Environmental compliance and enforcement in the Midlands Province of Zimbabwe

Concern for the quality of the environment worldwide, particularly in developing countries has resulted in the formulation, implementation, and enforcement of environmental regulation. A measure of the success of efforts at enforcement lies in whether they secure compliance. In Zimbabwe, like in other countries of Africa, there is scarce information on environmental enforcement and outcomes among the regulated community. This paper uses the Natural Resources Board and the Environmental Management Agency's (EMA) annual provincial data of summary statistics for the period 2005–2010 to analytically review temporal environmental compliance and enforcement activities in the Midlands Province of Zimbabwe. Annual inspections rose from 658 in 2005 to 1705 in 2007 but it still remains inadequate to detect and monitor the range/types of environmental violations. The number of violators brought to compliance in any year is suboptimal. Most violations attracting fines (79%) fall under the Environmental Management Act CAP 20:27 followed by the Forestry Act CAP 19:05(16%). Fines range from US$ 5 to US$ 5,000. As the economy stabilizes and businesses reopen, frequency of inspections, particularly targeted inspections, should be scaled up.

[1]  K. Hawkins,et al.  Law as last resort : prosecution decision-making in a regulatory agency , 2002 .

[2]  Nicole Kranz,et al.  Fostering Environmental Regulation? Corporate Social Hochsensibilität in Countries with Weak Regulatory Capacities : The Case of South Africa. , 2008 .

[3]  Lesley K. McAllister.  On Environmental Enforcement and Compliance: A Reply to Professor Crawford's Review of Making Law Matter: Environmental Protection and Legal Institutions in Brazil , 2008 .

[4]  Anthony Heyes,et al.  Implementing Environmental Regulation: Enforcement and Compliance , 2000 .

[5]  Madhu Khanna,et al.  What is Driving Corporate Environmentalism: Opportunity or Threat? , 2002 .

[6]  Georges Zaccour,et al.  Public Disclosure Programs vs. traditional approaches for environmental regulation: Green goodwill and the policies of the firm , 2009, Eur. J. Oper. Res..

[7]  M. Obeta,et al.  Seasonal Variation in Nitrate Levels in Hand Dug Wells in Makurdi Metropolis , 2010 .

[8]  P. May,et al.  Motivation for Compliance with Environmental Regulations , 2001 .

[9]  S. Dasgupta,et al.  Pollution and Capital Markets in Developing Countries , 2001 .

[10]  A. Randall,et al.  An Integrated Strategy to Reduce Monitoring and Enforcement Costs , 2000 .

[11]  C. Parker.  The “Compliance” Trap: The Moral Message in Responsive Regulatory Enforcement , 2006 .

[12]  Eric Neumayer,et al.  Pollution Havens: An Analysis of Policy Options for Dealing with an Elusive Phenomenon , 2001 .

[13]  D. Haglund.  Regulating FDI in weak African states: a case study of Chinese copper mining in Zambia , 2008 .

[14]  B. Laplante,et al.  Can Capital Markets Create Incentives for Pollution Control? , 1997 .

[15]  M. Toffel,et al.  Organizational Responses to Environmental Demands: Opening the Black Box , 2008 .

[16]  Wisdom Akpalu,et al.  Enforcement of exogenous environmental regulation, social disapproval and bribery , 2009 .

[17]  M. Eames,et al.  Implementation of the European municipal waste incineration directive (89/429/EEC): Lessons from four member states , 2001 .

[18]  S. Dasgupta,et al.  Incomplete Enforcement of Pollution Regulation: Bargaining Power of Chinese Factories , 2002 .

[19]  Edward B. Barbier,et al.  Corruption, trade and resource conversion , 2005 .

[20]  Dorceta E. Taylor,et al.  The Rise of the Environmental Justice Paradigm , 2000 .

[21]  Kevin R. Gray.  Foreign Direct Investment and Environmental Impacts – Is the Debate Over? , 2002 .

[22]  O. Gupta,et al.  Compliance to Environmental Regulations: The Indian Context , 2003 .

[23]  Bridget M. Hutter,et al.  Compliance: Regulation and Environment , 1997 .

[24]  Peter J. May,et al.  Regulation and Compliance Motivations: Examining Different Approaches , 2005 .

[25]  Christopher S. Decker.  Corporate Environmentalism and Environmental Statutory Permitting* , 2003, The Journal of Law and Economics.

[26]  J. Crotty,et al.  Sustainable Development in the Russia Federation: The Limits of Greening within Industrial Firms: Why do Firms Adopt Greening Practices , 2012 .

[27]  T. Otsuki,et al.  Dirty Exports and Environmental Regulation: Do Standards Matter to Trade? , 2002 .

[28]  E. Nkonya,et al.  Who knows, who cares? The determinants of enactment, awareness, and compliance with community Natural Resource Management regulations in Uganda* , 2008, Environment and Development Economics.

[29]  Susmita Dasgupta,et al.  Industrial Environmental Performance in China: The Impact of Inspections , 2000 .

[30]  Wayne B. Gray,et al.  The Effectiveness of Environmental Monitoring and Enforcement: A Review of the Empirical Evidence , 2011, Review of Environmental Economics and Policy.

[31]  M. Cohen.  Monitoring and Enforcement of Environmental Policy , 1998 .

[32]  B. Laplante,et al.  Determinants of environmental performance in the Canadian pulp and paper industry: An assessment from inside the industry , 2005 .

[33]  B. Laplante,et al.  Incentives for Pollution Control: Regulation or Information? , 2002 .