Topic 4.3 provides the students with information on how to reconcile national forest policies and implementation with inter-governmental agreements. National policies are a series of responses to events occurring in international agreements.
It will explain the differences between states in terms of their domestic environmental policies and foreign policy behavior as related to international obligations and the fact that national policies must be linked to real-world international policy making.
By the end of this topic, you should be able to:
Choose the components of national forest policies.
Appraise why the states behave in the way they do vis a vis national forest and environmental policies; and
Practice drawing national policies that respond to international obligations.
Topic Readings
Optional Readings
Travis D. Breaux, Matthew W. Vail and Annie I. Antón (2006).
Towards Regulatory Compliance: Extracting Rights and Obligations to Align Requirements with Regulations. 14th IEEE International Requirements Engineering Conference (RE’06).
This online Discussion is related to Topic 4.3. The students will be given the subject of the discussion at the end of the online lecture. After reviewing the PPT, lecture and consulting the suggested readings, they will participate in the discussion online the last day of the respective week. Every student will have a chance to exchange ideas about the topic in question and engage in questions and answers with other students.
Graded Assignments
Review the PPT Topic 4.3 and your associated notes based on the lecture.
Familiarize yourself with information given in the reading list.
Write an assay 1-2 pages on procedure to reconcile national forest policies with international obligations.
Submit the assay online as instructed.
Topic Summary
This Topic examines the organic relationships between the obligations associated with international agreements and national implementation forestry strategies. It provides the students with information on domestic factors determine national policies vis a vis complying with international policies such as governmental politics, pressure groups and public opinion.
The fact that forces external rather than internal to the state are often regarded as the major determinants of national forest policies are outlined. It emphasizes that decision-makers on behalf of the state are expected to behave rationally, consider possible courses of action and evaluate the likely consequences in terms of socio-economic and environmental costs and benefits most likely to achieve the desired goals of forestry.
The Topic concludes with the procedure of national compliance with international conventions and treaties related to forests.
Topic Self-review (For self learning)
Please use the reflection questions below as study guide to conduct self-review for the topic.
What is the importance of knowledge about compliance with international environmental agreements?
How to weigh the advantages of negotiating an international treaty to attain global environmental goals in relation to what national forestry departments intend to do in their execution of treaties?
How do the cultural, social, economic, and political characteristics of the countries influence implementation and compliance with international treaties?
Why are forestry negotiations often characterized by drift between interests of the North and the South?
FODE003
Requirements Changed
Topic 4.2: International Environmental Diplomacy and principles of Negotiation Processes Module IV Summary