportunities

Nathalie Chalifour — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 14:40:00 PDT

The last decade of environmental advocacy has been characterized by the application of economic principles to environmental challenges, resulting in an interest in using economic instruments to internalize environmental costs in decision-making and reflected in the growing use of concepts such as environmental valuation and resource productivity in policy choices. While many view this greater connection between economic principles and environmental decision-making as key to achieving sustainable development (eg. Keohane & Olmstead, 2007), others fear that the focus on the green economy may undermine goals of social equity and environmental justice (eg. Dobson, 1998; Langhelle, 2000; Hoedeman, 2012). This paper explores the implications of the transition to a green economy for social and environmental justice. It will identify some of the challenges inherent in reconciling a green economy approach with socio-environmental justice as well as some of the opportunities that green economic approaches present. The paper argues that the transition to a green economy is critical to sustainable development, but that it must be done in the context of binding principles that (1) assign responsibility, and create accountability, for how decisions impact upon people and the environment, (2) support the human right to a healthy environment and an equitable and just society; and (3) commit to developing policies – whether green economic approaches or otherwise - in a democratic and transparent fashion.

List of References:

Andrew Dobson, Justice and the Environment: Conceptions of Environmental Sustainability and Theories of Distributive Justice (Oxford University Press, 1999).

Olivier Hoedeman, Transnational institute “Rio+20 and the greenwashing of the global economy”, (January 2012), online: http://rio20.net/en/documentos/rio20-and-the-greenwashing-of-the-global-economy.

Nathaniel Keohane & Sheila Olmstead, Markets and the Environment (Island Press, 2007).

Oluf Langhelle, “Sustainable Development and Social Justice: Expanding the Rawlsian Framework of Global Justice” (2000) Vol. 9, No. 3 Environmental Values 295.

Energy Efficiency: New Strategies for Improving South African Energy Laws

Tumai Murombo et al. — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 14:40:00 PDT

South Africa’s energy laws until 2008 have been developed in the context of a country heavily dependent on fossil-based primary sources of energy. Government introduced various policy and other regulatory measures to ensure the efficient use of energy. The initial energy efficiency measures were introduced due to the rising demand for energy. They were driven by an economic rather than by an environmental need. Policy developments in the energy sector do, however, indicate that the government and regulators are fully aware of the need to develop appropriate legal and policy frameworks for energy efficiency. This is evidenced by the White Paper on South Africa’s Energy Policy of 1998, the White Paper on Renewable Energy of 2003, and the recent White Paper on Climate Change Response 2011. The White Paper on Climate Change Response stresses the fact that behavioural change need to be necessary and that incentives and disincentives will be needed to “support the transition to a low carbon society and economy, (while) (a)cknowledging that, with the energy intensive nature of the South African economy, the mitigation of greenhouse gases is generally not going to be easy or cheap and that Government must support and facilitate the mitigation plans of, in particular, the energy, transport and industrial sectors.”

Various measures have been introduced. In 2010 the Department of Energy published a Policy to support Energy Efficiency and Demand Side Management. The policy included a standard offer incentive scheme. Various renewable energy strategies have also been proposed and are in the process of being implemented. Various arguments are raised in favour and against the use of renewable energy. The government expedited the approval of wind and solar farms in the Northern and Western Cape, on the one hand but on the other also announced the expansion of its coal fired power plants and the introduction of nuclear energy.

The National Energy Regulator may set energy efficiency standards as conditions in licence requirements in terms of the Electricity Regulation Act 4 of 2006. The Minister of Energy published a Determination Regarding the Integrated Resource Plan and New Generation Capacity in 2010 in which she determined that new generation capacity is required. Various projects are listed. She also outlines the framework for the implementation of projects dealing with energy efficiency and demand side management. In addition to this the minister may also set standards relating to health, safety and the environment and their incorporation into licences or national norms and standards. She has not done so yet. The cost of the introduction of such norms and standards may have prevented her from doing so until now.

In July 2011 a new voluntary instrument SANS50001 (based on ISO50001) was introduced and approved. The Standard enables “organisations to establish the systems and processes necessary to improve energy performance, including energy efficiency, use and consumption. Implementation of this International Standard is intended to lead to reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and other related environmental impacts and energy cost through systematic management of energy.” The standard could be applied in both the public and private sector. The standard may be used as an incentive for the private (and public sector) to voluntary measure their own energy output and to introduce technology that would ensure energy efficiency. Although there are policies and other measures in place, they are not synchronized and seem to be formulated in a piece meal fashion. The aim of this paper is to discuss the question whether the various South African policies and regulatory measures addressing energy efficiency are adequate in relation to environmental issues. The paper will also investigate the possible introduction of voluntary (or compulsory) energy management systems as incentives to improve the regulatory framework for energy efficiency in South Africa.

Environmental Justice in Nigeria's Oil Industry: Recognizing and Embracing Contemporary Legal Developments

Rhuks Ako — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 14:40:00 PDT

The legal framework regulating Nigeria’s oil industry is one of the major drivers of disputes and the consequent violent conflicts in the oil-rich Niger Delta region. The region has gone through different phases of peaceful and violent struggles as the indigenes of the region aim to achieve environmental justice. The amnesty initiative; the latest attempt to curb the militancy in the region that escalated the violence to new heights, is showing signs of systemic failure after a brief period of relative peace. Militancy in the region has begun to increase as attacks on oil facilities and installations are once again becoming regular occurrences. The reasons for this state of affairs are not far-fetched. They include the government’s failure to address the amnesty initiative holistically especially the prompt review of the legal framework that regulates the oil industry.

That notwithstanding, this paper argues that the recent laws and regulations - particularly Constitutional provision and the Fundamental Rights (Enforcement Procedure) Rules, (FREP) 2009 - have made significant contributions to the oil industry’s regulatory framework. Together; precipitated by Nigeria’s maturing democracy, the Constitutional provisions and FREP rules have opened a new vista of opportunities to achieve environmental justice in the oil-rich but poverty stricken region. In a nutshell, these provisions have overcome some extant laws that limited the jurisdiction of the courts to determine oil-related land appropriation and compensation issues as well as simplified the hitherto confusing application of locus standi rules. Indeed, other issues germane to the ownership and management of oil and land remain outstanding. It is posited that recourse may be had to the newly created United Nations Indigenous Peoples Partnership (UNIPP) to promote dialogue between the State and Niger Delta region in accordance with its primary aim that is to enable indigenous peoples fully participate in governance and policy processes at the local and national levels, including conflict prevention in regard to ancestral land and use of natural resources (TOR UNIPP 2010). It is posited that these avenues if explored better serve the cause of justice while limiting recourse to militancy and its attendant negative impacts on the sustainable development of the region’s inhabitants and resources.