International Environment Law - The Development

It is now widely believed that the earth faces a diverse and growing range of environmental challenges, which can be addressed only through an effective international environmental law. Climate change, acid rains, global warming and ozone depletion are some of the issues which international environmental law is being called up on to address. These obstacles should be overcome through international corporation.

The development of international environmental law had taken place in 20th century and increased dramatically after 1970. even before this period several international conventions were enacted with regard to the environment. But many of these early conventions did not concern on the protection of environment directly, but they were mainly aimed on wildlife, rivers and seas. These type of conventions and other legal instruments were signed due to the awareness of the international community about the negative impacts that has happened to the nature.

United Nations was the major organization which attempted to put the environmental issues on the global agenda. They organized several global conferences and they made an important contribution to the development of environmental law through these efforts. As a result of United Nations General Assembly Resolution, the very first conference on environment was held in Stockholm in 1972. the most important outcome of this conference was the Stockholm declaration on human environment.

Then an expert panel of the World Conservation Union took up the challenge on drawing a World Charter for Nature. Thereafter it was submitted to the United Nations and comments were collected from member states. However in 1982 the World Charter of Nature was approved. This legal instrument was mostly aimed on the natural environment which was not much addressed by the Stockholm declaration. And also this charter gives specific recognition to the concept of sovereignty of states over their natural resources, sustainable use and management of natural resources.

Twenty years after the Stockholm declaration the second global conference called the Earth Summit was held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. it was attended by over hundred heads of several countries around the world. This conference was held with the objective of making appropriate strategies to obtain an nature friendly development by taking account of the present and future global conditions. And the most specific achievement of the Rio conference was the enactment of Rio declaration which consists of 27 principles on rights and duties of countries on environmental and development issues.

In 2002, the World Summit on Sustainable Development was held in Johannesburg, South Africa. Ten years after the Rio declaration this summit shifted it's emphasis from environmental protection to the need of global effort to ensure sustainable development.

After considering the above overview of the development of the global legal framework on nature, it can be clearly said that the global community has already taken their fullest effort to ensure an environmental development in the world. The above mentioned legal instruments are the main legal framework introduced by the global community among hundreds of other conventions and declarations.

Now we have come to the most suitable time to stand up and get together domestically, zonally and globally to fight against the environmental crisis. All the people around the world should gather and do their best to protect the natural environment not only through the environmental law but also through environmental economics, environmental engineering and environmental sociology. Then only the world will be headed towards a sustainable development. While making use of the natural resources of the world we must make sure to ensure these resources to our next generation. In other words we have to reach an economical, ecological and equitable development while saving the natural resources for our common future.