Crafting and Implementation of Multilateral Environmental Agreements in Cameroon: Are Parliamentarians Useful Actors

Introduction

1.1. Context and Justification

There is no gainsaying that environmental challenges continue to increase in recent times. Not only arc they on the rise but also they have assumed a trans-boundary and global character affecting communities at the national, regional and global levels. The tendency has therefore been to seek broader solutions to these challenges. This explains why the International community has more then ever before been very alert and active in crafting legislation by way of what is now known as Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs). The effectiveness of such MEAs in concretely addressing the various environmental concerns depends largely on the process by which they were crafted. What this means is that all the crucial and critical stakeholders at the national level should actively participate directly or indirectly in negotiation of MEAs at the international level. In the African continent in general and in Cameroon in particular, this docs not seem to be the situation.

Negotiation, signing and effective implementation of International legal Instruments in general and MEAs in particular has and continue to be the exclusive business of the executive power of the State and this has strong Constitutional foundation in a majority of the African countries. This not withstanding, the objective of this paper is to demonstrate that there are other organs of the State, Parliament for instance, that may at least indirectly contribute to the elaboration and effective implementation of MEAs and as such may be involved in the process at some point or at best the need to review the Constitutional provisions in order to have the legislature share the powers to negotiate with the executive even if not on equal grounds. This must be so considering the key role Parliamentarians can play in enhancing MEAs implementation.