International Laws
At an international level the late 1990s witnessed a proliferation of international environmental policy initiatives, infrequently however, were there enforcement mechanisms to execute these international environmental initiatives across implemented in conjunction with broader international environmental protection efforts. Many of the international environmental initiatives themselves consisted significantly of ratifying the various environmental protection conventions and calling for increased cooperation in fighting trans-boundary environmental crime.
This latter point reflected a growing recognition that these international initiatives have had little or no impact on protecting the environment unless the Multi-lateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) were adequately enforced by multi-level enforcement agency cooperation, and a capacity to enforce these laws across national borders. As the United Kingdom’s Secretary of State for the Environment John Gummer put it: “ These Conventions are worthless words on paper, unless their provisions are enforced in practice. ”
