User:Guycalledryan/GEL

The growing awareness and legal response to the global environment is taking place on two fronts, the international stage where countries debate the merits of different measures to protect nature, and the domestic level where the commonwealth and state governments interact to attempt to provide justice for Australians.

Key Concepts
These are the basic definitions and concepts crucial to a study of environmental law.

Environment - Many definitions have arisen concerning the nature of the environment. In Australian federal law, it is stated to encompass the following components : In essence, the environment incorporates both the natural and man made components that are considered significant to humanity.
 * ecosystems and their constituent parts, including people and communities
 * natural and physical resources
 * the qualities and characteristics of locations, places and areas
 * the heritage value of locations, places and areas
 * the social, economic and cultural aspects of a thing mentioned in the first three points

Ecologically Sustainable Development (ECD) - development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Precautionary Principle - concept that where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty should not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent environmental degradation.

Intergenerational equity - concept that future generations should have equal access to a pristine environment and resources, in other words ecosystems and the environment should not be passed on in any worse condition from one generation to the next Intragenerational equity - concept that different groups in the same era should have equal access to a pristine environment and resources, in other words the actions of one group should not compromise the ability of another group to function with nature

Ecosystem - a natural unit of all plants, animals and microorganisms in an area who interact such that they are dependent on each other for overall survival

Biological Diversity - variability among living organisms from all sources and the ecosystems of which they are a part. In essence contains two components
 * diversity within a species
 * diversity within an ecosystem

Ecological Integrity - the state of an ecosystem due to presence/absence of biodiversity, pollution etc.

Renewable Resources - those that can regenerate themselves within reasonable time via natural or human management processes, meaning they can be replenished for future generations (such as solar power, wind/water power, biofuels such as those from sugar cane etc)

Move for Environmental Awareness
Although the latest movement for environmental awareness has only realised its potential in the last thirty years the concept of protecting the environment has been around for a lot longer. The Aborigines would protect some sites by deeming them to be sacred, preventing hunting and foraging to create sanctuaries for flora and fauna.

In contrast, European tradition held that the environment was to be controlled, epitomised in the writings of the Italian philosopher Giambattisto Vico, which were later adopted by the Church and reflected in the environmental degradation that accompanied settlers in America and Australia.

In the 1700's the Industrial Revolution took place, which signaled the beginning of many of the world's problems including the burning of fossil fuels and release of greenhouse gases, the production of increasing amounts of waste products and the destruction of natural habitat to clear land for new factories and related buildings. This was accelerated in the period following World War Two, in which significant industrialisation took place across the world in both developed and non-developed countries, often based on high polluting and energy inefficient methods. Several problems grew out of this, including photochemical smog (chemicals in the atmosphere at ground level which can cause serious health problems) and acid rain, a problem which affects many countries.

Several environmental groups emerged during the 1950's, however these tended to have a specific focus (such as preventing the extinction of an individual species). They were fragmented and somewhat inefficient. In the mid 1960's these groups began to gain prominence, and after the oil crisis of the 1970's (rising fuel prices after the formation of OPEC and it's 1973 embargo followed soon by the Iranian Revolution) concerns about the over reliance on fossil fuels and other unsustainable uses of the environment became apparent, leading to a series of measures being implemented at an international, regional and domestic level.

Impact of State Sovereignty
State sovereignty is the concept that all countries have an exclusive right to govern within their boundaries, and while other countries may place pressure for change (eg political or economic sanctions) in most cases they cannot actively take control of a situation outside of their borders. This notion has both advanced and hindered the progress of environmental law, as countries cannot control actions within the boundaries of other states they are more likely to turn to international measures to try to achieve justice (and subsequently abide by regulations in order to ensure protection), however it is the right of every county to decide whether or not it follows guidelines, whether legal or not, and hence the ability of international law to conserve the environment is restricted. <--needs an example

International Law Concerning the Environment
The move towards increasing recognition of the need to protect the environment and the growing awareness of the ability of one state to affect many others has been reflected in the growing body of international law. While this been vastly effective in establishing guidelines and agreements to conserve nature it has been hindered due to state sovereignty and a general lack of commitment to some declarations and treaties.

UN Related Responses
The body leading the