HL.a Environmental lawIB Environmental Systems and Societies HL: Revision notes

Laws are rules that govern human behaviour and are enforced by social or governmental authority. Environmental law is the set of rules about how humans use and impact natural resources, aiming to improve social and ecological sustainability.

It is built into existing legal frameworks, but its success varies from country to country.

Environmental laws can support environmental justice, but may be difficult to approve because of lobbying by groups with opposing interests.

Laws can be drafted at local, national or international level.

Environmental constitutionalism is the introduction of environmental rights and obligations into a constitution, e.g. Ecuador's 2008 recognition of the rights of nature.

International law is an essential framework for transboundary pollution and resource management. UN conferences produce conventions (agreements) that are legally binding, and protocols that may become legally binding on all signatories. Examples: the Vienna Convention and Montreal Protocol (ozone), the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution.

International agreements can generate institutions to aid implementation, such as the Multilateral Fund. The application of international environmental law has been examined in international courts and tribunals, e.g. the Trail Smelter arbitration.

An increasing number of laws grant legal personhood to natural entities to strengthen protection. In 2017 New Zealand's Te Awa Tupua Act made the Whanganui River a legal person, with guardians appointed to act for it.

Both legal and economic strategies play a role in maintaining sustainable use of the environment. Laws set compulsory rules; economic instruments such as charges, taxes and subsidies create incentives. Used together they can be more effective than either alone, as with bans supported by charges on plastic bags.