International Law

It is well known that the United Nations Conference in Stockholm on the human environment is a landmark milestone at the international arena for the protection of the deteriorating environment. The conference laid emphasis on the need that man’s capabilities to transform his surroundings must be wisely used. Wrong and unwise use can do incalculable harm to human beings and the human environment. It was suggested by the Conference that developing countries must direct their efforts toward balancing their priorities with the need to check increasing population. Moreover, the conference identified the areas and laid down the principles on which the nations should take up and enact laws for protecting environment. These principles have been incorporated in the Stockholm Declaration (British Institute of International and Comparative Environmental Law 1992; Caldwell 1996; Koivurova 2014; Muralikrishna and Manickam 2017). In this process, there are national and international dimensions of environmental law.

Global and regional environmental issues are increasingly the subject of international law. Debates over environmental concerns implicate core principles of international law and have been the subject of numerous international agreements and declarations (see Appendix B).

Customary international law is an important source of international environmental law. These are the norms and rules that countries follow as a matter of custom and they are so prevalent that they bind all states in the world. When a principle becomes customary law is not clear cut and many arguments are put forward by states not wishing to be bound. Examples of customary international law relevant to the environment include the duty to warn other states promptly about icons of an environmental nature and environmental damages to which another state or states may be exposed, and Principle 21 of the Stockholm Declaration.

Numerous legally binding international agreements encompass a wide variety of issue areas, from terrestrial, marine, and atmospheric pollution through to wildlife and biodiversity protection. International environmental agreements are generally multilateral (or sometimes bilateral) treaties (a.k.a. convention, agreement, protocol, etc.). Protocols are subsidiary agreements built from a primary treaty. They exist in many areas of international law but are especially useful in the environmental field, where they may be used to regularly incorporate recent scientific knowledge. They also permit countries to reach agreement on a framework that would be contentious if every detail were to be agreed upon in advance. The most widely known protocol in international environmental law is the Kyoto Protocol, which followed from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

While the bodies that proposed, argued, agreed upon, and ultimately adopted existing international agreements vary according to each agreement, certain conferences, including 1972s United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, 1983s World Commission on Environment and Development, 1992s United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, and 2002s World Summit on Sustainable Development have been particularly important. Multilateral environmental agreements sometimes create an International Organization, Institution, or Body responsible for implementing the agreement. Major examples are the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

International environmental law also includes the opinions of international courts and tribunals. While there are few and they have limited authority, the decisions carry much weight with legal commentators and are quite influential on the development of international environmental law. One of the biggest challenges in international decisions is to determine an adequate compensation for environmental damages (Hardman Reis 2011). The courts include the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the international Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, the European Court of Justice, European Court of Human Rights, and other regional treaty tribunals.

Africa

According to the International Network for Environmental Compliance and Enforcement, the major environmental issues in Africa are “drought and flooding, air pollution, deforestation, loss of biodiversity, freshwater availability, degradation of soil and vegetation, and widespread poverty.” The USEPA is focused on the “growing urban and industrial pollution, water quality, electronic waste, and indoor air from cook stoves.” They hope to provide enough aid on concerns regarding pollution before their impacts contaminate the African environment as well as the global environment. By doing so, they intend to “protect human health, particularly vulnerable populations such as children and the poor” (EPA 2012). In order to accomplish these goals in Africa, EPA programs are focused on strengthening the ability to enforce environmental laws as well as public compliance to them. Other programs work on developing stronger environmental laws, regulations, and standards.

Asia

The Asian Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Network (AECEN) is an agreement between 16 Asian countries dedicated to improving cooperation with environmental laws in Asia. These countries include Cambodia, China, Indonesia, India, Maldives, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam, and Lao PDR (AECEN 2018).

European Union

The European Union issues secondary legislation on environmental issues that are valid throughout the EU (so‐called regulations) and many directives that must be implemented into national legislation from the 28 member states (national states). Examples are the Regulation (EC) No. 338/97 on the implementation of CITES; or the Natura 2000 network the centerpiece for nature and biodiversity policy, encompassing the bird directive (79/409/EEC/ changed to 2009/147/EC) and the habitats directive (92/43/EEC), which are made up of multiple SACs (Special Areas of Conservation, linked to the habitats directive) and SPAs (Special Protected Areas, linked to the bird directive) throughout Europe.

EU legislation is ruled in Article 249 Treaty for the Functioning of the European Union. Topics for common EU legislation are as follows:

• Climate change
• Air pollution
• Water protection and management
• Waste management
• Soil protection
• Protection of nature, species, and biodiversity
• Noise pollution
• Cooperation for the environment with third countries (other than EU member states)
• Civil protection

Middle East

The USEPA is working with countries in the Middle East to improve “environmental governance, water pollution and water security, clean fuels and vehicles, public participation, and pollution prevention.”

Oceania

The main concerns on environmental issues in the Oceanic Region are “illegal releases of air and water pollutants, illegal logging/timber trade, illegal shipment of hazardous wastes, including e‐waste and ships slated for destruction, and insufficient institutional structure/lack of enforcement capacity.” The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environmental Program (SPREP) is an international organization between Australia, the Cook Islands, Fiji, France, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Island, Tonga, Tuvalu, United States, and Vanuatu. The SPREP was established in order to provide assistance in improving and protecting the environment as well as to assure sustainable development for future generations (SPREP n.d.; Taylor et al. 2013).

Australia

The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 is the centerpiece of environmental legislation in the Australian Government. It sets up the “legal framework to protect and manage nationally and internationally important flora, fauna, ecological communities and heritage places” (EPBC 1999). It also focuses on protecting world heritage properties, national heritage properties, wetlands of international importance, nationally threatened species and ecological communities, migratory species, Commonwealth marine areas, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, and the environment surrounding nuclear activities (EPBC 1999). Commonwealth v. Tasmania (1983), also known as the “Tasmanian Dam Case,” is the most influential case for Australian environmental law (Commonwealth v Tasmania 1983).

Brazil

The Brazilian government created the Ministry of Environment in 1992 in order to develop better strategies of protecting the environment, use natural resources sustainably, and enforce public environmental policies. The Ministry of Environment has authority over policies involving environment, water resources, preservation, and environmental programs involving the Amazon.

Canada

The Department of the Environment Act establishes the Department of the Environment in the Canadian government as well as the position Minister of the Environment. Their duties include “the preservation and enhancement of the quality of the natural environment, including water, air and soil quality; renewable resources, including migratory birds and other nondomestic flora and fauna; water; meteorology” (Department of the Environment Act 1985/2009). The Environmental Protection Act is the main piece of Canadian environmental legislation that was put into place on 31 March 2000. The Act focuses on “respecting pollution prevention and the protection of the environment and human health in order to contribute to sustainable development.” Other principle federal statutes include the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act and the Species at Risk Act. When provincial and federal legislation are in conflict, federal legislation takes precedence, that being said individual provinces can have their own legislation such as Ontario’s Environmental Bill of Rights and Clean Water Act (1985).

China

According to the USEPA, “China has been working with great determination in recent years to develop, implement, and enforce a solid environmental law framework. Chinese officials face critical challenges in effectively implementing the laws, clarifying the roles of their national and provincial governments, and strengthening the operation of their legal system” (EPA Collaboration with China 2017). Explosive economic and industrial growth in China has led to significant environmental degradation, and China is currently in the process of developing more stringent legal controls (McElwee 2011). The harmonization of Chinese society and the natural environment is billed as a rising policy priority (NRDC 2014; Pettit 2014; Stern 2013; Wang 2013).

Ecuador

With the enactment of the 2008 Constitution, Ecuador became the first country in the world to codify the Rights of Nature. The Constitution, specifically Articles 10 and 71–74, recognizes the inalienable rights of ecosystems to exist and flourish, gives people the authority to petition on the behalf of ecosystems, and requires the government to remedy violations of these rights. The rights approach is a break away from traditional environmental regulatory systems, which regard nature as property and legalize and manage degradation of the environment rather than prevent it (CELDF 2017).

The Rights of Nature articles in Ecuador’s constitution are part of a reaction to a combination of political, economic, and social phenomena. Ecuador’s abusive past with the oil industry, most famously the class‐action litigation against Chevron, and the failure of an extraction‐based economy and neoliberal reforms to bring economic prosperity to the region has resulted in the election of a New Leftist regime, led by President Rafael Correa, and sparked a demand for new approaches to development. In conjunction with this need, the principle of “Buen Vivir,” or good living – focused on social, environmental, and spiritual wealth versus material wealth – gained popularity among citizens and was incorporated into the new constitution (Gudynas 2011).

The influence of indigenous groups, from whom the concept of “Buen Vivir” originates, in the forming of the constitutional ideals also facilitated the incorporation of the Rights of Nature as a basic tenet of their culture and conceptualization of “Buen Vivir” (Becker 2011).

Egypt

The Environmental Protection Law outlines the responsibilities of the Egyptian government to “preparation of draft legislation and decrees pertinent to environmental management, collection of data both nationally and internationally on the state of the environment, preparation of periodical reports and studies on the state of the environment, formulation of the national plan and its projects, preparation of environmental profiles for new and urban areas, and setting of standards to be used in planning for their development, and preparation of an annual report on the state of the environment to be prepared to the President” (Ministry of Environment Egyptian Environmental Affairs 2009).

Germany

Since 15 November 1994, environmental protection has been enshrined as an objective of the state in Article 20a of the German Basic Law. Constitutional status has thus been afforded to environmental protection and its objectives. All state bodies – in particular the legislature – are required to be “mindful also of [their] responsibility toward future generations” and to protect the environment (Seider 2010):

• Law on Conservation and Environmental Care (Gesetz über Naturschutz und Landschaftspflege – Bundesnaturschutzgesetz – BNatSchG)
• Law on Protection for Environmental Harms due to Air Pollution, Noise, etc. (Gesetz zum Schutz vor schädlichen Umwelteinwirkungen durch Luftverunreinigungen, Geräusche, Erschütterungen und ähnliche Vorgänge – Bundes‐Immissionsschutzgesetz – BImSchG)
• Regulation on Drinking Water Quality (Trinkwasserverordnung – TrinkwV)
• Regulation on Soil Protection (Bundesbodenschutzgesetz – BBSchG)
• Regulation on Waste Management (Kreislaufwirtschaftsgesetz – KrwG)
• Regulation on Water Usage (Wasserhaushaltsgesetz – WHG)

Environmental Rules for Doing Business in Germany: Legal Requirements

The environmental laws at the federal and state level are generally implemented by the Länder. The highest national authority for environmental matters is the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. The 16 Länder also have their own environment ministries.

The Federal Ministry for the Environment and Environment ministries of the Länder collates all acts and regulations within its area of competence. It is broken down into the following fields: General environmental protection; Waste management; Laws on chemicals; Renewable energy/climate protection; Water conservancy; Emission protection; Nuclear safety/radiological protection; Nature and landscape conservation; Chemicals Act (Act on protection against hazardous substances); Chemicals Prohibition Regulation; Hazardous Substances Regulation; and Chemicals Penalty Regulation.

India

In India, environmental law is governed by the Environment Protection Act (EPA, India), 1986 (The Environmental Act 1986; Upadhyay 2012). This act is enforced by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and the numerous State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs). Apart from this, there are also individual legislations specifically enacted for the protection of water, air, wildlife, etc. Such legislations include the following:

• The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974
• The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Cess Act, 1977
• The Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980
• The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981
• Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) (Union Territories) Rules, 1983
• The Biological Diversity Act, 2002 and the Wild Life Protection Act, 1972
• Batteries (Management and Handling) Rules, 2001
• Recycled Plastics, Plastics Manufacture and Usage Rules, 1999
• The National Green Tribunal established under the National Green Tribunal Act of 2010 has jurisdiction over all environmental cases dealing with a substantial environmental question and acts covered under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974.
• Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Cess Rules, 1978
• Ganga Action Plan, 1986
• The Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980
• The Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991 and the Biological Diversity Act, 2002. The acts covered under Indian Wild Life Protection Act 1972 do not fall within the jurisdiction of the National Green Tribunal. Appeals can be filed in the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India (The Indian Wildlife Protection Act 1972)
• Basel Convention on Control of Transboundary Movements on Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal, 1989 and Its Protocols
• Hazardous Wastes (Management and Handling) Amendment Rules, 2003 (Malik and Malik 2015)