We explain what environmental law is, its principles and sources. Additionally, international environmental law and in Mexico.
What is environmental law?
Environmental law or nature law is the branch of public law that studies the relationships between human beings and nature, in order to create and understand legal norms that preserve and protect the environment from harmful activities resulting from industrial and human activity.
In simpler terms, it is a branch of law that is responsible for the ecological regulation of human activities with the task of promoting a model of civilization that does not threaten the continuity of the existence of life on the planet, nor impoverish it in a drastic and irreversible way.
It is an extremely recent branch of law, which has a notorious multidisciplinary character, since it involves the expertise of professionals from many different fields, such as biology, medicine, ecology, physics, chemistry, etc. It requires a constant updating of its perspectives, due to the current rapid scientific-technological changes.
Environmental law emerged as an independent discipline in 1972, at the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment held in Stockholm.
Before reaching that decision, during the 20th century, the harmful impact that industrial activity can have on the environment became evident in different ways, affecting both the human species and many others. This was demonstrated after the tragedies of Bophal, Seveso or Chernobyl, for example.
Principles of environmental law
Environmental law pursues the following fundamental objectives:
- Avoid environmental pollution as much as possible, as well as harmful interventions on the part of humans.
- Have the rules and measures that punish environmental crime and promote a culture that is respectful of life and the ecosystem.
- Make appropriate decisions to deal in the best possible way with the pollution already present in numerous ecosystems, or with the damage already caused by industrial activity.
- Discuss the most appropriate position that States should have on the matter, to orchestrate global development in a sustainable way and ecological.
Sources of environmental law
Environmental law understands as its sources:
- The National Constitution and jurisprudence. That is, the positive set of norms that regulate ecological and environmental issues in a given nation, as well as the norms and decisions issued by the competent legal authorities.
- The professional doctrine on the matter. That is, the knowledge and scientific content that specialists in the field offer regarding environmental conservation.
- International treaties Signed by the nation in question, in which a set of norms and ecological objectives to be achieved are established together with other countries, given that environmental damage is not, in the long run, focused, but has an impact on the entire planet.
Importance of environmental law
Today, every nation in the world has in its constitution some type of regulations and foundations of environmental law, which are also useful when collaborating with international environmental defense organizations.
In this way, countries have the capacity to legally control the way in which its natural resources are exploited, and protect biodiversity that precious asset of our planet that seems to decrease a little more every day.
International environmental law
Environmental law increasingly appears as a need not only local, but also regional and international, as The effects of irresponsible industrialization cause damage to the environment that affects the entire globe since ecosystems are all interconnected.
That's why, Environmental legal defense organizations with international jurisdiction have emerged such as the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), which acts as an authorized defender of the environment in all cases in which there is legal litigation, and also as a promoter of environmental law in each of the countries that make up the UN.
Environmental law in Mexico
Since the Constituent Assembly of 1917, the legal defense of the environment in Mexico has been an important factor. For this The issue of natural resources was incorporated into article 27 of the Constitution where the principle of the social function of property was enshrined.
Furthermore, in 1987 the reform of the Article 73 ensured that environmental issues were not regulated as mere public health issues issuing the Federal Law to Prevent and Control Environmental Pollution. Thus, greater punitive weight was given to the Federal Environmental Protection Law. The environmental issue is of particular interest in Mexico.
Continue with: Environmental contingency
References
- “Environmental law” on Wikipedia.
- “Environmental law” in Conicet Mendoza (Argentina).
- “Environmental law” in the United Nations (UN).
- “What is environmental law?” at the European Postgraduate Center (CEUPE).
- “Environmental law” in the Asylum Dictionary of the Refugee Assistance Commission of Euskadi (Spain).
