The Impact of Sustainable Development Is Negligible - Essay Example

The impact of sustainable development is negligible because it is impossible to translate into legal and binding obligations I. Introduction The rapid development that characterizes all areas of human activities has created the need for the formulation and the application of an appropriate legal context that will ensure the protection of all participants (as well as of the environment) from possible violations of the rights attributable to them. Global community has joined the relevant efforts trying to identify a net of rules and practices that could be applied at an international level among all states around the world. The above efforts have led to the creation of a series of significant texts of various forms (legal rules, Conventions, administrative orders) that govern the human activities globally. However, there are many issues that due to their complexity and importance have not been regulated to the targeted level and there are many factors that could explain such a failure. The interactivity and the continuous change in the human activities can be considered as the most significant reason for the above result. One of the areas of human activity that has not been regulated successfully is the ‘sustainable development’. This activity because of its broad character presents a lot of difficulties both when been analyzed as well as when been regulated by specific legal rules. In fact, it has been proved that in many cases the regulation of activities of such kind is an unfeasible task not because of the lack of knowledge or experience of the persons involved in the relevant effort but mostly because of the multi-dimension character of these activities that tend to differentiate as of their form and their characteristics in accordance with the area (human, scientific, natural) involved. II. Sustainable development – description and characteristics The beginnings of sustainable development as we know it today stem from the United Nations Conference of the Human Environment which took place in 1972. According to a definition stated by Bruntland (1987) "Sustainable development is the development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs". Sustainable development has also be considered as ‘an approach to economic planning that attempts to foster economic growth while preserving the quality of the environment for future generations’ [5]. A widely-used and accepted international definition of sustainable development is: development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs [4]. It should also be noticed that despite its enormous popularity in the last two decades of the 20th century, the concept of sustainable development proved difficult to apply in many cases, primarily because the results of long-term sustainability analyses depend on the particular resources focused upon [5]. The meaning of sustainable development varies from one individual to another. For instance, sustainable development for many is limited to environmental issues. This meaning is restrictive, since it does not allow for the economic and social facets of sustainable development. From a general point of view it could be stated that reconciling economic development, social equity and environmental quality is at the core of sustainable development. Regarding the above elements of sustainable development and particular the last one (quality) it has been stated [1] that quality means paying particular attention to integrated decision-making. Moreover, the commitment to equity has been considered to be a third element of sustainable development. Equity involves the fair distribution of the costs and benefits of development between the rich and the poor, among generations, and among nations. Equity also implies that all people have the means to meet basic needs, and that all people are entitled to basic rights. Sustainable development contains both substantive and procedural elements. The substantive elements are mainly set out in Principles 3-8 of the Rio Declaration. They include the sustainable utilization of natural resources; the integration of environmental protection and economic development; the right to development; and the pursuit of equity in the allocation of resources both within the present generation and between present and future generations (intra- and inter-generational equity). None of these concepts is new, but the Rio Declaration brings them together in a more systematic form than hitherto. The principal procedural elements are found in Principles 10 and 17 dealing with public participation in decision-making and environmental impact assessment. The above elements are not new but they have never been supported before as of their application (Boyle et al., 1999, 9). As for the UK, the country has four priority areas for immediate action, these are: Sustainable Consumption and Production Climate Change and Energy Natural Resource Protection and Environmental Enhancement Sustainable Communities The Government also recognises that changing behaviour is a cross cutting theme closely linked to all of these priorities. [4] III. Interaction between sustainable development and law IIIa. The regulation of sustainable development by law – current legislation One of the most important legislative texts that regulate the sustainable development is the Rio Declaration of 1992. More specifically, principle 27 of the Rio Declaration (1992 Rio Declaration on Environment and Development) calls specifically for further development of international law in the field of sustainable development, and at the request of the Commission on Sustainable Development, UNEP initiated a study in 1995 of the concept, requirements and implications of sustainable development and international law. The above legislative text (Rio Declaration) appears to be one of the great number of instruments setting out new norms of international environmental law to which the International Court of Justice refers in the Case Concerning the Gabc + ̆íkovo-Nagymaros Dam, and on which the Court also relied explicitly in its Advisory Opinion on the Legality of Nuclear Weapons. In the above context, Sustainable development forms an important element in the elaboration of global environmental responsibility by the Rio instruments. Its most potentially revolutionary aspect, however, is that it makes a states management of its own domestic environment and resources a matter of international concern for the first time in a systematic way (Boyle et al., 1999, 5). On the other hand, a few countries [2] have introduced the principle of sustainable development into their laws. Among them is Poland. The article 5 of the 1997 Constitution reads, "The Republic of Poland shall safeguard the independence and integrity of its territory and ensure the freedoms and rights of persons and citizens, the security of the citizens, safeguard the national heritage and shall ensure the protection of the natural environment pursuant to the principles of sustainable development". In principle it means that the Constitutional Tribunal may scratch any law it deems incompatible with the principle of sustainable development. In France in 2004, along with the lists of human rights set out in the 1789 Declaration of the rights of man and the citizen and in the preamble of the 1946 constitution of the Fourth Republic, an Environmental Charter was added to the Constitution, recognizing among others a duty to preserve the environment and the right to live in a "balanced and health-respecting" environment. As for the United Kingdom, the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 imposes on planning officials a duty to exercise their functions with the objective of contributing to the achievement of Sustainable development. More specifically, part 4 of the specific legal text deals with Development Control. According to this article, local planning authorities will be able to introduce local Permitted Development rights by way of local development orders. The Secretary of State will be able to make development orders and regulations prescribing the procedure for making applications for planning permission and certain consents; to prescribe fees and charges for a wider range of planning functions; and set a timetable for "called in" and recovered appeals and connected decisions. Moreover, the Part provides that local planning authorities may decline to determine applications. It also changes the duration of planning permission and consents. It deals with major infrastructure projects in England, in relation to which the Secretary of State - if he considers the development to be of national or regional importance - may direct that a planning application must be referred to him rather than dealt with by the local planning authority. The Part also introduces a new scheme of planning contributions to replace existing provisions relating to planning obligations. At a next level, the specific Part provides local planning authorities with a new enforcement power to serve temporary stop notices and introduces a duty for persons or bodies which are required to be consulted to respond to consultation requests within a specified time [2]. The seeds of the obligation of sustainable development lie in the recognition that, as expressed in the very first principle of the Stockholm Declaration, “Man has the fundamental right to freedom, equality and adequate conditions of life, in an environment of a quality that permits a life of dignity and well-being, and he bears a solemn responsibility to protect and improve the environment for present and future generations” (United Nations 1972, pr. 1). In the same context, Agenda 21 of the United Nations [4] and more specifically the Chapter 39, deals with the issue of protection of sustainable development by the laws both at a national and an international level. Moreover, in the article 1 of chapter 39 it is stated that: ‘The recognition that the following vital aspects of the universal, multilateral and bilateral treaty-making process should be taken into account: (a)  The further development of international law on sustainable development, giving special attention to the delicate balance between environmental and developmental concerns; (b)  The need to clarify and strengthen the relationship between existing international instruments or agreements in the field of environment and relevant social and economic agreements or instruments, taking into account the special needs of developing countries;’ Furthermore, in the article 2 of the same Chapter it is highlighted that the overall objective of the review and development of international environmental law should be to evaluate and to promote the efficacy of that law and to promote the integration of environment and development policies through effective international agreements or instruments taking into account both universal principles and the particular and differentiated needs and concerns of all countries. The obligations and the rights of the states around the world are presented through the article 5 of Chapter 39 [4], according to which while ensuring the effective participation of all countries concerned, Parties should at periodic intervals review and assess both the past performance and effectiveness of existing international agreements or instruments as well as the priorities for future law making on sustainable development. This may include an examination of the feasibility of elaborating general rights and obligations of States, as appropriate, in the field of sustainable development, as provided by General Assembly resolution 44/228. In certain cases, attention should be given to the possibility of taking into account varying circumstances through differential obligations or gradual application. On the other hand, Chapter 17 of Agenda 21 deals mainly with the provision of an operational and institutional means for the implementation of the objectives of integrated management and sustainable development in coastal and marine areas under national jurisdiction. In this context, states are called to consider updating, strengthening, and extending existing regional agreements and other instruments such as the Montreal Guidelines for Protection of the Marine Environment Against Pollution from Land-based Sources. In promoting new strategy for protection of the marine environment and sustainable development of coastal and marine areas, Agenda 21, Chapter 17 has made an important contribution to the amplification and completion of the practical measures to prevent, reduce, and control degradation of the marine environment from two major sources, namely: land-based and sea-based activities. The above legal text can be considered as the most important legislative rule regarding the protection of the environment from all marine activities (Boyle et al., 1999, 282) The obligation of sustainable development now appears in numerous international instruments (United Nations 1992, pr. 8). The principle was even included in the preamble to World Trade Organization Agreement (Final Act 1994). And the obligation of sustainability has been recognized as part of the customary international law governing the management of transboundary waters (International Court of Justice 1997, par. 140; United Nations Convention 1997, art. 5). Finally, the norm of sustainability has been incorporated into a growing number of international water management treaties as well as national laws (Luso-Spanish Convention 1998, arts. 4(1), 15(1); Meuse Agreement 1994, art. 3(5); Rhine Convention 1998, art. 4; Scheldt Agreement 1994, art. 3(5)). It should be noticed that the legislative texts that regulate the sustainable development do not include only reference to the existence of sustainability but they also refer to a specific content regarding the particular type of development (Dellapenna, 2004). IIIb. Sustainable development under current legal practice – case law Violations of the law related with the sustainable development are a characteristic part of human activities around the world. The case of Baltic States and the violations of the laws referring to the forestry regulation is an example of current practice in the area of sustainable development. More specifically [3], recent institutional and legal reforms, greening legislation, capacity development and the rapid development of forest certification characterize forest sector trends in the Baltic States. At the same time, problems related to weak law enforcement, the weak organization of private forest owners, insufficient corporate responsibility and money laundering in the timber trade remain. It should be noticed that Latvian State Forest Service statistics for 2003 show that violations of Latvia’s forestry act concern 0.8% of the total volume of timber on the market, or 103,000 m3. This is a 30% decrease from 2002. Moreover, in 2003 violations concerned felling trees without a license, damaging trees and improper forestry practices. These figures indicate that violations of Latvia’s forestry act are not the main problem facing local industry, but rather other illegalities related to national and international laws. WWF/WB Alliance studies in Latvia suggest that defaults on social charge payments affect 6,000-10,000 forest workers and an estimated loss in revenues of US$ 15-30 million each year. Illegal practices lower costs by 15-20% compared to legal operations. In the above context, it has been found that several reasons lead companies to illegal practices, the most important being illegal cash flow in the market. On the other hand it has to be highlighted that the offer of illegal cash creates or provokes the chain of all other illegal activities, including: forged bills of lading, bookkeeping irregularities, tax evasion, false forest inventory data and information, and the manipulation of forest ownership rights. These illegal activities represent economic, social and reputation risks for all actors in the forest sector. They can cause losses of export markets and investments, as well as distorted competition. Therefore, private and public sector measures are needed to improve the situation. There are also cases where the legal rules do not include a specific provision for the regulation of a sustainable development – related activity and the actors participated in the specific activity (individual, corporation, public authority) proceeds to the necessary initiatives for the creation of the appropriate legal context. A characteristic example is that of Henkel Group, a global company that produces household cleaners and body care products. The company’s affiliate in Chile, Henkel Chile, faced a problem regarding the usage of a material in the production line. More specifically, Henkel Chile was faced with health issues, such as glue sniffing, as a consequence of the usage of toluene as a basic material of its products. Toluene is an organic solvent. If used as directed, it is a safe product, however toluenes, and toluene containing blends of solvents, have proven to be highly attractive for sniffing addicts. Also, toxicological properties of solvents containing toluene are closely observed by industrial and craftsmen clients from an occupational health and safety point of view. Henkel’s objective was to stop using toluene and to develop an alternative product that could achieve the same (or better) product performance but causes less health problems when misused. Further, Henkel also wanted to address the problem on a broader scale, providing product information and education regarding product hazards. Henkel Chile changed its formulations for contact cements and created a toluene free solvent that satisfied price/performance considerations and other client and government concerns. The new solution is a blend of cyclohexane and acetone. Occupational concentrations of the new solvent have no adverse effects on the peripheral nervous system and it has no sniffing attractiveness to addicts. Moreover, in order to promote the use of toluene free adhesives, Henkel asked a recognized Institute to officially certify that the new product is toluene free. For this task, the renowned Universidad de Chile (University of Chile) was chosen. An independent lawyer supervised the investigations to assure neutrality. At a next level, based on the pioneering role of Henkel Chile, the scientific studies and the investigations within the Chemical Industry Association, the Health Ministry of Chile prepared a national law to prohibit the production and marketing of adhesives containing toluene. The law was officially published in December 1998, and its provisions entered into force - with different transition periods - for all consumer and industrial adhesives during 1999 [3]. It should also be noticed that one of the most important areas of the law of sustainable development is ecotourism. Although tourism poses the threat of environmental harm from pollution and the overuse of natural resources, it also can create economic incentives for the preservation of the environment in developing countries and increase awareness of unique and fragile ecosystems throughout the world [5]. IV. Conclusion The presentation and the examination of the issues involved with the sustainable development as it can be observed in most human activities lead to the assumption that the creation of a ‘legal net’ that could provide an effective protection regarding all aspects of the above activity, should be regarded as a very difficult task. Moreover, although a lot of efforts have been made towards this direction, the relevant national and international legal texts have been proved in many cases inadequate to cover the demands of the relevant area. However, it should be noticed that most issues related with the above activity are covered at a primary or even secondary level (low to mid level protection), a fact that should be considered as a significant achievement given the complexity and the extension of sustainable development. In any case, the regulation of all the aspects of a specific human activity is a target that has not been achieved in any social or scientific area so the efforts made up to this point regarding the specific subject have to be evaluated as an important achievement comparing to all other areas of human activity. References Boyle, A., Freestone, D. (1999). International Law and Sustainable Development: Past Achievements and Future Challenges. Oxford University Press. Oxford Bruntland, G. (1987). Our Common Future: The World Commission on Environment and Development, Oxford: Oxford University Press Case Concerning the Gabc + ̆íikovo-Nagymaros Dam (1997) ICJ Reports 7 Dellapenna, J. W. (2004). Is Sustainable Development a Serviceable Legal Standard in the Management of Water? Villanova University School of Law. Water Resources Update, 127: 87-93 Encyclopedia Britannica online http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-224618 [5] International Court of Justice. The Gabcíkovo-Nagymoros Case (Hungary v. Slovakia), 1997 ICJ No. 92, par. 140, reprinted in International Legal Materials 37:162-242 (1998) “Luso-Spanish Convention.” 1998. Convention on the Co-Operation for the Protection and the Sustainable Use of the Waters of the Luso-Spanish River Basins, signed 30 Nov. 1998, Portugal-Spain “Meuse Agreement.” 1994. Agreement on the Protection of the River Meuse, Belgium-France-Netherlands, signed 26 Apr. 1994, in 1994 Tractatenblad van het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden no. 149, reprinted in International Legal Materials 34:852-858 Review of factors influencing the sustainable development strategy. Canadian Economic Development http://www.dec-ced.gc.ca/Complements/Publications/Strategie-FR/sdd_2003-2006/en/2.html [1] “Rhine Convention.” 1998. Convention for the Protection of the Rhine, adopted Jan. 22, 1998 “Scheldt Agreement.” 1994. Agreement on the Protection of the River Scheldt, Belgium-France-Netherlands, signed 26 Apr. 1994, 1994 Tractatenblad van het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden no. 150, reprinted in International Legal Materials 34:859-863 Sustainable development in the law http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainable_development [2] United Nations. 1972. Report of the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment, UN Sales No. E.73.II.A.14 UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Division of Sustainable Development http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/sdissues/intl_law/law.htm [4] UNEP, Montreal Guidelines for the Protection of the Marine Environment against Pollution from Land-Based Sources, Decision 13/18/11 of the Governing Council of UNEP, of 24 May 1985 World Business Council for Sustainable Development www.wbcsd.org [3] Read More