The Use of Environmental Principles in Environmental Law - Assignment Example

?Critically Assess the Use of Environmental Principles in Environmental Law Table of Contents Introduction 3 Principles of Environmental Law 4 Polluter Pays Principle 4 Philosophies of the Environmental Law 6 Environmental Regulation and Protection and International Environmental Law 7 International Environmental Law 8 European Environmental Law 10 Conclusion 13 References 14 14 14 Bibliography 16 Introduction The perception of environmental law is fundamentally described as a set of effective rules as well as regulations concerning the safeguard of natural environment of a particular region. According to the present context considering periodic incidence of global warming, international environmental law is generally considered to be a deliberate approach for minimizing the emissions that results from various greenhouse gases in greater efficiency. At present, the guidelines of the international environmental law play an imperative part that imposes considerable impact upon the notion of sustainable development. Environmental evaluation is quite essential for upholding the sustainable development of society as well as useful for establishing necessary laws related to environment. Apart from the factor of global warming, the aspect of climate change also contributes largely upon affecting the natural environment by a greater extent. Since the year 1960, several environmentalists took significant initiatives for reducing pollution, cleaning up the wastes, implementing strict laws for every individual of different nation, minimizing wastage products and introducing recyclable materials for the manufacturing of new products. In the year 1969, United States National Environmental policy Act referred that every societal member must follow the environmental laws in order to mitigate the impact of global warming. The major reason for establishing the international environmental regulation is for addressing social as well as environmental factors that have been considered as the root cause of global warming. By taking into concern the present environmental situation, it has been apparently observed that there has been drastic increase of pollution due to huge augmentation of carrier vehicles and industrial wastes. In order to make control of all these environmental aspects, lawyers and various environmentalists implement certain effectual environmental principles in order to create awareness about preserving the nature within the community people (University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, 2012). This paper intends to critically assess the execution of environmental principles in environmental law concerning different significant aspects. These aspects include the different principles relating to environmental law, environmental regulation and protection along with international and European Environmental Law. Principles of Environmental Law Polluter Pays Principle The ‘Polluter Pays Principle (PPP)’ is considered as an effectual guideline concerning the environmental policy. This policy implies that community people must take deliberate initiatives towards preventing the increased level of pollution. The major objective of the ‘PPP’ is to internalizing the external activities of environment so that every community people can become quite conscious towards maintaining the cleanliness of nature. The principle of international environmental law was initiated in the year 1972 and it is recommended by ‘Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)’. OECD is recognized as a council that established the guidelines concerning international environmental law. The council stated that these guidelines should be executed for assigning the costs that are incurred for the prevention of pollution. Moreover, the council also introduced as well as implemented certain crucial initiatives with the intention of properly utilising the limited environmental resources (Lucia, 2010). The core meaning of the PPP is that any polluter should incur the costs in relation to the safeguard and the control measures concerning pollution which is decided by the legal authorities of a particular state. In this similar context, several environmentalists describe the notion of ‘polluter’ in a broader way. It implies that a polluter is considered to be someone who utilizes his/her own resources in such a way that creates considerable impact upon the environment. The concept of PPP is utilized in order to promote an environmental programme where individual person should pay the compensation who are considered as major victims for creating impact upon the natural environment. “Damage to the Environment” and “Bearing cost for the Environment” are the two imperative aspects relating to the PPP. The main concern of these aspects is to identify the polluters who are simply harming the settings of the natural environment by a greater extent. Moreover, the aforementioned two concepts also emphasises upon proper utilisation of natural resources for protecting the natural environment and most importantly to restrict the increased level of pollution along with the emissions generating from different greenhouse gases. At present, PPP is regarded as a guiding policy and it should be accepted by the community people in order to minimize the improper utilization of environmental resources. It can be affirmed that the environmental issues mainly occur due to the misuse of resources. Regarding PPP, it is necessary to recognise the major polluters who are liable for making the natural environment harmful and they must pay compensation so that the environment can be safeguarded in an effective manner (Lucia, 2010). Furthermore, the PPP affirms that anyone who is accountable for harming the resources of environment should carry out the costs associated with it. This principle also states that it is not only considered as guidelines for the people who are the victims for causing pollution but it also act as an extension where individual community people should be responsible for performing their necessary activities. This principle intends to penalize those who create significant impact upon the environment by misusing the natural resources (Cordato, 2001). Polluters are considered to be someone who not only harms the environment but also improperly utilizes the available resources that are not fully authorized by the government officials or environmentalists. The payments which bear by the polluters directly go to the government as a structure of taxation. The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development’ relating to the safeguard of natural environment affirms that the promotion of internalisation belonging to environmental overheads is quite essential. This meeting was conducted by taking into concern the PPP which states that individual national authority should consider the environmental cost while developing necessary policies and guidelines. Moreover, this principle also reflected that the costs regarding prevention, control and the reducing the pollution should be carried out by the pollution developer. This compensation should be considered as a tax which would be paid in the form of emission fee and payments on the sales of the goods that is directly concerned with pollution (Cordato, 2001). Philosophies of the Environmental Law The present scenario of environmental situation is considered to be a significant aspect for the entire nation across the globe. The notion about the philosophical foundation of environmental law is effectively considered by various lawyers and legal philosophers. The philosophical commitment regarding environmental aspect reflects several ethics, political perspectives and laws. The professional lawyers and legal philosophers exclusively impose certain provision by considering the negative consequences that arises from the improper utilization of environmental resources. The basic purpose of these provisions is to lessen the wastage of environmental resources by a considerable level. In this similar context, constitutional stipulation and judicial decisions play a decisive part in resolving the problem related with environmental crisis. The philosophy of the environmental law is not considered as a strict sense of the law but it is directly related with the protection of the environmental resources (Besson & Tasioulas, 2010). By taking into concern about the philosophy of environmental law, property law is typically regarded to be an important aspect that implies the ability and control for the utilization of the environmental resources. It also ensures the general effectiveness of the law which should be distributed among the community people in order to create awareness gaining healthy living within the society. The major philosophy of environmental law is to maintain a legal regulation for the environment and also to implement certain facts that have been learned from the law that particularly deals with environmental issues. The content of the environmental law imposes certain restrictions as well as limitations for the use of the natural resources in terms of legal, social and economic aspects (Coyle & Morrow, 2004). Environmental Regulation and Protection and International Environmental Law The US ‘Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’ and other state environmental agencies control the impact of business upon the natural environment. EPA creates as well as implements certain regulation policies that were approved by the other state agencies in order to protect as well as to maintain a sustainable and healthy atmosphere. This regulation has been imposed by taking into concern regarding ‘air pollution’, ‘ecosystem’, ‘basis environmental compliance’, ‘fish and wildlife’, ‘environmental planning’ and ‘pollutants & chemicals’. Contextually, when a company manufacture goods that could possibly harm the environment, then it is quite necessary for the company to oblige the regulation acts so that the producing goods may not harm or pollute the natural resources of the environment at large. EPA implies that hazardous or non-hazardous materials of the industries should be disposed in a proper way so that it may not harm or pollute the natural environment. Apart from EPA, other environmental agencies such as ‘Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA)’ also tend to enhance the regulatory practices in terms of social, legal and environmental aspects within the UK. The environmental regulation and protection policy is generally employed by different organizations and the industries with the anticipation that businesses may not impose adverse impact upon the natural resources of the environment such as air and water among others by a considerable level (EPA, 2012). International Environmental Law International environment law and policies are generally established by the government of a particular nation in order to manage the natural resources, maintain sustainable quality of the environment and most significantly to provide healthy life to the community people. In this similar context, ‘natural resources’ and ‘environmental quality’ have been identified to be the two major aspects of this law. The core reason for the establishment of this law is to protect and control air pollution, water pollution, wildlife, forest, agricultural practices, proper dispose of hazardous waste and the appropriate planning for the utilization of the land. In the US, environmental law is primarily acknowledged as ‘Clean Water Act’, ‘National Environmental Policy Act’, ‘Clean Air Act’ and ‘Endangered Species Act’. Moreover, the ‘Global Environmental Law’ comprises not only the policies but also the regulations that are implemented in order to protect the green nature of the atmosphere. In this regard, international law is generally considered as an agreement that is generally carried out amid the different nations of the world or among the citizens in the form of treaties. In order to create as well as implement effective international environmental law, various conventions have been viewed to occur in different governmental officials such as International Court of Justice, international arbitration panels and national courts. International environmental law is generally applied for the private parties or for the government in order to control the pollution activities of the industrial enterprise. In this regard, international law is considered as a mutual agreement among the two or more nations relating with the environmental issues that has been created by those nations. These laws generally implies that innovative technology should be introduced in order to reduce the pollution level that are created by the power plants and manufacturing factories. Treaties regarding environmental issues amid the different nations are usually considered as a public international law. Contextually, if the treaties are conducted among the citizens between the two nations relating with environmental issues, then it is known as private international environmental law. Private international law relating with environmental issues usually considers certain common as well as important aspects that ultimately restricts the increased level of pollution by proper utilisation of natural resources. There are various environmental agreements that are formed as a treaty and are directly imposed upon every individual belonging to a nation (University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, 2012). In the US, ‘Center for International Environmental Law’ (CIEL) was established in the year 1989 in order to reinforce the utilization of international law and also for protecting the environment as well as to promote sustainable human health within the society. In this regard, CIEL strongly realises that policies comprising within the international environmental law is certainly a difficult task for maintaining appropriate balance between the protection of human rights and natural environment (CIEL, 2012). European Environmental Law Since the last 40 years ‘European Union (EU)’ took numerous initiatives in order to guard the natural environment as well as maintain sustainable development of natural resources. Environmental policy has been viewed to be one of the imperative aspects within the EU legislation. Contextually, 80% of the UK legislation concerning environmental policy is based upon the laws of European Union. In the year 1986, the ‘Single European Act’ was established in order to develop the policy regarding the safety of the natural environment. The EU passed legislation about the environmental policy by concentrating upon improving the quality of water, lessening noise pollution, implementing certain standards about the disposal of industrial waste and protecting the nature as well as wildlife. The present ‘Environment Action Programme (EAP)’ recognizes certain important core aspects in order to defend the natural environment. These aspects include nature & biodiversity, climate change, quality as well as healthy lifestyle and control of natural resources as well as proper disposal of waste. In the year 1997, it has been observed that the EU remained much committed upon lessening the emissions that results from greenhouse gases by a considerable level. In this regard, in the year 2008, EU established the target of “20:20:20”, where they committed to minimize the emission resulting from greenhouse gases by 20% in the year 2020. Regarding the aforementioned commitments, EU took significant initiatives out of which the most vital was ‘Emission Trading System (ETS)’. This system effectively measured the control of carbon dioxide (CO2) which normally produced by six major industries that include steel, cement, glass, energy, brick and cardboard manufacturer. In the year 2008, ETS decided to adopt significant measure concerning the reduction of aircraft emission. Moreover, the EU policies also supports for minimizing the emission of CO2 through implementing ‘Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS)’ procedures. Through this mechanism, it is fully possible to minimize the emissions by a greater extent. In the year 2009, ‘European Court of Justice (ECJ)’ added certain laws within the EU policy so that the community people of the states control as well as diminish CO2 emissions at large. The political leaders of the European states also agreed with the laws and policies that formulated by ETS and ECJ, where they committed that 20% of the state’s energy would be generated from the use of renewable sources by the year 2020 (Civitas, 2012). In this similar context, there are reasonable facts behind the implementation of environmental law by the EU commission and ETS. It has been viewed that the EU creates nearly about 22% of greenhouse emissions as well as produces in excess of 2 billion tonnes of wastage per year. As per the aforementioned laws and policies, in the year 2009, EU promotes efficiency for saving the energy by prohibiting the use of 100w radiant light bulbs (Civitas, 2012). Furthermore, in order to control the emission and to maintain the healthy environment, ‘The European Union Network for the Implementation and Enforcement of Environmental Law (IMPEL)’ was established in the year 1992. The basic objective of IMPEL is to develop essential facets for the protection of the natural environment of the EU. The core activities of IMPEL include concentrating upon raising the consciousness about the environmental issues, capacity building to mitigate the issues related with natural resources, exchanging information as well as executing effective laws and policies, promoting as well as supporting the feasibility and enforceability of ‘European Environment Legislation’. The EU commitments for regulating the sustainable environmental aspect also influence the other nations to take similar kinds of initiatives. European environmental law always seeks to deliver support for creating necessary policies in order to protect the natural environment and restrict the increased level of pollution (IMPEL, 2012). Conclusion From the overall discussion, it can be concluded that environmental laws as well as guidelines are quite essential to create awareness amid the community people, manufacturing industries and the polluter so that they maintain a sustainable environment within the earth atmosphere in upcoming time. Contextually, this laws and principles assist as well as provide healthy living life to every individual by a significant level. International environmental law is considered to be an agreement that is conducted between two or more nation for taking effective measures in order to minimize the environmental issues of those nations. These laws are quite essential to create awareness among the community people so that they can properly utilize the natural resources of the environment at large. In this similar context, it is recommended that every people of the nation should follow the environment law and protect every natural resources present in the earth atmosphere in an efficient manner for obtaining a healthy lifestyle in the future. Thus, on the basis of the above discussion, it can be affirmed that the formation as well as the implementation of different environmental laws along with their principles would ultimately aid in protecting the natural environment at large. References Besson, S. & Tasioulas, J., 2010. The Philosophy of International Law. Oxford University Press. Cordato, R. E., 2001. The Polluter Pays Principle: A Proper Guide for Environmental Policy. Institute for Research on the Economics of Taxation. [Online] Available at: http://iret.org/pub/SCRE-6.PDF [Accessed December 31, 2012]. Coyle, S. & Morrow, K., 2004. The Philosophical foundation of Environmental Law: Property, Rights and Nature. Hart Publishing. Civitas, 2012. EU Facts. Environmental Policy. [Online] Available at: http://www.civitas.org.uk/eufacts/FSENV/ENV1.htm [Accessed December 31, 2012]. CIEL, 2012. About Us. Home [Online] Available at: http://www.ciel.org/About_Us/index.html [Accessed December 31, 2012]. IMPEL, 2012. About IMPEL: Introduction. Home. [Online] Available at: http://impel.eu/about/ Lucia, D. V., 2010. Polluter Pays Principle: Introduction. Boston University. [Online] Available at: http://www.eoearth.org/article/Polluter_pays_principle [Accessed December 31, 2012]. University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, 2012. Environmental Laws in General. Understanding Global Change: Earth Science and Human Impacts. [Online] Available at: http://www.ucar.edu/communications/gcip/m3elaw/m3pdfc1.pdf [Accessed December 31, 2012]. Bibliography EPA, 2012. Laws and Regulation. United States Environmental protection Agency. [Online] Available at: http://www.epa.gov/lawsregs/ [Accessed December 31, 2012]. Home, R., 2007. A Short Guide to European Environmental Law. Angila Ruskin University. [Online] Available at: http://www.anglia.ac.uk/ruskin/en/home/faculties/alss/deps/law/staff0/home.Maincontent.0010.file.tmp/No4-IntroEurEnvLaw.pdf [Accessed December 31, 2012]. Read More