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10TH ECEL BACKGROUND
Overall theme: “The Science of Environmental Compliance: Evidence-based actions for EMIs”
The Environmental Management Inspectorate has limited resources to execute its Constitutional mandate to protect the environment to ensure that it is not harmful to the health and well-being of the country’s inhabitants. Many EMI Institutions are currently facing significant financial and human resource constraints, impacting negatively on their ability to deliver key compliance and enforcement functions.
There is an increasing incidence of non-compliance with environmental legislation in South Africa, ranging from illegal trafficking and poaching of wildlife species to the pollution of the county’s water resources, land and air by the release of harmful chemicals and waste.
The broad scope of environmental contraventions is matched by the varied profile of offenders, from members of the public found littering, to municipalities managing non-functional wastewater treatment works, to sophisticated organised syndicates that operate on a trans-national basis.
In this context, the Inspectorate needs to ensure that its limited resources are directed to the greatest environmental risks currently facing the country; as well as use the latest developments in science and technology to improve its effectiveness. This will require a strengthening of the interface between law enforcement and science, in order to ensure that the prioritisation, strategies and operations of the Inspectorate are scientifically sound and will improve the overall state of the country’s natural resources, which constitutes the foundation for human security.
MEDIA RELEASES
