15.2.1 The Do-No-Harm Principle and the EIA: Protecting Biodiversity

The do-no-harm principle – avoiding or minimizing environmental harm – has been expressed differently, but the meaning is the same. We use do-no-harm as the abbreviation for all the earlier terms. It is considered one of the most significant principles for the international IEL.Footnote ¹⁶ It is one of the four essential principles of IEL with regard to the management of transboundary rivers.Footnote ¹⁷ According to the do-no-harm principle, states in transboundary river basins have a right to utilize the rivers. Still, they have a responsibility not to damage the environment of other states. It is usually linked to an equitable and reasonable allocation of transboundary rivers.Footnote ¹⁸ However, the overallocation of the rivers, in many cases, leads to damage to the environment of other states and biodiversity loss.

The do-no-harm principle has had a strong position since the twentieth century and at the early stages of the evolution of the IEL. The Madrid Declaration in 1911 insisted that changing the course of water, which leads to harm or putting waste into the water, is forbidden, as mentioned in Article 2.Footnote ¹⁹ In the Corfu channel case, the ICJ mentioned that states are responsible for damages to other states due to activities inside their territory.Footnote ²⁰ Thus, the do-no-harm principle developed in customary international law until the UN Convention on the Law of the Non-navigational Uses of International Watercourses (Watercourses Convention) was formally recognized in 1997. Article 7 of the Watercourses Convention mentions that states are responsible for taking all necessary measures to avoid damage to other states during all stages of utilizing international watercourses.Footnote ²¹

According to the Watercourses Convention, the EIA is one of the most significant measures and tools for avoiding harm to other states. Article 12 of the Watercourses Convention clearly identified the EIA as a precautionary measure to prevent harm to transboundary rivers as the article refers to notifying other states and sharing information prior to planning projects, “including the results of any environmental impact assessment, in order to enable the notified States to evaluate the possible effects of the planned measures.”Footnote ²² This means states should conduct the EIA at the early stages of planning and designing projects, then share the results of the EIA with riparians to avoid harm, or take precautions, which is an effective method for communication and communication.

Similar requirements were raised in the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention), but with fewer details and in weaker language compared to the Watercourses Convention in 1977. The Water Convention encourages parties to apply the EIA “as far as possible” to reduce the negative impacts on other states.Footnote ²³ However, the CBD more comprehensively linked the do-no-harm principle and the EIA to protect biodiversity beyond the national border. In addition to the provisions of Article 14 of the CBD, which introduces the EIA as a requirement for all projects that may have a negative impact on biodiversity, public engagement is also recommended in the EIA process.Footnote ²⁴

As well as these important conventions, the Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context (Espoo Convention) provided sufficient details regarding the procedure and practice of an EIA to achieve a better level of sustainable management of our natural resources. The Espoo Convention’s Article 1(vi) defined the EIA as a “means a national procedure for evaluating the likely impact of a proposed activity on the environment.”Footnote ²⁵ Under the Espoo Convention, parties are responsible for undertaking the EIA “prior to a decision to authorize or undertake a proposed activity.”Footnote ²⁶ This national procedure is a critical precautionary step for avoiding harm at the national and transboundary levels and protecting biodiversity. It would also result in the proper implementation of the do-no-harm principle. However, as Section 15.3 demonstrates, the lack of comprehensive implementation of the EIA process remains a key challenge in the MENA region. This is despite the fact that the countries of the MENA region are part of several regional environmental conventions that bind them to apply the EIA in designing their projects.

15.3.1 GAP: Development Projects or Destruction of Natural and Cultural Values

In the 1970s, Turkey started the damming project GAP, which was announced in the 1980s as a program to intensify the irrigation and hydroelectric capabilities of Turkey’s southeastern region. This project consists of a total of twenty-two dams (with a capacity of around 120 billion cubic meters). It contains nineteen hydroelectric electricity-generating stations across the Tigris–Euphrates basin, which were expected to be completed by 2010 but which has been extended to the end of this decade, approximately 73 percent of which have been finished, and several irrigation projects.Footnote ³⁸

Mesopotamia, the land between the two rivers, was known as the most ancient productive farming area in the history of humanity. The Tigris and Euphrates played a major role in creating and developing the Sumerian, Babylonian, and Assyrian civilizations.Footnote ³⁹ The GAP project grants Turkey the hegemony to monopolize the water of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. This hegemony has already had an impact on agricultural production in the area and the livelihoods of millions of people who depend on it, whether for agriculture or as a primary source for everyday use for drinking and household needs.Footnote ⁴⁰ The completed GAP projects have already made life difficult in the downstream countries, and if the damming continues according to the current trend, the adverse effects of diversity loss in the region will be grave.

Since the beginning of the GAP in 1989, the water salinity of the Euphrates has started to increase rapidly, which is predicted to increase drastically as the GAP approaches full development.Footnote ⁴¹ This constant decrease in the water quality in the downstream basins will make Iraq unable to reclaim its previous rich agricultural soils effectively.Footnote ⁴² Additionally, it would halt the naturally occurring discharge of salt and other contaminants from the Euphrates–Tigris system, whose soils are generally heavy and have drainage issues, making them unsuitable for agricultural use.Footnote ⁴³ The daily functioning of the power plant will produce water surges downstream of the dam, which will harm the ecology below.

The downstream countries’ human and animal health will be further complicated by these variables, which will severely degrade the river environment and make it difficult for many species to survive.Footnote ⁴⁴ The Tigris basin is renowned for its vast biological diversity, despite the fact that many parts of it have never been subjected to biological surveys. Mesopotamia is also the birthplace of numerous plants and agriculture.Footnote ⁴⁵ Its extensive, intact river environment, which is home to numerous endangered animal and plant species, a significant portion of the Tigris, and its tributaries will be impacted by the upstream GAP. Agriculture, fisheries, and aquaculture have all experienced significant decreases as a result of declining river flows and deteriorating water quality in the basin.Footnote ⁴⁶

15.3.2 The Tropical Water Project in Iran

Iranian development projects on the tributaries of the Tigris have negatively impacted the water quality and quantity of these tributaries since several of them rise in Iran, and as far as Shat Al-Arab is concerned, Iran and Iraq are the two primary riparian nations. Iran currently diverts the Tigris River’s tributaries through the Tropical Water Project, which is made up of numerous dams and tunnels, before crossing the boundaries of Iraq.Footnote ⁴⁷ According to a Food and Agriculture Organization assessment, Iran began construction of a sizable dam on the Tigris’ tributaries in 2004.Footnote ⁴⁸

The construction of the Daryan dam on the Sirwan River and the Sardasht dam on the Lesser Zab River, both of which flow into the Kurdistan region of Iraq, are the two most recent examples of aggressive dam building along the tributaries of the Tigris River in western Iran. In Khuzestan province, on the Iraqi border farther south, Iran constructed a massive embankment dam, essentially dividing the Hawiza Marshes.Footnote ⁴⁹ Major portions of these wetlands have been completely parched on the Iranian side as a result of the dam construction along the rivers flowing to the Hawiza Marshes, resulting in the dust.Footnote ⁵⁰

Similar to Turkey, Iran, as an upstream country, has started dam building without assessing its impact on the environment and has failed to apply international standards in constructing these dams and managing them by ignoring the EIA. Here, the negative impacts on Iraq are considerable on the marshlands that are home to rich biodiversity, most of which has been lost due to the drying up of the marshes.

15.3.3 Previous Iraqi Regimes and Drying up the Marshes

As well as the negative impacts on dams and water projects in the upstream countries, the previous Iraqi regime deliberately dried up large areas of the marshes in the south of Iraq.Footnote ⁵¹ The marshlands of Iraq were considered one of the largest wetlands in the Middle East, and one of the ten most important environmental areas on earth, according to UNESCO.Footnote ⁵² The Ahwar supports several criteria related to biodiversity which qualify them to be wetlands of high global importance.Footnote ⁵³ These marshes are fed by the branches of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, in addition to rainfed waters during the winter season and its consequent flooding period.

A portion of the Iran–Iraq boundary passes across the wetlands, and both countries built causeways and drained marshy sections during the 1980s war to improve access to the front. The Iraqi government began draining the remaining marshes following the first Gulf War and the Shiite Muslim revolt in the south, both of which were unsuccessful, to replace the marsh culture of fishing and rice farming with dry agriculture in order to eliminate the potential of rebellion.Footnote ⁵⁴ To accomplish this goal, the central government began implementing five significant drainage projects to prevent water from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers from reaching the marshes. The region had been heavily polluted by poison gas and army ammunition. As a result, less than 10 percent of the marshes received water supplies by 2000 compared to two-thirds in 1993. Thus, most marsh dwellers were forced to leave their homes, and certain species and flora were gone.Footnote ⁵⁵ The government at the time conducted numerous agricultural projects in the marshlands’ dried-out parts to alter the ecology.

Many villages and the plants and animals that lived there were burned when the project was finished. The water was poisoned to kill off all the fish and other aquatic life. The people’s primary source of food and money, the rice fields, were also damaged. Due to this operation, 500,000 marshland residents moved to other Iraqi cities or sought asylum in other nations. As a result, the marshes have turned saline and are unusable for farming due to frequent sandstorms.Footnote ⁵⁶ After the fall of the Saddam regime in 2003, the Iraqi government, with the help of other countries and international organizations, started restoring and rehabilitating the Iraqi marshes.Footnote ⁵⁷ The Ahwar of southern Iraq are located in an arid climate; these wetlands are home to a variety of biologically significant ecosystems, including those that support vulnerable species with major conservation and research value. It is one of the most significant freshwater ecosystems in the world.Footnote ⁵⁸

Because they are major wetlands for the area and the world and our only remaining connection to the ancient Mesopotamian civilizations of the Sumerians, Babylonians, and Assyrians, the destruction of the Mesopotamian marshlands is one of the biggest humanitarian and environmental challenges facing Iraq.Footnote ⁵⁹ It requires both an immediate and long-term planning response in order to restore the marshlands sustainably.Footnote ⁶⁰ It should be regarded as the top environmental priority in Iraq, requiring a management strategy and significant assistance from international donor nations, international organizations, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).

15.3.4 The Negative Impacts of Dam Building on a Downstream Country (Iraq)

Dam building and operation have serious negative effects on the environment and society. In Syria and Iraq, people began to settle along the middle and downstream lengths of the Euphrates and Tigris around 6,000 years ago, which prompted the development of irrigation systems there. The two rivers originate in upper Mesopotamia, where there is abundant precipitation, then flow into central and lower Mesopotamia, where there is little precipitation and insufficient moisture for agriculture.Footnote ⁶¹ The Tigris and Euphrates rivers and their tributaries provide almost all of the water needed for domestic, industrial, and agricultural purposes.

Access to water in Iraq is significantly impacted by river diversions or flow decreases brought on by dam construction in Turkey and Iran.Footnote ⁶² People in Iraq and northeastern Syria suffer as a result of the GAP’s construction, as back-water irrigation is directed into the main channel in its upstream reaches, resulting in a decrease in water quantity and quality.Footnote ⁶³ As a result of damming, numerous archaeological sites have already been inundated, but the number of primarily threatened archaeological sites is still unknown because of insufficient assessments of the river valley.Footnote ⁶⁴

Another issue Iraq is dealing with is salinity. The upstream nations in the Euphrates and Tigris basin are seen to be the main contributors to Iraq’s declining water quality by damming and implementing irrigation projects, which slowly raise the water’s salinity while reducing its flow.Footnote ⁶⁵ Farmers and fishermen have been adversely affected by salinity, particularly in southern Iraq, where many fish species cannot live due to the salinization of the water.Footnote ⁶⁶ As a result of the farm and agricultural land reduction, intensive dust storms have taken place, climatic changes have been noticed, and higher temperatures are to be expected, and as a consequence regional environmental effects will appear.Footnote ⁶⁷

As well as surface water, groundwater suffers from serious issues. It is expected that groundwater levels will drop further due to the reduction of infiltrated water from the rivers. This will have tremendous effects on the electricity supply and will have severe consequences on irrigation and industrial projects.Footnote ⁶⁸ Further, it is likely that the electricity demands will be covered by the use of oil-heated power plants, thus increasing the emission of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide.Footnote ⁶⁹

In addition, desertification is a major environmental and development problem in Iraq, which is caused by damming due to the decline of water flow of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, the repeated frequency of drought, water quality degradation, and increasing soil salinity. As desertification leads to lower levels of organisms, it contributes to significant biodiversity loss compared to productive land. Large parts of Iraq have become deserts while it used to be productive farmland. Officials claim that in the last three decades, Iraq has lost most of its agricultural land, which has turned to desert.Footnote ⁷⁰ The increase of desert areas caused frequent sand or dust storms, so the dusty days escalated from twenty-four days in the year between 1950 and 1990 to 200–220 days in a year in 2008–2009. This situation will deteriorate with the reduction of vegetation and palm trees due to the decrease of the Euphrates annual flow as a result of dam construction by Turkey.Footnote ⁷¹

Furthermore, the annual individual share of freshwater is another substantial environmental challenge. Iraqi officials and researchers claim that for a decade between 2009 and 2018, the individual share of fresh water has decreased dramatically, mainly due to the dam building by Turkey.Footnote ⁷² The drying of wetlands is another negative impact of dam construction by the upstream countries; due to filling the dams of the GAP, some of the Iraqi marshlands have lost about 55 percent of their area since the construction of the GAP.Footnote ⁷³

In recent years, the Tigris and Euphrates rivers’ flow has taken on a significant amount of importance. In order to prevent further tensions in the Middle East, the growing demands for water by riparian nations would likely result in significant disputes in the near future so there is a need for more global attention.Footnote ⁷⁴ These ecosystem services will continue to break down if the basin maintains its current pattern of poor management and in the absence of comprehensive agreements on resource sharing, which will result in enormous biodiversity losses to the region’s economies and to the livelihoods of the citizenry living within the basin.Footnote ⁷⁵

15.4.1 Legal Gaps: Legislation that was Never Fully Implemented

Weak regulatory and enforcement frameworks exacerbate these issues, which have a significant negative economic impact and environmental harm. In accordance with some of these nations’ existing environmental legislation, such as Article 2872 of the Republic of Turkey’s Environmental Law of 1983, the EIA should be considered before any mega-dam development.Footnote ⁷⁸ However, the law does not provide a clear guide for actually implementing the EIA and how the EIA process should be enacted and executed outside Turkey. Additionally, according to the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Law of 1974, which designates the Department of Environment as the regulatory authority overseeing EIA, specific EIA requirements and procedures are established in Iran.Footnote ⁷⁹ This law states that any action that could have a significant adverse effect on the environment may only be approved after an EIA has revealed its effects. It will look into the proposed measure’s geophysical, social, and cultural repercussions as well as its effects on flora, fauna, and habitats; transboundary effects are not included.

An analysis of domestic law reveals that the Euphrates–Tigris riparian states, particularly Turkey and Iran, used EIA as a local regulatory tool without considering the diverse effects outside their borders. Nevertheless, only Syrian law expressly requires the consideration of transboundary consequences. Article 14 of Decree 225/2008 addresses potential transboundary effects.Footnote ⁸⁰ The extent to which the proposed policy’s transboundary effects must be considered by the competent authorities when determining whether or not it is environmentally acceptable and is still up for debate. How much the Syrian government takes into account transboundary implications while making decisions is unknown.

Federal Law 27/2009 is the main piece of environmental protection legislation in Iraq. Prior to the adoption of measures that are likely to have a major impact on the environment, an EIA must be undertaken, according to Article 10 of the legislation.Footnote ⁸¹ However, it does not mandate that transboundary effects be considered. Furthermore, Federal Law 27/2009’s provisions are still quite ambiguous, and federal legislators have not yet approved any follow-up regulations that would clarify EIA obligations or procedures and it does not provide sufficient detail on the various steps and issues involved in conducting the EIA process. Also, there is a lack of legal provision for strategic environmental assessment.

Furthermore, the countries bordering the Euphrates–Tigris river system are not signatories to any international agreements that would oblige them to carry out transboundary EIAs before deciding on a course of action that might have a significant impact on the Euphrates–Tigris river system. Additionally, regional agreements only cover particular geographic regions.

Overall, the bulk of developing countries’ failure to implement the EIA process successfully is attributed to a lack of competent implementation or political will, which is the primary cause of the EIA process failing in the MENA region, as it is in the majority of developing nations where there is still a wide gap between what is really done in practice and what is perceived to be true about EIAs despite significant improvements in law and policy. Although this is insufficient on its own to make the system functional, the fact that there are numerous regulations and an administrative framework may be considered one asset of the EIA system in Iraq and the MENA region. There are a number of defects and problems with the EIA system in the MENA region that are typically commensurate with flaws in many developing nations.

Wide-ranging challenges are encountered when implementing EIA in the MENA region. First is the lack of meaningful public involvement at all levels of the EIA process as well as ongoing environmental ignorance. Developers make an effort to avoid public input. For instance, the GAP case reports have found that those still resident in the reservoir area and those already displaced by conflict do not appear to have been consulted about the dam.Footnote ⁸² The same concerns have been raised about theTropical Water Project (TWP) WTP dam construction in Iran.Footnote ⁸³

A second key challenge to implementing the EIA process effectively is the unavailability and inaccuracy of data defining environmental baseline conditions. Thus, decisions about effect evaluation are based more on personal judgment than on scientific research and prediction. As in the GAP dam construction reports found, due to security concerns in the area, it is doubtful that a comprehensive assessment of historic, cultural, or spiritual sites could occur in any of the reservoir regions.Footnote ⁸⁴

Third is the lack of a national policy culture that encourages EIA implementation and application and acknowledges the dedication, administrative infrastructure, and methodological resources at the necessary levels.Footnote ⁸⁵ A lack of clear and comprehensive national strategies on evaluating biodiversity risks in mega-projects often result in inconsistency in evaluating biodiversity risks in EIA reports which could have an impact on programs, plans, and policies.Footnote ⁸⁶ Furthermore, in practice, the EIA screening and scoping are typically focused on the possible effects of a single proposed project, ignoring the cumulative environmental effects of multiple projects in the same area on biodiversity and nature conservation.Footnote ⁸⁷ There is a need for clear and comprehensive guidelines on the nature and extent of specific biodiversity-related scoping and screening that should be done to identify, address, and prevent biodiversity and nature risks in mega-projects.

Fourth is the inadequacy of regulatory fines and sanctions relating to EIA infractions in the MENA region generally. For example, the lack of clear and comprehensive EIAs in the case of dam construction of the Euphrates–Tigris basin are mostly caused by a lack of harsh enough sanctions for noncompliance with EIA legislation and policies. Such inadequacy or nonenforcement of regulatory sanctions are often tied to political pressure, with research indicating the potential for governments in some countries to prioritize economic development over the environment.Footnote ⁸⁸

16.4.1 Lack of Comprehensive Recognition of Participation Rights in Regulatory and Policy Instruments

The lack of comprehensive legal recognition of participation rights in environmental and biodiversity conservation regulations and policies is one of the leading barriers to integrating MSP into biodiversity and nature conservation in the MENA region.Footnote ⁴¹ Across the region, stakeholder engagement is often in the form of formal representation of the public by representatives in the Shoora Council or parliaments.Footnote ⁴² Several MENA countries do not provide direct opportunities for civil society, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), academia, and members of the public that may be affected by a project or activity to actively participate in conservation strategy planning or implementation. While significant national regulations and strategies seek to promote the sustainable use and conservation of biodiversity, regulators in the MENA region have yet to unlock spaces for broad participation of the general public as legal decision-makers in conservation programs.

MENA countries have intensified their efforts to combat environmental degradation and biodiversity loss by signing international biodiversity and conservation treaties. All the countries in the MENA region have ratified or acceded to the CBD and its first protocol, the Cartagena Protocol.Footnote ⁴³ All but Iran, Iraq, and Libya have ratified the second protocol to the CBD, the Nagoya Protocol.Footnote ⁴⁴ The adoption of international instruments aimed at promoting biodiversity conservation and ecological sustainability by several MENA countries is a step in the right direction. However, a few MENA countries have paid minimal attention to the participatory rights provisions in the instruments. For instance, the Kingdom of Bahrain’s National Report to the CBD highlights the country’s progress in implementing the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan between 2011 and 2014. One of the identified achievements is the improvement of public participation in biodiversity conservation, but there is no indication of public involvement in developing or executing the action plan. The country boasts environmental clubs in schools and the involvement of local NGOs in awareness programs and national biodiversity commemoration day planning.Footnote ⁴⁵ While these efforts are important in raising awareness, there remains a need for the more direct involvement of such key stakeholders in the design and implementation of biodiversity strategies and programs. Similarly, as a party to the CBD, Egypt revised its National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) to align with the CBD Strategic Plan. While Egypt acknowledged that the lack of stakeholder participation impeded the actualization of the action plan in the past and committed to policy implementation through a participatory approach, the country’s biodiversity strategic goals did not include plans to involve diverse stakeholders in the action plan implementation.Footnote ⁴⁶ Without clear and comprehensive frameworks to widen MSP in the implementation of the NBSAP, advancing community-driven conservation may remain stifled in the country.

Additionally, national legislative and policy developments have been launched to set the region on track for achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 15 on conservation and the sustainable use of the aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, reverse environmental degradation, and end biodiversity loss.Footnote ⁴⁷ For instance, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) outlined National Development Priorities and Strategies for achieving the SDGs by 2030.Footnote ⁴⁸ Although the plan recognizes the roles of stakeholders in implementing the SDGs, the identified stakeholders are limited.Footnote ⁴⁹ The SDG 14 and 15 implementation report shows that the UAE initiated action plans to conserve biodiversity, but there is no mention of the public’s role in implementing SDG 14. For SDG 15, the report recognizes the importance of public awareness, but there is no avenue for citizens to participate in the conservation initiatives. Instead, the emphasis is on raising public awareness about conservation and illegal wildlife trade through workshops, campaigns, and environment day celebrations.Footnote ⁵⁰ Iran also developed national targets and strategies to achieve the SDGs.Footnote ⁵¹ Although the action plan was reportedly developed with the involvement of multiple stakeholders,Footnote ⁵² only executives and experts from government ministries attended the Department of Environment meetings.Footnote ⁵³ Despite including public participation in the strategic goals, the action plans focused on public awareness without delineating procedures for public engagements.

Although many of the biodiversity conservation- and environment-related international instruments have been integrated into MENA countries’ domestic laws, the regulations and strategic plans fail to recognize the participatory rights of citizens. The lack of a clear and practical process for public engagement in strategic planning and conservation activities creates a critical gap and hinders the sustainability and effectiveness of conservation strategies. For example, the UAE passed a federal law on biosafety of genetically modified organisms in 2020 to protect local genetic resources and biodiversity,Footnote ⁵⁴ and a federal law on access to genetic resources in 2021, in accordance with the Nagoya Protocol. Qatar’s Environment Protection Law and Saudi Arabia’s Environmental Law have provisions for nature and biodiversity protection.Footnote ⁵⁵ However, none of these laws specifically refer to the right to participate in decision-making on biodiversity or conservation efforts.

Notably, the domestic regulations reflect the top-down and command-and-control approach, seeking to deter actions causing biodiversity loss or ecological degradation through penalties.Footnote ⁵⁶ National and regional policies and action plans do not sufficiently recognize the role of stakeholders and fail to create avenues for diverse stakeholders to participate in environmental preservation processes. This oversight hampers the inclusivity of biodiversity and nature conservation initiatives in the MENA region and the eventual actualization of the set goals.

16.4.2 Limited Institutional Coordination among Regulatory Agencies

Besides the regulatory and policy framework gaps, the lack of clear and functional institutional coordination among institutions with biodiversity, environmental, and human rights mandates is another critical challenge for integrating the MSP framework into the MENA region’s conservation efforts. The development of national targets and institutions on biodiversity and nature conservation is indicative of governments’ recognition of the region’s exacerbating environmental challenges and willingness to tackle these issues. However, it is impracticable for uncoordinated institutions to actualize the region’s environmental goals. Biodiversity loss disproportionately impacts those mostly dependent on ecosystem services, including the poor, local communities, and subsistence farmers.Footnote ⁵⁷ Environmental planning and economic developments must consider the impacts of the depreciating biodiversity-dependent ecosystem services on disadvantaged social groups to avoid further marginalizing vulnerable communities or groups. Thus, biodiversity and nature conservation transcend the purview of environmental or agricultural institutions and implicate the protection of socio-economic rights.

While MENA countries have developed national and regional institutions to tackle the declining biodiversity and environmental degradation, there remains a significant disconnect between environmental and human rights agencies. The UAE’s Ministry of Climate Change and Environment is the federal agency responsible for environmental planning and development of programs on biosecurity and environmental sustainability.Footnote ⁵⁸ The ministry is required to work with local environmental agencies without any mention of the human rights ministry. The Justice, Safety, and the Law Department’s web page is silent on environmental or bioconservation issues.Footnote ⁵⁹ For Qatar, the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change is the “sole and main agency responsible for research, enforcement and implementation for all aspects of environmental protection and biodiversity conservation in the entire country.”Footnote ⁶⁰ However, the tendency of ministries and agencies to act in silos remains a key challenge.Footnote ⁶¹ There remains a clear need to strengthen communication and coordination between environment ministries and other relevant agencies and ministries such as human rights, foreign affairs, energy, and agriculture, given the key roles they play in advancing nexus and integrated implementation of biodiversity and nature-based conservation.

The Conference of the Parties remarked that the objectives of the CBD cannot be achieved until consideration of biodiversity is integrated across sectors. While the focus has been on sectors directly related to biodiversity, such as forestry and agriculture, there is a need “to mainstream the conservation and sustainable use of biological resources across all sectors of the national economy, the society and the policymaking framework is a complex challenge at the heart of the Convention.”Footnote ⁶² Human rights protection is a fundamental aspect of environmental causes, and MENA countries risk exacerbating the poor socio-economic conditions of vulnerable groups and further marginalizing local communities if left out of environmental management and activities.

Conservation programs that exclude the public, especially local communities, may yield minimal conservation results but at the expense of vulnerable groups’ rights. Disregarding local institutions, “green grabbing,” and community displacements have been linked to conservation programs.Footnote ⁶³ These human rights challenges may fester if local communities and other stakeholders are not involved in conservation initiatives. To ensure that stakeholders’ rights, especially their participatory rights, are recognized and respected in biodiversity and nature conservation programs, MENA countries need to reevaluate their national biodiversity strategies and action plans and create a comprehensive institutional synchronization between their environmental and human rights agencies.

16.4.3 Limited Institutional Platforms for Local Communities

The lack of institutional coordination for environmental conservation issues in local communities is a corollary of the limited recognition of participation rights in environmental regulations and policies. The establishment of organized community platforms for collaboration, information exchange, and the coordination of conservation strategies remains slow across the region.Footnote ⁶⁴ Additionally, the lack of organized structures for intercommunal alliances hinders knowledge sharing, environmental awareness, and widespread support for conservation action plans.Footnote ⁶⁵ To facilitate institutional coordination among local communities, government departments need to create a platform for communal deliberation and the collective implementation of set environmental preservation goals. As discussed earlier, regulators in the MENA region have yet to acknowledge citizens’ participation rights in conservation programs. Thus, there is no institutional structure to facilitate local communities’ collaboration with civil society organizations, private actors, and other stakeholders.

The actualization of MENA countries’ conservation targets relies significantly on their recognition of local communities as stakeholders. Although the CBD encourages states to apply local communities’ practices and expertise in biodiversity conservation,Footnote ⁶⁶ failure to create institutionalized platforms for local communities’ participation in conservation planning remains a preventable limitation to the integration of MSP across the MENA region. Local communities experience various drawbacks, often worsened by limited engagement and support by national authorities. Due to their unique experiences and rich traditional knowledge, these groups can contribute greatly to sustainable conservation practices. They are at the forefront of reversing biodiversity loss and protecting nature, but their voices may remain unheard without institutional platforms and support.

16.4.4 Finance and Capacity Gaps

Limited access to the financing needed to develop and implement biodiversity and nature conservation programs remains a key barrier to eco-entrepreneurship and community-driven nature-based solutions in the region.Footnote ⁶⁷ In 2020, the World Bank, for the second time, reported an upswing in the rate of extreme poverty in the MENA region.Footnote ⁶⁸ A combination of environmental degradation impacts, armed conflicts, and the COVID-19 pandemic has had devastating effects on the region and worsened socio-economic inequalities.Footnote ⁶⁹ The region’s biodiversity loss has affected local communities further due to low agricultural production, food and clean water scarcity, and other compounding factors. Local communities rely heavily on biodiversity-dependent ecosystem services, and declining biodiversity affects their access to financing and basic needs.

Socio-economic inequalities are a barrier to the effective mainstreaming of MSP in the MENA region because of power imbalances. Inequities among stakeholders and prejudice in MSP processes can create mistrust and time-wasting gridlocks in deliberations. Furthermore, as discussed in Chapter 17, community-driven conservation efforts in the MENA region remain stifled by a lack of capacity and training support. The abilities of stakeholders to design and implement nature-based solutions and conservation programs can be strengthened through conservation-focused accelerator and environmental education programs that promote eco-entrepreneurship.Footnote ⁷⁰

16.5.1 Recognition of Stakeholders’ Participation Rights in Biodiversity Conservation Regulations and Plans

The sustainable and productive involvement of diverse interest groups in environmental conservation hinges on national regulatory standards that recognize those individuals or organizations as stakeholders and create avenues for their participation in decision-making and project implementation. A crucial initial step in MSP processes is the identification of interested parties to engage. Which raises the question, who is a stakeholder?

There are varying, and sometimes contested, conceptualizations and applications of the term “stakeholder.”Footnote ⁷¹ Generally, stakeholders are those actively involved in decision-making and those directly (or highly likely to be) impacted by a project, initiative, or policy. Determination of who a stakeholder is depends on what constitutes a legitimate stake.Footnote ⁷² In relation to environmental management, stakeholders are “individuals and social groups relevant to the effective design and implementation of given objectives, mechanisms, policies and programmes.”Footnote ⁷³ In biodiversity and nature conservation, stakeholders refer to individuals, groups, and entities that are interested in, affected by, involved in, or can influence conservation outcomes. Considering the varying and extensive implications of nature conservation, stakeholders can span local, national, regional, and international realms. At the national and regional levels, they include government agencies, civil societies, farmers, businesses, scientists, academics, youth groups, and local communities.Footnote ⁷⁴ Stakeholders include a broader range of social actors. Local communities, as actors disproportionately impacted by biodiversity loss and repositories of traditional conservation knowledge, are stakeholders in biodiversity and nature conservation.

The MENA region stands to benefit from inclusive strategies but requires a commitment to inclusive environmental governance and conservation efforts. The United Nations Development Programme, through case study research in Arab states, highlighted the benefits of community-based conservation practices, including improved food security, community conservation awareness, knowledge of sustainable use of resources, capacity for early warning processes, and local community buy-in and ownership of ecological policies and adaptation plans.Footnote ⁷⁵

The practical implementation of the MSP approach in MENA’s biodiversity and nature conservation will depend on the amendment of existing regulatory frameworks and policies to expunge barriers to stakeholders’ involvement and restrictive and discriminatory yardsticks for identifying stakeholders. MENA states’ national biodiversity strategies and action plans must be revised to recognize the participation rights of stakeholders, including local communities, acknowledge the essential roles of local communities, and create opportunities for their participation in conservation governance and implementation. National biodiversity conservation laws and other related environmental regulations must align with MSP principles by recognizing environmental stakeholders, including local communities, and their right to participate in conservation planning and activities, and by creating avenues for their involvement in environmental decision-making.

16.5.2 Institutional Coordination between Human Rights and Environmental Institutions

The objectives of legal and policy regimes on nature and biodiversity preservation can only materialize through viable and responsive organizational coordination. The CBD proposes national biodiversity strategies and action plans as the primary planning and implementation tool for achieving the convention’s objectives.Footnote ⁷⁶ In the same vein, the Subsidiary Body on Implementation of the convention envisages national biodiversity strategies and action plans as implementation tools required to foster the integration of biodiversity “at all relevant levels within political, economic and social sectors.”Footnote ⁷⁷ This implies that biodiversity cannot be addressed only by environmental agencies but also by integration into different public sectors with the objective of “taking biodiversity into the core agenda and objectives of their decision-making.”Footnote ⁷⁸ Although multiple government institutions are responsible for environmental protection,Footnote ⁷⁹ biodiversity conservation is usually within the precinct of specified environment ministries. For example, the UAE’s Ministry of Climate Change and Environment and Qatar’s Ministry of Environment and Climate Change are tasked with biodiversity conservation and other environmental matters. Furthermore, these ministries are not required to collaborate with human rights bodies. Even for ministries involved in environmental protection generally, there is often little or no alliance with the justice or human rights system.

This demonstrates a prevalent misconception that human rights protection is mutually exclusive of environmental protection. This gap in environmental laws and policies transcends MENA national and regional spheres. At the international level, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment decried the UN Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework for making no reference to human rights or requiring human rights due diligence in conservation planning.Footnote ⁸⁰ The ongoing biodiversity crisis requires reconsidering what conservation really means and how conservation plans can be implemented in a rights-based manner. Likewise, the MENA region’s biodiversity and nature conservation regimes have a human rights blind spot that must be addressed urgently. Without a robust and sustainable organizational alliance between environmental and human rights institutions, MENA countries risk further infringing the rights of local communities and other vulnerable groups. A human rights-based approach to biodiversity and nature conservation is only possible with a comprehensive and coherent organizational setup to integrate the visions and programs of human rights and environment ministries. In addition to prioritizing human rights in biodiversity and nature conservation regulatory and policy frameworks, MENA countries need organizational restructuring to desegregate human rights and environmental institutions.

16.5.3 Institutional Platform for Local Communities

As regulatory frameworks are optimized to protect participation rights, local communities need institutional platforms to participate in conservation programs effectively. The importance of coherent and well-organized institutional frameworks for successful stakeholder inclusion in environmental management cannot be understated. The MSP approach gives local communities the avenue to participate and the corresponding responsibility to commit to conservation deliberations and activities. MENA’s diverse local communities lack well-structured institutional platforms to collaborate, disseminate information and interests, and share resources and knowledge as they combat biodiversity loss and nature degradation.

As Axner aptly states, “when you have many groups with different views, resources, and skills applying their intelligence and strength to solve a problem together, the results can be like the work of superheroes.”Footnote ⁸¹ The variety of local communities in MENA countries is not a limitation of the MSP approach but a much-needed intellectual diversity and richness in shared living experiences. By engaging in MSP processes, various communities and groups could learn how to form and maintain associations and develop the dexterity needed to manage group members. However, for efficient coordination and collaboration, local communities need well-structured institutions to synchronize their interests, disseminate information, and work toward their collective goals.

Local communities need an independent public department to enable collaboration with other communities and stakeholders. Respective communities could develop organizations for internal administration but need government support in building and maintaining an extensive intercommunal structure. The government can also support local institutions by providing management, negotiation, organizational development training, and financial resources to establish and run the organizations without government interference. Such well-coordinated institutional structures would ensure the adequate dissemination of information, recognition of every group’s interest, community planning, and attainment of collective objectives.

16.5.4 Enhancing Stakeholders’ Capacity

The compounding impacts of environmental challenges and socio-economic variables often create tremendous burdens and inequalities for local communities. The MENA region’s local communities have been significantly impacted by biodiversity decline, and their basic needs might distract them from contributing effectively to biodiversity and nature conservation. To foster community-based conservation programs, MENA states must meet the capacity needs of communities through fund allocations and technical assistance. Regional organizations, businesses, and civil organizations can also help alleviate the burdens of local communities’ participation in MSP conservation processes by providing financial support. Allocated funds and financial aid can cover the cost of developing and executing community-based conservation strategies, consultation with experts, implementing awareness projects, and progressing monitoring and assessment. In addition to financial support, MENA countries can demonstrate a strong commitment to stakeholder engagement in environmental conservation by implementing capacity-building initiatives tailored to the peculiarities of different local communities, including environmental education, cultural knowledge integration, and technological training.

Aside from capacity building for local communities, developing the capacity of other stakeholders, including civil societies, youth groups, women groups, scientists, academics, and private enterprises will improve their awareness, integration of sustainable practices, and ability to set goals and launch and execute biodiversity and nature conservation programs effectively. Various groups’ needs will differ, ranging from financial needs to technical support, tools, workshops, and knowledge of biodiversity and nature preservation. Some capacity needs, such as knowledge gaps and management skills, can be met through stakeholder collaboration. This further highlights the need for the MSP approach and institutional platform to facilitate stakeholders’ convergence, support, and collaboration. Having different groups with coherent structures represented in biodiversity and nature conservation management will improve the outcomes of the MENA region’s biodiversity conservation initiatives.

17.2.1 Evolution of Environmental Law Education

Environmental law is a fast-growing and distinct legal discipline in the MENA region.Footnote ³³ Furthermore, environmental law education is emergent in different parts of the world (including the MENA region). Environmental law education is a subset or subcategory of environmental education, and its emphasis is on the study of the fundamental principles of law concerning the protection of the environment.Footnote ³⁴ UNEP has also been at the forefront of developing the global or international rule of law and environmental law education in different parts of the world.Footnote ³⁵ This has also helped in the promotion and deepening of environmental law education initiatives in several parts of the world. Furthermore, students on environmental law programs or courses are expected to be exposed to a plethora of legal frameworks regulating human interactions with environment. Environmental law is also premised on a plethora of values, strategies, theories, assumptions, and regulatory principles.Footnote ³⁶ Environmental law education also accentuates the utility or relevance of practical skills and requirements on how relevant stakeholders, including lawyers, academics, law firms, and businesses, can forestall, avert, and “mitigate environmental lability in their operations, especially through corporate social responsibility, sustainability reporting, green supply chains and procurements, and strategic risk management.”Footnote ³⁷

In the context of biodiversity and nature conservation, environmental law education should also expose students and relevant stakeholders to the various national and international legal regimes on biodiversity and nature conservation. Furthermore, environmental law education for biodiversity and nature conservation should also equip relevant stakeholders in society with the necessary tools, knowledge, and practical skills to tackle the scourge of rapid loss of biodiversity and protect nature conservation.

Furthermore, according to the Training Manual for the Train-the-Trainers (TTT) Program in Environmental Law for Higher Education Institutions in the MENA Region, the elements of environmental law education include:

1. 1. Critical thinking taught to students through application of theory, law, and evidence to assess and draw conclusions.

2. 2. Awareness and sensitivity to the challenges facing the environment, including gaps in law and governance structures.

3. 3. Information and knowledge exchange on the local contexts, barriers, and motivations to improve or maintain environmental quality, including ethics, religious, and/ or cultural values.

4. 4. The delivery of pedagogical skills to students to identify and help resolve environmental challenges, and the deployment of legal solutions innovatively.

5. 5. Participation by students in activities that lead to the technical and legal resolution of environmental challenges.

6. 6. Legal vocation training for students through various pedagogical approaches.

7. 7. Development and application of suitable pedagogical approaches, depending on contexts of environmental law education.Footnote ³⁸

In different parts of the world, there have been concerted moves to develop environmental law education or environmental law teaching as one of the tools to prepare law students and lawyers with the knowledge and expertise to deal with the myriad environmental crises afflicting different parts of the world. This takes on more prominence against the backdrop of the negative impacts of climate change occurring in different parts of the world. Hence, today’s law students and legal practitioners ought to be trained to deal with these issues.Footnote ³⁹ Consequently, the overarching academic pedagogical consensus is that teaching on sustainability and environmental-related issues should be integrated into the core or compulsory law curriculum and not just solely located in environmental law programs or modules.Footnote ⁴⁰

The last twenty years have seen an astronomical increase in environmental law education in different parts of the world.Footnote ⁴¹ However, in many parts of the world, environmental law education is not compulsory for law students or fully integrated into the legal education curriculum.Footnote ⁴² This is particularly important given the background of the current climate crisis, the impacts of which are particularly felt in the MENA region. Notwithstanding these impacts, scholars have argued there is lack of climate change awareness in the MENA region.Footnote ⁴³ For example, Olawuyi argues that:

Hence, many tertiary or higher education institutions within the MENA region have not integrated climate education into their curricula.Footnote ⁴⁵ Hence, akin to many universities in different parts of the world, climate education is not integrated into the training requirements for law students and legal practitioners.Footnote ⁴⁶ Arguably the MENA region is no different.

According to Fowler and others, environmental law education emerged in the 1970s as a key constituent of the undergraduate law curriculum in various countries in different parts of the world.Footnote ⁴⁷ There has also been a massive rise in the development of environmental law at the postgraduate and graduate levels in different countries. However, in some parts of world, environmental law has no place in the legal education curriculum, hence some scholars have argued that environmental law is not part of mainstream legal education and thus only a marginal component.Footnote ⁴⁸ In the UK, environmental law is not a core or compulsory component of the undergraduate legal education curriculum and some scholars have argued that few students take up the study of environmental law for various reasons, including lack of future career prospects in the field.Footnote ⁴⁹ Thus, there is a rapid decline in the number of students studying environmental law in UK universities.Footnote ⁵⁰ However, there have been various suggestions made by relevant stakeholders, including academics and legal associations, on how to improve the study of environmental law and the need for the explicit integration of environmental law into the university legal curriculum in the UK.Footnote ⁵¹ On the other hand, in the UK and many other parts of the world, law students (and legal academics) are clamoring for the inclusion of environmental law into the university legal education curriculum.Footnote ⁵²

17.2.2 Environmental Law Education in the MENA Region

According to Kameri-Mbote, the director of the UNEP Law Division, “environmental law education systems are relatively at a nascent stage especially within the MENA region. Additionally, environmental law has conventionally not been taught as a core legal subject thus leading to fragmented approaches in its teaching.”Footnote ⁵³ However, the last few years has seen a growing appetite for environmental law education in the MENA region.Footnote ⁵⁴ There has been a massive rise in the number of universities offering environmental protection-related topics in their curriculum in the MENA region. For example, in the 2019 report of the Arab Forum for Environment and Development (AFED) on “Environmental Education for Sustainable Development in Arab Countries,” a survey of the fifty-seven highest-ranked universities in the Arab region was conducted.Footnote ⁵⁵ This survey is said to be the foremost wide-ranging review of environmental law components in schools and university curricula in Arab countries, in view of recognizing the various lacunae and suggesting strategies to improve the role of education in promoting environmental protection and the implementation or enforcement of the SDGs in the region.Footnote ⁵⁶ Some of the findings of the survey include that in the last decade, universities in Arab countries have seen a fast increase in programs or courses connected to the environment and sustainable development.Footnote ⁵⁷ Also, the AFED report found that, in total, fifty-seven universities in the survey offered 221 degree courses or programs relating to environmental issues or topics.Footnote ⁵⁸ However, the majority of the these programs are scientific and technical degrees, which appears to take prominence over law, education, policy, and economics programs.Footnote ⁵⁹

However, there have been various initiatives that have been developed within the MENA region to assist relevant stakeholders, including environmental law lecturers and scholars, on how to embed environmental awareness and environmental education within their curricula or practices. An example is the Training Manual for the TTT Program in Environmental Law for Higher Education Institutions in the MENA Region, which was jointly organized by the UNEP and ASSELLMU.Footnote ⁶⁰ ASSELLMU has been at the forefront of seeking to mitigate the gaps in the frameworks on environmental legal education within the MENA region.Footnote ⁶¹ The program also aims to enhance the pedagogy and the delivery of environmental law programs and courses within the MENA region.

Despite the rise in domestic and regional policies, mechanisms, and laws on the environment within the MENA region, it is contended that “environmental law education is still at an alarming stage of infancy in the region, especially when compared to many other regions.”Footnote ⁶² Furthermore, in many parts of the MENA region, there have not been deliberate moves to integrate biodiversity awareness into environmental education. For example, there is a need for more specific and tailored workshops and TTT programs on biodiversity in the MENA region to further promote the integration of biodiversity awareness into environmental legal curricula in the various universities and higher education institutions within the MENA region. Biodiversity within the MENA region is currently under serious threat, and this has become a major issue among governments and other relevant stakeholders in the region.Footnote ⁶³ In many parts of the world, governments are developing mechanisms and legal frameworks (including ratifying relevant biodiversity treaties) to tackle the biodiversity threats, and the MENA region is not left out. Furthermore, one strategy is to “ensure that people are conscious of biodiversity conservation is through education.”Footnote ⁶⁴ Hence, reliance on environmental law education can be one of the strategies to improve the implementation of biodiversity treaties within the MENA region.

Section 17.3 focuses on the barriers militating against the successful implementation of legal education as a tool to improve the implementation of biodiversity treaties within the MENA region.

17.3.1 Lack of Comprehensive Legislation on Biodiversity and Nature Conservation

In the MENA region, environmental law has arguably come to prominence and of age, and it is one of the strategies that is being used to tackle environmental challenges in the region. According to Olawuyi, all states in the region have developed primary legislation focused on environmental protection and secondary regulations focusing on various environmental issues such as wildlife, fisheries, biodiversity, and the protection of endangered species.Footnote ⁶⁵ However, many MENA countries lack comprehensive laws relating to biodiversity and nature conservation. For example, according to the information available on the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) website, many countries in the MENA region have ratified the CBD, but they are yet to take concrete actions to implement or achieve the 2020 Aichi Biodiversity Targets.Footnote ⁶⁶ Furthermore, regarding Jordan and its international biodiversity commitments, the CBD website states that Jordan’s overall “legislative framework is in place but still requires further development.”Footnote ⁶⁷ Arguably, this is representative of countries in the MENA region. Thus, very few countries, including the United Arab Emirates (UAE), have developed explicit legal and institutional frameworks on biodiversity and nature conservation in the MENA region.Footnote ⁶⁸

17.3.2 Marginality of Environmental Law Education on Biodiversity in the MENA Region

A major issue afflicting environmental law education is that it is not part of mainstream legal education in many parts of the world. As Fowler and others aver: “Marginality suggests that a subject sits at the fringes of the discipline of law, is inconsequential, and is seen as a luxury rather than an essential component of a good legal education.”Footnote ⁶⁹ This is also exemplified in the marginality of environmental law in the legal education curriculum in the MENA region. Well-respected scholars, and numerous reports and surveys, have confirmed that environmental law education is peripheral and is not mainstreamed in the legal curriculum in the MENA region.Footnote ⁷⁰ Even though environmental education is integrated in the university curriculum in many universities in the MENA region, environmental law education is still lacking in many places. Thus, as alluded to earlier, environmental law is not a core course of study in legal education in many parts of the MENA region. For example, Ahmed Elseidi, one of the leading environmental lawyers in Egypt, suggests: “Unlike the US, Egypt lacks advanced legal education courses that detail environmental rights and justice, hindering citizens from understanding the severity of their country’s issues.”Footnote ⁷¹ This exemplifies the current state of environmental law education in some parts of the MENA region. Hence, scholars have alluded to the fact that there are very few higher education institutions with specialist courses (including biodiversity and nature conservation) in the region that promote students’ knowledge and capacity regarding environmental law and related issues including sustainable development.Footnote ⁷² Furthermore, the marginal status of environmental law in the MENA region exemplifies or ensures that biodiversity awareness and nature conservation is severely lacking in legal education curricula in the region. This is also accentuated by the near absence of specialist biodiversity law courses in the MENA region.

17.3.3 Shortage of Biodiversity and Environmental Law Expertise in the MENA Region

In many parts of the world (especially in MENA countries), there is a shortage of environmental law scholars, especially with expertise and a focus on biodiversity and nature conservation, and this remains a noteworthy barrier to the teaching of the subject in the MENA region.Footnote ⁷³ Thus, in MENA countries, there is an acute shortage of legal expertise on biodiversity and nature conservation and a paucity of legal scholarship on biodiversity and nature conservation. Accordingly, this is also a reflection of the current state of environmental law teaching in the MENA region.

Furthermore, the shortage of biodiversity and environmental law expertise has negative impacts on the development of university law courses or programs focused on biodiversity and nature conservation in the region. This in turn impacts negatively on the promotion of biodiversity awareness in MENA countries.

17.3.4 Resource Constraints

Some of the major issues impacting the successful implementation of environmental education initiatives in the MENA region are resource constraints or challenges, especially regarding the teaching of environmental education and environmental law. The teaching of environmental law requires access to and availability of materials. The teaching materials or resources (which includes textbooks, journal articles, and course materials) on environmental education and environmental law education are mainly in the English language.Footnote ⁷⁴ In the MENA region, the principal language of teaching is Modern Standard Arabic, and hence some MENA educators regularly “struggle to access the lion’s share of available climate law teaching resources, raising the need for more translation of resources, as well as designing learning resources and platforms in Arabic, to provide greater access to learning resources on climate change law to MENA academics and students.”Footnote ⁷⁵ Furthermore, some relevant stakeholders at a regional conference in the region have suggested that a major reason for the slow development of environmental law education in the MENA region is the absence of authoritative texts or books focused on environmental law in the region.Footnote ⁷⁶ However, there is a need for more books and resources explicitly focused on biodiversity laws, nature conservation, and biodiversity awareness in the MENA region.

Closely associated with this are financial constraints that limit the implementation of biodiversity education and awareness programs. In many parts of the world, governments are reducing the budgetary funds allocated for funding environmental education initiatives due to the economic and financial reasons among others.Footnote ⁷⁷ For example, the COVID-19 pandemic has had negative impacts on funding of environmental projects in the MENA region.Footnote ⁷⁸ Furthermore, given the economic and income inequalities in the MENA region, some scholars have argued that this makes the MENA region one of the most unequal in the world.Footnote ⁷⁹ For example, some of the wealthiest countries are found in the MENA region, which is also home to some of the poorest countries in the world. This also has negative impacts, including the disparities in the quality of university education in the MENA region and hence some of the universities in the region are unable to retain and attract experts in the environmental law discipline.Footnote ⁸⁰ Many of the existing environmental education initiatives in the MENA region are majorly sponsored by international donors and are thereby unsustainable in the long term.Footnote ⁸¹

Additionally, the funding of biodiversity and nature projects, including environmental law education initiatives focusing on biodiversity and allied issues, are expensive.Footnote ⁸² Thus, there is an acute lack of funding for environmental law education initiatives (including educational initiatives focusing on biodiversity and nature conservation awareness) in many MENA countries. Arguably, the lack of funding severely impacts the development of biodiversity and nature conservation awareness initiatives in environmental law education in higher institutions of learning in the MENA region.

17.3.5 Impacts of Conflict on Environmental Education in the MENA Region

The MENA region has for many years remained an epicenter of a series of conflicts and wars.Footnote ⁸³ The region has been affected by a plethora of recent armed conflict and examples include Yemen, Syria, Iraq, and Libya.Footnote ⁸⁴ Conflict and instability have had negative impacts on education (including environmental education) in parts of the MENA region.Footnote ⁸⁵ This poses tremendous challenges for educators and students who can end up being displaced and unable to access education sites or safely access educational materials, and thus cannot engage in face-to-face education activities.Footnote ⁸⁶ Accordingly, conflict in parts of the MENA region is one of the major barriers impacting negatively on the implementation of environmental law education (including educational measures focused on biodiversity and nature conservation) initiatives and policies in the region. Furthermore, a plethora of relevant stakeholders, including academics, have blamed the lack of biodiversity and nature conservation research in the MENA region on the conflicts, poverty, wars, and economic woes affecting some countries in the region.Footnote ⁸⁷ Thus, governments in the region are prioritizing human needs and fighting poverty rather than developing educational initiatives on biodiversity and nature conservation.Footnote ⁸⁸ For example, in Iran, Jowkar and others suggest that in the last two decades, environmental protection appears not to be a pressing issue for the government because it is finding it difficult to meet the economic expectations of its citizens.Footnote ⁸⁹ Thus, in some parts of the MENA region, environmental education (including biodiversity and nature conservation awareness) has been negatively impacted by socio-political factors.

17.4.1 Comprehensive National Policy and Legislation on Biodiversity and Nature Conservation

It is essential that MENA countries enact comprehensive laws and regulations for biodiversity and nature conservation issues to provide clear framework for the implementation, monitoring, and enforcement of biodiversity and natural conservation and allied issues.Footnote ⁹⁰ Thus, governments in the MENA region need to implement or create “dedicated action plans to halt and reverse the loss of critical habitats and species, enhance water management practices and conserve vital freshwater, and mainstream sustainability and conservation in key social and economic activities.”Footnote ⁹¹ Furthermore, MENA countries can take inspiration from the actions and strategies enshrined in the UAE’s framework on biodiversity and nature conservation. For example, the UAE has a comprehensive framework on biodiversity and nature conservation.Footnote ⁹² The UAE has signed, and in some cases ratified, various international treaties and mechanisms focusing on biodiversity and nature conservation, including the CBD, the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, the Nagoya-Kuala Lumpur Supplementary Protocol on Liability and Redress to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, and the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands.Footnote ⁹³ Furthermore, the UAE has a plethora of action plans on biodiversity and nature conservation, including the National Biodiversity Strategy 2014–2021.Footnote ⁹⁴ Thus, the UAE can be an inspiration to other MENA countries on how to develop a comprehensive legal framework on biodiversity and nature conservation.

17.4.2 Mitigating the Marginality of Environmental Law Education in the MENA Region

Generally, it should be noted that although environmental law is not a core component of the legal education curriculum, this does not necessarily mean that such courses will not have students or academics conducting research on it. For example, in North America and parts of Europe, notwithstanding the elective or noncore status of environmental law, it is quite popular and has a firm place in the legal curriculum, with large numbers of students.Footnote ⁹⁵ In several developing countries, notwithstanding the elective status of environmental law in the legal curriculum, environmental lawyers and activists have used their expertise of environmental law as means of engaging in social change.Footnote ⁹⁶ Thus, in the context of MENA countries, environmental law (incorporating biodiversity and nature conservation) should be fully integrated and made a core component of the legal curriculum in the region. This is akin to the move taking place in some developing countries. Therefore, in some developing countries, including Indonesia, the Philippines, India, and China, environmental law is becoming a mandatory or core aspect of the undergraduate legal curriculum.Footnote ⁹⁷ Mainstreaming environmental law is a key strategy that can be used in promoting environmental law education and this will have positive impacts on enhancing environmental awareness including biodiversity and nature conservation awareness in the MENA region. This is arguably in line with the AFED report on environmental education in the MENA region, that there is an urgent need to reinforce topics including environmental law in the legal education curriculum in the MENA region.Footnote ⁹⁸ Thus, this will help bring to the fore the relevance or utility of biodiversity awareness and nature conservation in environmental law education in the MENA region.

17.4.3 Embedding Biodiversity Awareness in Environmental Law Education in the MENA Region

Awareness and understanding of biodiversity issues should be embedded in the law curriculum in the MENA region. For example, this can be done via already existing environmental programs offered by universities or as part of the legal education curriculum in the MENA region. Akin to what Bouwer has termed as “climate consciousness” in legal practice,Footnote ⁹⁹ there should be explicit embedding or integration of biodiversity consciousness or awareness into the legal education curriculum in universities or higher education institutions and in legal practice (especially environmental law practice) in the MENA region. According to Preston: “Climate change places a responsibility on lawyers to adopt a climate conscious rather than a climate blind approach in their daily legal practice. A climate conscious approach requires an active awareness of the reality of climate change and how it interacts with daily legal problems.”Footnote ¹⁰⁰ Hence, due to the severe nature of biodiversity threats in the MENA, the legal education curriculum and the training of lawyers should be totally revamped to contain explicit allusions to the utility of international and national legal frameworks on biodiversity, practices, principles, and awareness of biodiversity issues. Arguably, this can play a positive role in the development of legal strategies to help tackle the source of biodiversity threats in the MENA region. Thus, promoting the effectiveness and the implementation of biodiversity treaties in the MENA region will enhance the various measures developed to tackle the sources of the threats to biodiversity.

Furthermore, many laws and policies have been developed in the MENA region for the protection and conservation of biodiversity sources. Thus, law students and lawyers in the MENA region should be supported via environmental law education to understand the implications of these laws and policies and their impacts in the MENA region. Furthermore, students in the MENA region, via biodiversity awareness in environmental law education, will be able to understand that the international conventions on biodiversity are legal mechanisms that create obligations on countries that have ratified the conventions. Thus, countries that have ratified such treaties are expected to adapt their legal frameworks or laws to ensure that all the commitments arising from the international treaties or conventions are met locally.Footnote ¹⁰¹ Arguably, awareness or knowledge of the legal implications of biodiversity treaties “provides the student with a standpoint from which to critically assess the behavior of governments, parliaments, authorities, and businesses,”Footnote ¹⁰² regarding the implementation of biodiversity treaties in the MENA region. Furthermore, by virtue of Article 27 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, contracting parties or countries to treaties cannot rely on national laws as reasons or justifications for not respecting their expected obligations or commitments under such treaties. Thus, MENA countries should adhere to the various obligations arising from the plethora of international conventions relating to biodiversity and nature conservation and other allied issues that they have signed and ratified.

Awareness of the legal frameworks on biodiversity is not enough; society (especially lawyers and university law students) in the MENA region should also develop a deep understanding of how biodiversity will be influenced and shaped by society’s response to biodiversity threats in the region.Footnote ¹⁰³ This will arguably lead to improving of the skill sets or expertise of lawyers regarding biodiversity awareness or biodiversity-related issues in the MENA region.

Furthermore, according to Hulme, international conventions relating to biodiversity issues or “nature conservation treaties include mandatory obligations to conduct conservation training and education.”Footnote ¹⁰⁴ For example, Article 27 (1) of the World Heritage Convention (WHC) 1972 explicitly accentuates the relevance of states engaging in the awareness of natural heritage issues to “strengthen appreciation and respect by their peoples.”Footnote ¹⁰⁵ This arguably serves as a mobilization tool for society to support and value its conservation and natural heritage protection.Footnote ¹⁰⁶

This chapter adopts the view of Lavey on the utility of climate change education integration into law school curriculum,Footnote ¹⁰⁷ and this is also applicable to biodiversity awareness expected from environmental lawyers within the MENA region. Thus, Lavey suggests that effective lawyering premised on knowledge, skills, and understanding regarding the various risks from undulating environmental conditions should underpin legal education.Footnote ¹⁰⁸

Furthermore, in the context of biodiversity and nature conservation, effective lawyering should also be underpinned by knowledge and awareness of the biodiversity and nature conservation issues in the MENA region. Hence, legal practitioners in MENA countries should be at the forefront of biodiversity consciousness or awareness in their legal practice in the MENA region. Additionally, UNESCO avers that “[e]ducation is essential for the sustainable and equitable use of biodiversity and its conservation. It is also crucial for mainstreaming biodiversity.”Footnote ¹⁰⁹ Thus, environmental education is essential to actualizing the SDGs (especially SDG 15) in the MENA region.Footnote ¹¹⁰ Additionally, leading scholars on environmental law in the MENA region at a conference in 2018 advocated for the explicit integration of environmental law (which also includes biodiversity and nature conservation) in the higher education curricula in the region.Footnote ¹¹¹

17.4.4 Capacity Building of Environmental Law Academics

Different initiatives have been developed in the MENA region to mitigate the shortage environmental law scholars, improving the skill sets of academics and various stakeholders, including UNEP and ASSELLMU.Footnote ¹¹² For example, UNEP in collaboration with various stakeholders have played a crucial role in the expansion of international environmental law and principles and has supported different countries in developing and enhancing capacities or expertise in environmental law.Footnote ¹¹³ Regarding environmental law education, UNEP has supported various initiatives to develop environmental law education in different parts of the world, including Africa, Asia, and the MENA region.Footnote ¹¹⁴ For example, UNEP in collaboration with Professor Olawuyi was instrumental in the creation of the ASSELLMU in 2018. The ASSELLMU is a professional network of environmental law scholars and one of its major objectives is conducting research on the practice and implementation of environmental law in the region.Footnote ¹¹⁵ Since its inception, the ASSELLMU has organized several conferences that have served as avenues or platforms for bringing environmental law teachers, practitioners, lawyers, and trainers together to exchange knowledge with each other.Footnote ¹¹⁶

As one of the strategies of improving the skill sets of environmental law scholars and teachers in the region, ASSELLMU has also organized a series of events and developed the teaching of environmental law toolkits. For example, the Training Manual for the TTT Program in Environmental Law for Higher Education Institutions in the MENA Region, which was jointly organized by the UNEP and ASSELLMU.Footnote ¹¹⁷ This training program was developed to support academics conducting research or teaching environmental law-related courses or programs in the MENA region. Furthermore, the “overarching objective of this TTT Programme is to enhance the technical capacity for environmental law education in MENA universities through an in-depth exploration of innovative approaches for curriculum design, teaching pedagogies, and student assessment.”Footnote ¹¹⁸ Thus, the regular occurrence of this and similar capacity-training events will continually improve the skill sets of environmental law scholars and arguably help in mitigating the shortage of environmental law experts in the region. Additionally, specialist training should be organized for environmental law scholars and lawyers to enhance their knowledge and pedagogy relating to biodiversity law and awareness and nature conservation in the MENA region. For example, ASSELLMU, UNEP, and other relevant stakeholders should explicitly embed the knowledge of biodiversity laws, awareness, and nature conservation issues in their training courses. These training courses should be organized for environmental scholars, lawyers, and policymakers in the MENA region to deepen their knowledge or understanding of biodiversity and nature conservation issues. Furthermore, continuous training of environmental law teachers, researchers, and academics will enhance the delivery of environmental law education programs in universities in the MENA region.

17.4.5 Improved Funding of Environmental Education Initiatives in the MENA Region

There is a need for increased funding of the ASSELLMU and other similar environmental education initiatives (including biodiversity and nature conservation) in the MENA region. The funding of environmental education initiatives and environmental programs is said to be on the decline in several states in the MENA region.Footnote ¹¹⁹ The number of environmental initiatives is on the rise in the MENA, and this needs increased funding from the government and other relevant stakeholders for these initiatives to be successfully implemented. Hence, the AFED report suggests that financial resources ought to “be raised independently of international donors in order to enhance both the quality and evidence base of environmental topics.”Footnote ¹²⁰ Furthermore, richer MENA countries, including Saudi Arabia and the UAE, have an integral role to play by funding environmental education initiatives (including those focused on biodiversity and nature conservation) in other MENA countries.

17.4.6 Mitigating Impacts of Conflicts on Environmental Education Initiatives

The movement to online teaching and use of technology could help improve access to environmental education by students during conflicts in the MENA region. Thus, online-learning platforms can serve as lifeline for students in MENA, whose education has been negatively impacted by the conflict.Footnote ¹²¹ Consequently, this requires reliance on technology and if the computer network is able to cope with the demands and if the students affected by conflict can get online, they can potentially access education.Footnote ¹²² The COVID-19 pandemic has shown the world (especially the education sector) that online-learning platforms can serve as good alternatives to face-to-face teaching and many schools and universities have fully embraced the technology to enable access to education and its resources, during and even after the COVID-19 pandemic, including in the MENA region.

Furthermore, the reliance on online teaching and use of technology can improve access and create open more opportunities for environmental law education focusing on biodiversity and nature conservation awareness in the region. For example, more people can be trained through online or virtual learning platforms on the utility of biodiversity and nature conservation awareness in the MENA region. Also, various online tools such as videos, e-learning tools, and other educational technology resources can enhance the quality of the learning and teaching of biodiversity and nature conservation issues in the region.Footnote ¹²³

17.4.7 Biodiversity Litigation as a Tool for the Implementation of Biodiversity Treaties in the MENA Region

Due to the failings and weaknesses of domestic and international regulatory mechanisms in different parts of the world, the use of litigation is now regularly relied upon by individuals, victims, and other relevant stakeholders in holding governments, multinational corporations, and other entities accountable for their actions in different parts of the world.Footnote ¹²⁴ For example, due to the existing weaknesses in the global climate governance regime, climate litigation has become a popular strategy or mechanism utilized by climate change victims and their representatives in various jurisdictions in both developing and developed countries in holding multinationals and states accountable for climate inaction.Footnote ¹²⁵ Arguably, due to the impact of climate litigation at the national and international levels, some scholars have argued for the development of biodiversity litigation as one strategy that can be relied upon to enhance the implementation of the various biodiversity conventions at the domestic level.Footnote ¹²⁶

There are different definitions and conceptualizations of biodiversity litigation.Footnote ¹²⁷ However, this chapter adopts the definition by Futhazar et al., and they define biodiversity litigation as “any legal dispute at the national, regional or international level that concerns conservation of sustainable use of and access and benefit-sharing to genetic resources, species, ecosystem and their relations.”Footnote ¹²⁸

There is the potential or possibility for biodiversity litigation to hold governments accountable for their international biodiversity commitments within MENA. Successful biodiversity litigation has taken place in other developing countries, including India, Brazil, and Tanzania.Footnote ¹²⁹ However, biodiversity litigation remains largely untested in the MENA region. Environmental biodiversity awareness can improve the knowledge or expertise of litigants and other relevant stakeholders in successfully exploring the potential of biodiversity litigation to seek redress for landscape alteration and habitat degradation resulting from development activities and projects in the MENA region. Reliance on litigation as a legal strategy has achieved some success in transnational human rights litigation instituted against multinational corporations and governments in different parts of the world.Footnote ¹³⁰ Successful litigation can have positive impacts on the regulation of different sectors or industries in countries.Footnote ¹³¹ Thus, successful biodiversity litigation could strengthen the implementation of biodiversity treaties in the MENA region.Footnote ¹³²

18.2.1 The Need for Holistic Law and Policy Responses

As discussed in Chapter 2, several MENA countries have released their National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs).Footnote ⁹ Some of these NBSAPs address the intersections of biodiversity and nature conservation with all other key sectors, ranging from human rights, to food, water, energy, education, aviation, and healthcare, among other things.Footnote ¹⁰ They also set out broad plans to integrate biodiversity targets into all aspects of national development policies and reporting. However, despite the release of NBSAPs across the region, clear and comprehensive laws and policies that integrate biodiversity in all key sectors are yet to be fully articulated across key sectors. There remains a clear need for legally binding requirements and targets for stakeholders to mainstream biodiversity and nature conservation, especially nature-based solutions, in all aspects of investment and planning. For example, as discussed in Chapter 8, it is important to integrate a public health perspective into biodiversity planning and policymaking to effectively address the spread of zoonotic diseases such as the COVID-19 pandemic. It is equally important to integrate water management perspectives into biodiversity law and policy to address the impacts of water scarcity and aridity on biodiversity, while also leveraging nature-based solutions to improve water management.Footnote ¹¹ Human rights considerations are also important to avoid reactionary responses that may exacerbate land grabs, gender inequity, and other human rights concerns while tackling biodiversity loss.Footnote ¹² Without an integrated policy response, nature-based programs and projects designed to address biodiversity loss may exacerbate social exclusions, human rights violations, food, water, and energy injustice, environmental impacts, and conflicts in already vulnerable communities.Footnote ¹³

Therefore, there is an urgent need to strengthen synergies and policy coherence in the design, approval, financing, and implementation of biodiversity and nature conservation programs and policies across all sectors through an integrative approach. Biodiversity can no longer be addressed from a narrow sector-by-sector lens. Rather, biodiversity must be paramount in policy and decision-making at all levels of government. For example, the CBD’s National Reporting Guidelines require countries to provide evidence of “how biodiversity is reflected in poverty reduction strategies and other key cross-cutting policy instruments, and into the various economic sectors.”Footnote ¹⁴ This entails biodiversity proofing all development and investment strategies, plans, and programs to minimize damage to ecosystems while maximizing conservation.Footnote ¹⁵ Such systematic proofing of polices to address their biodiversity and ecosystems impacts will not only maximize conservation but could also accelerate the widespread implementation of nature-based solutions that advance co-benefits and synergies in climate change mitigation and other sustainability efforts.Footnote ¹⁶

18.2.2 Clear and Comprehensive Legislation on Biodiversity and Nature Conservation

Second, mainstreaming biodiversity into all aspects of governance and decision-making will require clear regulatory frameworks on biodiversity and nature conservation. As seen from the case studies, one key limitation to halting biodiversity loss across the region is the absence of specific biodiversity legislation in many MENA countries. Some of the legal obligations to protect and conserve biodiversity can be inferred or drawn from general environmental legislation, national visions, and other policy documents. However, such an approach is indeterminate and may not provide an opportunity for a clear and robust understanding of the critical interplay, trade-offs, and synergies that exist in decision-making and planning across the diverse domains impacted by biodiversity loss in the short and long term.

For example, the lack of comprehensive biodiversity legislation often means that several of the obligations relating to biodiversity proofing and the use of market-based mechanisms in biodiversity programs are found in different segregated and compartmentalized pieces of legislation or instruments. Some of these instruments may not specifically refer to important concepts such as biodiversity proofing, biodiversity financing, biodiversity-relevant taxation, biodiversity entrepreneurship, or the use of market-based mechanisms to halt biodiversity loss, which may limit their scope of application and implementation.Footnote ¹⁷ Consequently, while the need for biodiversity and nature conservation is generally clear, the granularity of what it requires in practice remains unclear. This creates interpretation gaps on the legal basis and source of responsibility when it comes to supervising different aspects of national biodiversity actions and strategies. Clear, comprehensive, and specific legislation is critical to effectively mainstream biodiversity and nature conservation into the policy apparatus of governments at all levels.

As the Taskforce on Nature-Related Financial Disclosures recommends, biodiversity governance should emphasize four key actions: avoid, reduce, restore, and regenerate (the AR3T framework).Footnote ¹⁸ First is the need to avoid damage to nature and ecosystems through biodiversity-supportive steps such as conducting environmental impact assessments and strategic assessments to protect biodiversity. Second is the need to reduce or minimize likely adverse impacts to biodiversity that cannot be avoided. For example, leveraging biodiversity-smart infrastructure (i.e. buildings, technologies, and systems that reduce biodiversity loss and trade-offs, and enhance conservation) across all key sectors can significantly reduce the risk of biodiversity loss. Third is the need to restore and recover species or ecosystems that may have been degraded or diminished. For example, specific efforts to replace endangered species such as the Arabian oryx have resulted in sustained progress over the years resulting in its removal from the list of endangered species in the MENA region.Footnote ¹⁹ Such efforts should be integrated into biodiversity strategies and policies to ensure that they are sustained. Fourth is the need to regenerate or increase the productive capacity of the ecosystem in order to sustain biodiversity. Regenerative practices aim to improve, rehabilitate, and support the natural functioning of the ecosystem.Footnote ²⁰ For example, regenerative agriculture has been discussed in studies as a “sustainable land management practice” focused on ecological functions.Footnote ²¹

A clear legal framework on biodiversity could provide the legal basis and obligations for project planners and stakeholders to integrate the AR3T framework into project development and implementation. For example, biodiversity legislation can mandate the biodiversity-inclusive environmental impact assessment and strategic environmental assessment needed to promptly spot and address adverse impacts of projects on biodiversity.Footnote ²² Biodiversity legislation can also provide project developers and planners with clarity on the key design standards and measures to comply with at the project design and approval stage. Given the urgency and need to halt biodiversity loss, clear and specific biodiversity legislation could streamline the approval of nature-focused investments and provide incentives for private sector participation, especially in priority biodiversity restoration projects.Footnote ²³ Biodiversity legislation could also be the basis for clarifying the regulatory models that will underpin integrated response in a country. As Dimitropoulos and Lokhandwala note, there are three major regulatory tools to help transition toward more sustainable development policy choices: command-and-control, market-based approaches, and nudges.Footnote ²⁴ MENA countries will need to carefully consider complex socio-economic conditions in their countries and develop a responsive legal framework that provides an effective avenue to accelerate their NBSAPs in a cost-effective manner.

18.2.3 Frameworks to Enhance Fair and Equitable Access and Benefit-Sharing

As discussed in Chapter 9, while there is a growing awareness regarding biodiversity and nature conservation across the MENA region, the development of clear and comprehensive regulatory frameworks on access and benefit-sharing (ABS) have been slow across the region. Challenges such as a lack of awareness regarding ABS, a lack of statistical data on ABS, and an inadequate level of compliance with international frameworks on ABS linger across the region, highlighting a continuing need for advancing awareness, fine-tuning legal frameworks, and fortifying implementation measures.

Improving regulatory regimes on biodiversity in general, and ABS in particular, requires a legal, fiscal, and institutional reform agenda aimed at maximizing the full value of ABS across the region. This would be done by developing and implementing comprehensive standards that enhance the access, utilization, and benefit-sharing of genetic sequence data. A starting point is for MENA countries to include clear provisions on ABS in biodiversity legislation to ensure the sustainable use of the region’s extensive genetic resources for current and future generations. Aligning such legislation with international standards can enable MENA countries to leverage their comparative advantage as the location of important genetic resources needed globally to advance agriculture, conservation, research, and trade.

Furthermore, it is imperative for regulators and industry associations to collaboratively design model contracts and toolkits that define and conceptualize essential provisions on ABS to be included in research and development (R&D) and technology development contracts. Such clarity will enable countries to strike a much-needed balance between ensuring the use of genetic resources for R&D, pharmaceutical, agricultural, and other innovation efforts and preventing abuse and ensuring that benefits resulting from such use are accessed by local communities in a just and equitable manner. Establishing standard contractual provisions relating to data disclosure, reporting, and the allocation of genetic resources and their benefits could clarify expectations and enable all stakeholders to ensure the equitable distribution of the dividends derived from genetic resources. For example, the Swiss Academy of Sciences has developed a template ABS agreement that includes important terms for allocating rights, benefits, and risks with respect to genetic resources in a fair and equitable manner.Footnote ²⁵ Similarly, the Chancery Lane Project has developed standard contractual clauses with biodiversity-focused provisions that address a wide range of themes including regenerative farming and soil preservation.Footnote ²⁶ Integrating such clauses and provisions in investment contracts, especially land-based investments in agriculture, extractives, and the pharmaceutical and construction sectors, is essential to improving current understanding on just and equitable ABS.

Likewise, lawyers providing counsel on development projects should not only integrate ABS provisions in contracts; they should also advise clients on the importance of managing risks related to the use of genetic resources in local communities in order to avoid disputes and conflicts. Indigenous communities are increasingly insistent on ensuring that their traditional knowledge and genetic resources are used in a fair, inclusive, and just manner in line with international law standards.

18.2.4 Institutional Coherence and Coordination

In addition to developing a clear and comprehensive legal framework on biodiversity and nature conservation, establishing the right institutional setup for the practical coordination and cooperation of the diverse stakeholders and institutions will also be essential.Footnote ²⁷ While rapid biodiversity loss would affect different sectors, the process of coordinating responses across different agencies and institutions that could be impacted has not been straightforward. Due to the different mandates, priorities, and financial resources between ministries, the attention and focus on mainstreaming biodiversity into their strategies, policies, and programs varies significantly. Consequently, biodiversity and nature conservation programs continue to be implemented and articulated in a largely sectoral and fragmented manner.Footnote ²⁸ This makes it complex and difficult to achieve institutional coherence and coordination of efforts across ministries and agencies in the design and implementation of biodiversity policies and responses. Furthermore, the implementation of intersectoral coordination is often stifled by capacity questions. For example, mainstreaming biodiversity into the work of human rights agencies or food ministries would require expanding staff capacity or recruiting experts in biodiversity and environmental science. Similarly, biodiversity-proofing infrastructure development projects by public works authorities could require recruiting staff that can understand, analyze, and implement biodiversity-related legislation and policies. Given that several of these institutions are currently not constituted or designed to analyze and implement biodiversity and nature programs, their ability to effectively analyze and implement different biodiversity-related information and data may be limited by differences in skill sets and expertise.Footnote ²⁹ Also, epistemic distinctions and lack of operability by different actors and institutions is fueled by the divergent training, styles, and perspectives of the actors in their respective sectors and fields.Footnote ³⁰

These problems raise the need for greater interoperability and standardization approaches that foster cooperation and minimize duplication among sectors and actors in the design and implementation of climate change projects and programs. As recommended by the CBD, the process of designing NBSAPs is an important starting point for engaging widely with key institutions and stakeholders, including government ministries and departments, business enterprises, civil society, academia, and other key relevant entities that have prominent roles to play in advancing biodiversity and nature conservation programs.Footnote ³¹ Such an early and widespread multistakeholder engagement process is required to secure the commitment of all key institutions and entities. National dialogue should be promoted and aimed at building shared and common understanding on nexus and integrated biodiversity proofing by institutional actors in various sectors. Such dialogue will examine to what extent the mandates of existing institutions are coherent, conflicting, and/or duplicative and also whether there are linked platforms in place to support knowledge and information sharing and intersectoral cooperation on biodiversity and nature conservation. For example, institutions can leverage their respective expertise, facilities, and best practices by engaging with staff and experts across sectors to assist with reviewing and assessing the implication of multisector projects on natural and cultural heritage. Inter-agency linkages and partnerships, through joint initiatives and knowledge sharing, could increase trust and enhance synergistic solutions that encourage coherent responses to identified threats. Furthermore, such dialogue should aim to address barriers to interoperability by promoting the information sharing and knowledge exchange on biodiversity and nature conservation by all relevant ministries and agencies in open and linked systems, as well as constituting cross-sectoral panels and committees that can provide an informed picture of biodiversity mainstreaming efforts across the country.

18.2.5 Increased Biodiversity Financing and Investment

Linked to the question of capacity and institutional coordination is the question of resources. While there is increased awareness on the need for nature-based solutions to halt rapid biodiversity loss across the region, access to financial resources, especially by small and medium eco-enterprises, to advance biodiversity entrepreneurship remains a key challenge.Footnote ³² Chapter 11 unpacks the key role of innovative financing approaches, such as Islamic financing, to meet the currently huge financing challenges that face biodiversity-related investments in the MENA region. Legal and governance gaps that stifle the application of Islamic financing, crowdfunding, and other financing tools in different MENA countries must be carefully mapped and addressed in order to support the accelerated development of nature-based solutions and biodiversity projects across the region.

Furthermore, there is a need for increased budgetary allocation and spending on biodiversity programs in the MENA region. Leveraging biodiversity-smart infrastructure across all key sectors will come at a considerable cost.Footnote ³³ For example, the cost of upgrading existing infrastructure, expanding current institutions, staffing, training, field inspections, project review panels, and program design will require MENA countries to unlock investment from private and public sectors.Footnote ³⁴ MENA countries can leverage the significant revenue from extractive industries to drive investment in biodiversity-smart development and nature conservation, especially by accelerating nature-focused innovation. With infrastructure spending in the Gulf region alone projected to reach US$200 billion over the next ten years, MENA countries have expressed the political will to invest income from extractive industries to advance knowledge-based economies.Footnote ³⁵ For example, Qatar is developing a Biodiversity Genome Program aimed at enhancing statistical data on genetic resources in the country.Footnote ³⁶ This is in addition to the wide range of conservation projects in the country, such as the lizard biodiversity conservation project, which aim to protect animals that are rapidly becoming endangered such as the Arabian oryx, sand gazelle, ostrich, bustard, and wild rabbit.Footnote ³⁷ Saudi Arabia has also launched a number of biodiversity and conversation projects, such as the Red Sea Biodiversity Project, aimed at halting the loss of rare flora and fauna in the Red Sea and across the country, as well as boosting ecotourism.Footnote ³⁸ Morocco, Bahrain, Oman, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates have announced similar biodiversity-related projects, including mountain conservation and payment for ecosystem services (PES) initiatives.Footnote ³⁹ If these programs and visions are effectively implemented and sustained, MENA countries could be well placed to achieve biodiversity-smart development, while also achieving socio-economic outcomes such as increased ecotourism, biodiversity entrepreneurship, biodiversity innovation and technology development, and green employment opportunities, including jobs relating to mountain and oasis conservation.Footnote ⁴⁰

There is a great opportunity for MENA countries to leverage savings from the extractive industries to finance biodiversity programs. For example, MENA countries are home to some of the largest sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) across the world.Footnote ⁴¹ Such SWF portfolios can provide opportunities for MENA countries to invest in assets and projects worldwide to halt biodiversity loss. For example, the Qatar Investment Authority, Kuwait Investment Authority, the Public Investment Fund of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority are founding members of the One Planet SWF Working Group, which aims to integrate climate change analysis and environmental considerations in investment decisions.Footnote ⁴² Through this commitment, MENA countries aim to allocate SWF investments to finance sustainability initiatives, including nature conservation programs. By integrating biodiversity considerations into the design, financing, and implementation of SWF investments, MENA extractive industries can significantly accelerate the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) relating to biodiversity and nature conservation domestically and abroad.Footnote ⁴³

Furthermore, investing in research and innovation can provide MENA countries with the homegrown and state-of-the-art technologies and tools needed to effectively boost nature-based innovations that support biodiversity and conservation efforts. For example, Saudi Arabia’s biodiversity research project at the King Abdullah Science and Technology University aims to enhance biodiversity-related innovation and research.Footnote ⁴⁴ MENA countries will need to develop similar sustained research and innovation efforts that can accelerate and support biodiversity-smart development across the region.

18.2.6 Innovative Pedagogies to Accelerate Biodiversity Education

Sixth, the rise of biodiversity and nature conservation law and policy across the region raises the need for innovative pedagogies to train and prepare future lawyers and administrators for evidence-based policymaking in this important field. As discussed in Chapter 17, addressing the rapid loss of biodiversity across the region will require innovative and disruptive teaching methods. The author notes that “there is a need for more specific and tailored workshops and TTT programs on biodiversity in the MENA region to further promote the integration of biodiversity awareness into environmental legal curricula in the various universities and higher education institutions within the MENA region.” This will require law schools across the region to design tailored courses that provide practical and skill-based learning on biodiversity and nature conservation using a wide range of online and in-class tools. Similarly, in developing biodiversity law and policy courses, it is particularly important to adopt enquiry-based learning methods that will integrate practical skills and knowledge and prepare students to engage in real-world problem solving.Footnote ⁴⁵ For example, biodiversity-related courses should clearly emphasize practical aspects, such as the development and implementation of biodiversity strategies, drafting and negotiating ABS agreements, implementing green building and efficiency standards, and data collection and analysis on biodiversity.

Furthermore, MENA environmental law academics will need to pool their intellectual resources to cooperate in research and capacity development that advance biodiversity and nature conservation. Successful partnerships are necessary to achieve all aspects of sustainable development. This is well recognized by the SDGs; Target 17.9 encourages countries to enhance international partnerships and support to implement all of the SDGs and develop north–south, south–south, and triangular cooperation.Footnote ⁴⁶

Target 15.C also encourages countries to “enhance global support for efforts to combat poaching and trafficking of protected species, including by increasing the capacity of local communities to pursue sustainable livelihood opportunities.”Footnote ⁴⁷ Similarly, under Target 4.7 countries are to “ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles.”Footnote ⁴⁸ These goals and targets emphasize the need for environmental law academics to continue to develop collaborative research and teaching initiatives that could expand the development of innovative courses on biodiversity and nature conservation law and policy. This type of collaboration was in mind when the Association of Environmental Law Lecturers in Middle East and North African Universities (ASSELLMU) was established in 2018, to serve as a professional network for all MENA environmental law academics.Footnote ⁴⁹ As stated in its Constitution, ASSELLMU aims to provide a forum for the discussion and dissemination of environmental law in the MENA region and to identify and search for MENA solutions to the region’s environmental problems. It also aims to “spearhead collaborative and multi-disciplinary projects to foster increased awareness for environmental problems, among students and people in MENA region.”Footnote ⁵⁰

Since its establishment, ASSELLMU has organized a number of conferences and events that aim to enhance knowledge dissemination and information exchange on biodiversity.Footnote ⁵¹ It is important for international organizations, private sector actors, and governments across the region to provide technical and financial support to sustain such important efforts. ASSELLMU, and similar cooperative networks, will need to work with education stakeholders, such as ministries of education, as well as private and public sector organizations, to identify essential executive courses for the development of professionals working on nature and biodiversity-related projects. Educators can then develop a blend of practical and theoretical courses to provide lifelong learning opportunities for stakeholders tasked with designing and implementing biodiversity and nature conservation programs.

18.2.7 Need for Biodiversity-Focused Due Diligence

The rise of biodiversity and nature conservation law and policy in the MENA region increases the need for business enterprises and private actors to anticipate and address biodiversity-related legal risks in their investments and projects. Biodiversity-focused due diligence is the process through which enterprises and public actors investigate the direct and indirect the impacts of their investments and projects on biodiversity in order to avoid legal risks.Footnote ⁵² Legal risks in this context refer to the risk of financial, reputational, or investment loss, legal liability, or dispute settlement costs to a company or institution that may arise from the failure by a business enterprise to mitigate the direct and indirect impacts of biodiversity loss.Footnote ⁵³ Direct or indirect contributions to biodiversity loss can result in significant financial, reputational, and disclosure risks for a business enterprise or entity, especially an entity that fails to comply with emerging laws and policies in this area.Footnote ⁵⁴ For example, failure to comply with disclosure requirements relating to the impacts of a business or investment on biodiversity may result in fines and sanctions.Footnote ⁵⁵ On the other hand, the implementation of development projects that adversely impact landscapes, forests, and ecosystems may also trigger lawsuits from impacted communities. For example, investing in NBS and emissions reduction schemes, such as clean development and Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation projects may result in adverse impacts on human rights, especially through displacements of local communities from their lands and forests, the exclusion of women and youth from decision-making processes, a lack of transparency and accountability, and the inadequacy of judicial remedies for victims.Footnote ⁵⁶ There is a marked increase in the number of cases in different parts of the world that seek to establish the legal and human rights liability of business enterprises for failing to address biodiversity loss.Footnote ⁵⁷

As more MENA countries adopt biodiversity and nature conservation legislation and policies, similar arguments may be made before the courts. Over time, failure to effectively anticipate and manage biodiversity-related risks could carry significant financial, legal, and reputational risks for business enterprises operating in the MENA region. Such risks may manifest in the form of the disruption, suspension, or closure of projects by supervisory bodies, hefty regulatory fines, and director and shareholder liability, and may impact a company’s profitability or ability to maintain a license to operate.Footnote ⁵⁸ Businesses can avoid the increasing backlash associated with biodiversity risks by integrating biodiversity considerations into investment analysis and management processes. Business enterprises in the MENA region, especially those in the extractive and construction sectors, can enhance their capacity to effectively anticipate and manage biodiversity-related risks by participating and engaging with the wide range of voluntary initiatives that aim to support companies to “integrate biodiversity conservation into their internal business practices and operations.”Footnote ⁵⁹

There is also a need to implement comprehensive biodiversity-focused environmental impact assessments that spot and address biodiversity risks prior to commencing development and investment activities.Footnote ⁶⁰ Furthermore, human rights impact assessments and due diligence can enhance the abilities of planners to identify and address the potential adverse impacts of biodiversity programs on human rights, especially the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, land rights, gender injustice, and inadequate public participation in the implementation of such programs.Footnote ⁶¹ For example, as discussed in Chapter 4, the loss of forests and other protected areas can trigger several violations of indigenous rights in communities that depend on such resources for their survival, culture, and religion. There is therefore a strong business case, in terms of cost, reputation, and effectiveness, for business enterprises and other actors to integrate biodiversity-focused human rights due diligence in their investment planning and business decision-making, even if the domestic law is silent on such requirements. Adopting sound internal screening processes, as part of corporate due diligence and investment risk management frameworks, could help enterprises to anticipate, mitigate, and address the implications of their investments and projects on biodiversity and ecosystems.

As for the role of lawyers representing companies and investors in transactions and projects, it is important to clarify and emphasize the need for biodiversity and human rights due diligence at early stages of such investments. International bodies and courts insist that business enterprises have a responsibility to address potential and actual adverse human rights impacts across the entire value chain of their operations.Footnote ⁶² As a result, companies, investors, lenders, and insurance underwriters must appropriately investigate, assess, and price biodiversity-related risks that may arise in the transactional context.

As the Taskforce on Nature-Related Financial Disclosures notes, “nature-related risks and opportunities arise from an organisation’s dependencies and impacts on nature.”Footnote ⁶³ Such biodiversity risks may be physical, transition, and disclosures related. Physical risks may flow from activities or investments that adversely impact biodiversity or from the potential loss of earnings resulting from the rapid loss of biodiversity. Physical risks are especially significant for business enterprises that rely on genetic resources from rare and extinction-threatened plants and animals for their activities, such as medicines, pharmaceuticals, and food production.Footnote ⁶⁴ The rapid extinction of such genetic resources may disrupt production activities or may significantly raise transaction costs. On the other hand, transition risks may arise from the increased adoption of biodiversity and nature conservation policies across the MENA region, which may reduce the value or worth of assets or increase compliance costs. For example, ongoing global efforts to halt biodiversity loss may result in new standards that may fundamentally change business structures, limit the availability of funding for land-based investments and projects, raise the cost of debts, capital, and long-dated securities, or ultimately result in stranded assets.Footnote ⁶⁵ These transition risks will need to be carefully considered by lawyers when giving advice, especially given the rapid evolution of biodiversity strategies and policies in the MENA region. Third, as countries adopt biodiversity and nature conservation legislation, business enterprises will have increased obligations to report on biodiversity and nature conservation efforts, as well as the financial impacts of biodiversity-related risks and opportunities on the business and its shareholders.

Legal risks relating to nondisclosure or greenwashing, which may result from misleading or inaccurate biodiversity disclosures, will need to be carefully considered by lawyers when providing advice. Furthermore, the likely impact of biodiversity-related risks and opportunities on the current and future financial position of a company as reflected in its income statement, cash flow statement, and balance sheet could play significant roles when negotiating asset values.Footnote ⁶⁶ These and other obligations that may arise from emerging biodiversity law and policy must be carefully monitored and considered by lawyers as part of corporate due diligence and contract negotiation processes to prevent legal risks.