Sustainable Development and Australian Law - Essay Example

Sustainable Development and Australian Law [Name of the Student] [Name of the University] Sustainable Development and Australia One of the cardinal principles underlying ecologically sustainable development is that polluters should pay for the harm caused by them to the environment. In addition, this principle ensures that goods and services that contribute to the pollution of the environment are better assessed from the economic perspective (Australian Environment and Planning Law Group,Law Council of Australia, 2008). Such pollution causing goods and services increase in cost, while the goods and services that do not increase pollution levels get better recognition in the market. These goods are produced more efficiently and cost less, with the result that they procure a premium price. It is to be noted that greenhouse gases are now recognised as a major pollutant of the environment (Australian Environment and Planning Law Group,Law Council of Australia, 2008). In addition, a coming together of economic development, environmental protection and social equity are in general believed to be indispensable for achieving sustainable development. Since the past 2 decades, the paradigm of sustainable development has been accepted by businesses, civil society and governments. It has emerged as a beacon for these entities and has witnessed the active involvement of business and NGOs (Drexhage & Murphy, 2010). Nevertheless, several seemingly insurmountable difficulties have arisen, which have rendered the achievement of sustainable development difficult to achieve and implement. There are powerful and vested interests that leave no stone unturned in the achievement of their selfish and myopic national goals, to the detriment of the environment. These interests promote and preserve unsustainable trends and the comity of nations has not succeeded in preventing the former from discontinuing these destructive practices (Drexhage & Murphy, 2010). Consequently, sustainable development has been discussed as climate change threats. This is inappropriate, as it tends to restrict the wider ramifications of restricted sustainable development. Instead of encompassing the areas of economic development, environmental protection and social equity, sustainable development has been limited to being treated as merely an environmental issue (Drexhage & Murphy, 2010). The situation has been worsened due to deeming development as purely economic growth. The enormous wealth accumulated by the developed world has been attributed to this system of achieving economic progress. Furthermore, the rapidly developing countries have taken recourse to these very same methods (Drexhage & Murphy, 2010). This has resulted in a situation where the natural resources of this planet are in imminent danger of being totally exhausted or rendered of such inferior quality that the natural environment and biodiversity of the world stand to be irretrievably compromised. Sustainability development throws up a number of challenges. For instance, there is considerable ethical difficulty in determining whether the quality of human life can be improved at the cost of other life forms or even at the cost of a section of the humans (Becker, 2010, p. 190). There is consensus among people that provision should be made for future generations; however, there is a dismal lack of agreement regarding the manner in which resources are to be conserved for humans and other living beings (Becker, 2010, p. 190). The various possibilities that arise are whether the human population is to be suitably reduced or should mankind rely on technology to provide better yielding crops and materials. The situation is truly muddling (Becker, 2010, p. 190). In the area of sustainable development Australia continues to face a number of hurdles. This is notwithstanding its implementation of several process and institutional reforms. One of the major areas of concern relates to the sustainable development of urban environments (WSSD - Australian National Assessment Report, 2008). A measure of success has been achieved in Australia, in this area, inasmuch as the total level of certain pollutants has decreased to an appreciable extent. This welcome development has been attributed to better emissions and fuel norms, and an array of initiatives by the Australian authorities (WSSD - Australian National Assessment Report, 2008). Nevertheless, urban air and water pollution, remnant habitat loss and other such problems continue to raise serious concerns. In Australia, the development of energy conservation measures and fuel efficient systems has been significantly lesser than the development of energy intensive transport. There has been a drastic reduction in the use of public transport in urban centres, which connotes a greater use of private vehicles (WSSD - Australian National Assessment Report, 2008). The latter development has adversely affected the quality of air in urban centres. Australia is blessed with a fascinating array of biodiversity, which in turn makes it all the more important for this country to promote measures to protect the global biodiversity. This is admittedly a very difficult area to achieve significant progress, due to the presence of several mutually opposing interests (WSSD - Australian National Assessment Report, 2008). The efforts in this area are inadequate and the indiscriminate clearing of land for urban development needs and agriculture poses a major threat to native species and ecosystems. As a consequence of this, a large number of wild animals meet their untimely death on the roads with disturbing frequency (WSSD - Australian National Assessment Report, 2008). Another major problem being faced in Australia is salinity which results from large scale clearing of land and agriculture. This, in addition to other factors, causes a major deterioration in the quality of water, which poses a grave danger to ecosystems, plants and animals. In addition, it also jeopardises the future of agriculture and industries, and urban water supply in some areas (WSSD - Australian National Assessment Report, 2008). The quality of water has seriously impacted by nutrient and sediment pollution, with overwhelming consequences for aquatic ecosystems and biodiversity. It has also spelled doom for the biodiversity of estuaries and the sea (WSSD - Australian National Assessment Report, 2008). In its 1987 report, Our Common Future, the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) provided a standard definition for sustainable development. This defines it as development that satisfies present requirements, without compromising the capacity of the future generations to meet their requirements. This commission was established in the year 1983 by the United Nations, in order to study the increasing attrition of natural resources and the implication for sustaining social development (DeGruchy, 2010). This report highlights the needs of the poor of the world and the limited ability of the environment to satisfy present and future requirements. With regard to the requirements of the poor, sustainable development enjoins that the basic requirements of all have to be met and that every individual should be provided with the opportunity to improve their life. This can only succeed when there is sustained economic growth, sincere attempts to provide equitable opportunities, restrictions on consumption and reduction in the rate of population growth (DeGruchy, 2010). Furthermore, the natural systems that support life should not be harmed by sustainable development. Such considerations are also to be extended to living beings, soils and waters. Moreover, sustainable development should never lose sight of the limits to which natural resources can be exploited, the difficulties involved in managing renewable resources, and the judicious use of non – renewable resources (DeGruchy, 2010). The report concludes that sustainable development is a mechanism of change that brings about harmony in the areas of exploitation of resources, direction of investments, institutional change, and orientation of technological progress. In addition, sustainable development aims to improve the present and future capacity to address human aspirations and requirements (DeGruchy, 2010). Sustainable development promotes a comprehensive consideration of environmental concerns from the perspective of human rights, social justice and global equity. This has been wholeheartedly accepted by all genres of moralists and religious entities. In fact, religious exhortations, invariably direct mankind to satisfy the needs of the poor and accord the required respect for the limits imposed by nature. During the past two decades, a number of summit meetings had transpired among the religious communities, which had promoted these views in a strident manner (DeGruchy, 2010). In the garb of a concept, sustainable development is a notion that is evolving, dynamic and open. It can be made to address a variety of situations and it can be relevant in a number of concepts that admit of differing scales, time and locations. Sustainable development provides access for participation at several levels that could pertain to the global or local spheres (Martins, 2011). Moreover, it facilitates the participation of a wide array of activity sectors. The role of sustainable development further extends to permitting participation in governmental institutions, civil society and business. Such participation permits the redefining and reinterpretation of sustainability, so as to meet different challenges that range from sustainable livelihoods to urban planning (Martins, 2011). Subsequent to the Rio Declaration, the governments of the Commonwealth, State and Territory of Australia decided to adopt the National Conservation Strategy for Australia and the Intergovernmental Agreement on the Environment (IGAE). The latter describes the chief principles that constitute the basis of ecological sustainable development. These are intergenerational equity, conservation of biological diversity, precautionary principle, ecological integrity, and enhanced incentive, pricing and valuation systems. It is deemed essential that these principles inform programme implementation and policy making (Millar, 2011). Australia has enacted several laws and become a signatory to several treaties. These endeavours serve to promote ecologically sustainable development through the length and breadth of the nation. Among the major issues being envisaged by Australia are water management, climate change, conservation of the biodiversity and species, and the management of land and natural resources (Millar, 2011). The chief initiative in the area of Australian national environmental legislation is the 1999 Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act. Thereafter, in the year 2007, the Kyoto Protocol 1999, was ratified by the Australian government, which rendered Australia a member of the Kyoto Protocol framework that related to the forced reduction of emissions in conjunction with flexible systems with which to achieve the set goals (Millar, 2011). The efforts made by the Commonwealth of Australia in managing the water resources of the Basin, required it to employ several of the powers conferred upon it by the Constitution, in addition to the referral of powers by the States of the Basin. In the year 2008, the Water Act (2007) was enacted, which was seized with improving water security for all the users of the water resources of the Basin, enhancement of efficiency and the cost effectiveness of the management of the Basin water resources (Millar, 2011). In the year 2003 a major development regarding the protection of the environment transpired due to the enactment of the Greenhouse Gas Abatement Scheme by the government of New South Wales. This scheme made it mandatory for the retailers of electricity as well as the large scale users of electricity to purchase greenhouse abatement certificates as a compensatory measure for their emissions (Millar, 2011). The responsibility of extended producers, in New South Wales, comes under the provisions of Part 4 of the Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Act 2001. This act requires the Department of Environment and Climate Change to publish annual priority statements that relate to the product that is to be targeted for extended producer responsibility schemes. Some examples of the priority areas that have been encompassed include tyres, televisions, plastic bags and computers (Millar, 2011). Moreover, the year 2007 was witness to the enactment of the Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Act 2007. This act aims to promote the efficient use of resources, mitigate harm to the environment, and improve resource management options (Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Act 2007). One observes with chagrin that measures aimed at some specific aspect of development do not take into consideration the consequences on other elements of development. This has invariably resulted in unanticipated costs and outcomes. (Martins, 2011). Sustainable development poses a number of challenges, and these are best addressed only when there is adequate technical and institutional competence to evaluate the social, economic and environmental impact of development strategies. Moreover, appropriate policy responses have to be formulated and implemented. Sustainable development necessitates the participation of the various stakeholders and perceptions that attempt to strike a balance between the different objectives and values, in order to engender global sustainable practices. There has been an enhancement in the targets and goals related to sustainable development, which are being adopted by agreement at the local and international level (Martins, 2011). As such, sustainable development can be understood as a strategy that ensures that the maximisation of prosperity for the extant generations is not at the cost of the generations of the future. It goes with saying that any meaningful interaction, from the perspective of sustainable development that the environment, society and the economy cannot be ignored during the formulation of the various strategies. List of References Australian Environment and Planning Law Group,Law Council of Australia. (2008, September 10). Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme Green Paper. Retrieved August 6, 2012, from Law Council of Australia: http://www.climatechange.gov.au/en/submissions/cprs-green-paper/~/media/submissions/greenpaper/0357-australian-environment-and-planning-law-group-law-council-of-australia.ashx Becker, J. (2010). Use of backcasting to integrate indicators with principles of sustainability. International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology, 17(3), 189 – 197. DeGruchy, S. (2010). The Spirit of Sustainability. In W. Jenkins, & W. Bauman, Berkshire Encyclopedia of Sustainability (pp. 106 – 109). Great Barrington MA: Berkshire. Drexhage, J., & Murphy, D. (2010, September). Sustainable Development: From Brundtland to Rio 2012. Retrieved August 6, 2012, from United Nations: http://www.un.org/wcm/webdav/site/climatechange/shared/gsp/docs/GSP1-6_Background%20on%20Sustainable%20Devt.pdf Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act. (1999, July 16). Retrieved August 10, 2012, from Australian Government Commonwealth Law: http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Series/C2004A00485 Intergovernmental Agreement on the Environment. (1992, May 1). Retrieved August 10, 2012, from Australian Government Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities: http://www.environment.gov.au/about/esd/publications/igae/index.html Kyoto Protocol. (1997, December 11). Retrieved August 10, 2012, from United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change: http://unfccc.int/kyoto_protocol/items/2830.php/ Martins, R. D. (2011). Sustainable Development. In N. Cohen, & P. Robbins, The SAGE Reference Series on Green Society: Towards a Sustainable Future (pp. 410 – 413). Thousand Oaks CA: Sage Reference. Millar, I. (2011, April 13). The Environmental Law Framework for Sustainable Development – Principles of Sustainable Development in International, National and Local Laws. Retrieved August 10, 2012, from Australian Capital Territory Planning and Land Authority: http://www.actpla.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/13893/Millar_paper.pdf The Greenhouse Gas Reduction Scheme. (2003, January 1). Retrieved August 10, 2012, from Green House Gas New South Wales: http://www.greenhousegas.nsw.gov.au/ The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development. (1992, June). Retrieved August 10, 2012, from The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development: http://www.unesco.org/education/information/nfsunesco/pdf/RIO_E.PDF Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Act 2001. (n.d.). Retrieved from New South Wales Government NSW Legilsation: http://www.legislation.nsw.gov.au/viewtop/inforce/act+58+2001+first+0+N Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Act 2007. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/wa/consol_act/waarra2007364/ Water Act 2007. (n.d.). Retrieved from Australian Government Commonwealth Law: http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Series/C2007A00137 WSSD - Australian National Assessment Report. (2008, November 13). Retrieved August 6, 2012, from Australian Government Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities: http://www.environment.gov.au/about/international/wssd/publications/assessment/overview.html Read More