ECOLEX - a global partnership for information on environmental law
[last updated December 24, 2003 4:17 PM]

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General Information
Partnership website(s)
Expected Timeframe
2003 - 2008
Partners
Governments:
    		Major Groups:
      UN System:
      • FAO (Italy)
      • UNEP (Kenya)
      		Other intergovernmental organizations:
      • The World Conservation Union (IUCN) (Switzerland)
      Other:
        		 
        Thematic Focus
        Primary Themes:
        • Land
        • Biodiversity
        • Waste management
        • Oceans and seas
        • Climate change
        • Water
        • Protecting and managing the natural resource base of economic and social development
        • Biotechnology
        • Marine resources
        • Air pollution / Atmosphere
        • Agriculture
        • Desertification
        • Forests
        		 Secondary Themes:
          Geographic Coverage
          Geographic Scope: Global
          Country(ies) where the partnership is being implemented:
          Germany, Italy, Kenya
          National Focal Points
          This partnership has not made any contact with the national focal points for sustainable development in the countries involved
          Goals and Objectives
          Summary of the partnership's goals and objectives
          There is high demand for information on environmental law. Various Governing Council decisions of UNEP recognise the need to make this information available and accessible, a task now included in the Montevideo Programme, adopted by UNEP/GC in 2001 and endorsed thereafter by UN/GA. Linguistic barriers must be overcome. The information is fragmented and changing constantly as new laws are being drafted and entering into force.
          The objective of this ongoing initiative is to increase access to authoritative information on environmental law by establishing a single gateway on the Internet (ECOLEX) and publishing a range of products on specific topics.
          The main beneficiaries will be policy-makers in developing countries and countries in transition. Policy-makers drafting new legislation have a need to obtain information on the law (national and international) existing in relevant thematic areas in other countries. NGOs, academics and advocacy groups are also important beneficiaries.
          Business and industry also need information on environmental law in particular on legal mechanisms dealing with waste, pollution and EIA, etc
          Targets and Progress
          Partnership targets
          Re-engineering the search engine and redesigning the website interface, December 2003. Maintaining and expanding the databases related to treaties, national legislation, legal literature and court decisions is a priority activity between 2003 and 2008.
          Progress against targets
          Search engine re-engineered and website interface redesigned, December 2003.
          Already some 100,000 references to treaties, national legislation and legal literature are available online and linked to full texts, in particular for the national legislation.
          Capacity-Building and Technology Transfer
          Arrangements for Capacity-Building and Technology Transfer
          • Education/building awareness
          FAO, IUCN and UNEP have integrated their legal information holdings and plan to consolidate, refine and expand the resulting databank. Given the magnitude of the task, and complexity of developing a multilingual global information system on environmental law, a modular approach will be taken towards the up-welling of information from the national level to the system. The sustainability of the ECOLEX gateway is dependent on building capacity among regional partners to identify, classify, manage and provide access to the legal information available at the national level. Networking is a key component in underpinning the development of the subregional ECOLEX modules. Partnerships have to be developed between the lead regional node for ECOLEX and the custodians of environmental law in the respective countries of the region.
          Relationship to International Agreements on Sustainable Development
          How the partnership contributes to the implementation of Agenda 21, the Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21, and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation
          ECOLEX aims at promoting capacity building in the field of environment and development law and policy, a goal well established by the documents mentioned above and exemplified by the WSSD Plan of Implementation, section 119.ter, calling to "ensure access at the national level, to environmental information and judicial and administrative proceedings in environmental matters, as well as public participation in decision-making... " Relevant Sections of Agenda 21
          Protection of the atmosphere; Integrated approach to the planning and management of land resources; Combating deforestation; Conservation of biological diversity; Protection of the oceans, all kinds of seas, including enclosed and semi-enclosed seas, and coastal areas and the protection, rational use and development of their living resources; Protection of the quality and supply of freshwater resources: application of integrated approaches to the development, management and use of water resources; Environmentally sound management of toxic chemicals, including prevention of illegal international traffic in toxic and dangerous products; Environmentally sound management of hazardous wastes, in hazardous wastes; Environmentally sound management of solid wastes and sewage-related issues; Promoting education, public awareness and training; National mechanisms and international cooperation for capacity-building in developing countries; International institutional arrangements; International legal instruments and mechanisms; Information for decision-making
          Relevant Sections of the Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21
          Means of implementation
          Relevant Sections of the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation
          Protection and managing the natural resource base of economic and social development ; Means of implementation ; Role of international institutions; Strengthening institutional arrangement for sustainable development at the regional level; Strengthening institutional frameworks for sustainable development at the national level
          Coordination and Implementation
          Coordination Mechanism of the Partnership
          A steering committee composed of FAO, IUCN and UNEP directs and monitors ECOLEX activities. Reports on the status of implementation of the initiative is provided on an annual basis to donors and other interested parties. The steering committee meets at the end of each year to discuss the workplan for the following year. The workplan deals, among other things, with the merger of FAOLEX into the ECOLEX gateway.
          The Steering Committee of ECOLEX monitors the implementation of ECOLEX activities within the annual workplan, including the activities of regional and national nodes.
          FAO, IUCN and UNEP will remain the principal ECOLEX partners and are all fully committed to the partnership. Regional and national groups and institutions, such as law libraries, NGOs and commercial publishers will become associated as ECOLEX develops.
          Implementation Mechanism of the Partnership
          FAO, IUCN and UNEP have signed a partnership agreement to initiate and implement the project.
          Resources
          Funding Currently Available
          Amount in US$: 500,000
          Source(s): IGO
          FAO, IUCN and UNEP will continue to provide seed funding from their respective core programmes.
          Non-financial resources available
          Type(s): Computers - Office space - Staff
          Source(s): IGO
          The partners
          Funding Sought
          Required Amount in US$: 500000
          Source(s) already approached: Funds are actively being sought to cover additional ECOLEX needs that cannot be supported by core funding, in particular, for systems improvement and expansion of coverage. Additional funding remains essential to implement the partnership fully
          Non-financial resources sought
          Requirement(s): Computers - Staff - Other
          Information-gathering resources; upgrade of the equipment, including scanners and servers; additional IT and legal information specialists;
          Source(s) approached and details:
          Bilateral donors and the private sector
          Additional Information
          Additional Relevant Information
          The value of working in a partnership to share data and information, thereby reducing the demands on each individual institution.