In addition, a Forest Policy and Development Strategy, was implemented in 1997 by the SADC forest sector to address the issue of forest protection in the region. In order to protect marine life, agreements such as the Oil Spill Contingency Plan have been developed. The sustainability of fisheries resources is also now monitored by control agreements, and a Sustainable Fisheries Livelihoods Programme has been developed in West Africa. Other regional Protocols adhered to by some African states include cooperative efforts to implement programmes that aim to combat desertification by the Arab Magreb Union (AMU), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), Inter-State Committee to Combat Drought in the Sahel (CILSS), and Southern African Development Community (SADC). International Agreements such as the Vienna Protocol, which called for the formation of a co-operative framework and policy structure aimed at protecting human health and the environment from adverse effects of human activity which modify, or are likely to modify the ozone layer4 are also observed. The Vienna Protocol was, effectively signed by 46 African countries. The Montreal Protocol which was signed by 47 African countries called for the implementation of cost effective alternatives to ozonedepleting substances, and the Kyoto Protocol which was signed by 4 African countries5 out of a total of 84 countries globally, aims to curb greenhouse gas emissions that result in global warming.

As a consequence, environmental pollution and degradation begin to decline since the country has the capacity to invest in environmental friendly technology. Similar results were found by Grossman and Kruger (1995). Source: Robert T. Deacon and Catherine S. Norman*, Does the Environmental Kuznets Curve Describe How Individual Countries Behave? University of California, Santa Barbara April 5, 2004  4  BIS Review 74/2004  However critics of the model [Common, 1995, Shafik 1994, Selden and Song, 1994, and Lopez, 1994], argue that there may be irreversible environmental damage before the top of the curve is reached, the model does not hold for all environmental indicators. Elasticity of substitution between factors of production, pollution and consumer utility must be taken into account. Empirical evidence from South Korea (Lim, 1997) shows that the relationship between economic growth and environment cannot simply be explained by a trade-off or inverted U-shape relationship. The result can be attributed to the worsening (increase) in indicators such as CO2 and industrial waste as per capita income increases in contrast to other indicators such as water quality and domestic waste which experience a U-shaped relationship. Other factors such as pollution due to transportation were found to possibly be lower when people live closer together (Selden and Song, 1994). Globalisation has resulted in the spill over of technology and knowledge from developed countries to several middle-income and many industrialising economies via Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and Research and Development (R&D) efforts, thereby leaving developing countries lagging behind (Panayotou, 2000).