QUESTION: What is the importance of International Environmental Law?

Most governments, companies and civil society organisations now recognise that environmental

issues are intertwined with social, cultural, and economic issues.

Promoting economic growth with environmental, human health and cultural safeguards in place

seems to be the path forward for most governments, but decades of environmental mismanagement

have created severe legacy issues in most countries.

Two huge challenges are determining how to clean up legacy problems, restore natural resources, and

achieve human health protection and health ecosystems; and designing strategies to enable future

growth while protecting the environment, maintaining biodiversity, safeguarding human health, and

preserving cultural and social values. This results in a very complex set of decisions for government at

all levels, and a regulatory framework that is supportive, facilitating and enabling is essential.

A very summarised list of global environmental issues includes:

 air and water pollution

 climate change

 deforestation

 depletion of non-renewable energy sources

 environmental impacts of reservoirs and water abstraction

 impacts of mining

 invasive species

 land and soil degradation

 loss of biodiversity and habitat fragmentation and degradation

 non-sustainable depletion of natural resources

 ocean and freshwater deoxygenation

 ozone depletion

 persistent toxins

 population pressure

 waste management

Many of these problems and issues traverse national and other administrative boundaries, and many

of the natural resources affected are examples of a global commons.

QUESTION 2: How can multinational corporations be made to comply with

national environmental laws?

Multinational Corporations have to realize the interdependence of the global environment to

their business as well as the impact they make on the global environment. Therefore, they

must be vigilant and fully informed of the global events and their impact on them. Similarly,

what they do also have considerable consequences for the global environment.

Most enterprises find it in their own interest to minimise aspects of their activity that may

have negative impacts on the environment. In addition to their personal ethical views,

company owners must consider the interests of stakeholders. In many countries, society

expects that companies take steps to safeguard the environment over and above legal

compliance. Corporate responsibility may cost time and money, but studies have consistently

found that environmental enhancement goes hand in hand with above-average growth and

earnings.
QUESTION 3: Explain the Objectives of Stockholm Conference,1972.

In 1968-1969, the General Assembly, by Resolutions 2398 and 2581 decided to conduct the

conference. The Stockholm Convention was held in Sweden from June 5-16, 1972.  The

object behind this convention was to “create a basis for comprehensive consideration within

the United Nations of the problems of the human environment,” and to “focus the attention of

Governments and public opinion in various countries on the importance of the problem.”

This convention led UNEP to coordinate global action for the protection and preservation of

the environment in December 1972.

Many issues were resolved before the actual conference by the countries to limit the number

of issues during the convention. This was primarily done by the conference secretariat. The

conference secretariat headed by Mr. Maurice F. Strong planned the conference

meticulously. 

The convention adopted the following:

1. A basic declaration containing a set of common principles to aid the people in

protecting and conserving the environment. 

2. A detailed resolution for financial and institutional arrangements for

environmental protection.

3. An action plan containing 109 recommendations. This aims to identify and

quantify the environmental problems, warn about any crisis, and to adopt

supporting measures, by establishing an Earthwatch.

states. This is known as the Magna Carta of the human environment. 

QUESTION 4: What do you understand by Environmental Management?

Environmental Management can be defined as “the management of the interaction and

impact of human activities on the natural environment”.

Environmental management further aims to ensure that ecosystem services and biodiversity

are protected and maintained for equitable use by future human generations, and also,

maintain ecosystem integrity as an end in itself by taking into consideration ethical,

economic, and scientific (ecological) variables. Environmental management tries to identify

the factors that have a stake in the conflicts that may rise between meeting the needs but

protecting the environment.

  Identification: Via complaints/concerns from the community we identify a certain

environmental problem

 Evaluation: Inspections with relevant Government Departments (Provincial and

National) we determine the extent of the problem

 Control: The problem is brought to the attention of the transgressor/polluter and the

person/company who is informed to stop the illegal activity and address the problem

or concerns which include the rehabilitation of the area(s).

QUESTION 5: Poverty is the cause of Environmental Degradation. Give

your opinion.
In my viewpoint, it is very important for everyone to recognize that poverty and

environmental issues are interrelated. Poverty among people puts stress on the environment

whereas environmental problems cause severe suffering to the poor. People, whether they be

rich or poor, consume water, food, and natural resources to remain alive. All economic

activities are directly, indirectly, or remotely based on natural resources and any pressure on

natural resources can cause environmental stress. Environmental damage can prevent people,

especially the poor, from having good and hygienic living standards. As poor people rely

more directly on the environment than the rich for their survival, they are mostly on the

receiving end of environmental problems

Poverty often causes people to put relatively more pressure on the environment which results

in larger families (due to high death rates and insecurity), improper human waste disposal

leading to unhealthy living conditions, more pressure on fragile land to meet their needs,

overexploitation of natural resources and more deforestation. Insufficient knowledge about

agricultural practices can also lead to a decline in crop yield and productivity etc.

On the other hand, environmental problems add more to the miseries of poor people.

Environmental problems cause more suffering among them as environmental damage

increases the impact of floods and other environmental catastrophes. Soil erosion, land

degradation and deforestation lead to a decline in food production along with a shortage of

wood for fuel contribute to inflation. In short, the worst consequences of environmental

deterioration, whether they be economical, social, or related to mental or physical wellbeing,

are experienced by poor people.

More rigorous efforts should be undertaken by the governments of all countries to eradicate

poverty and in turn, to save deprived people from the dreadful implications of environmental

damage. There should be more collaborative partnerships among all sections of the society so
that even the people living in poverty are linked to the world through their participation in

social, political, and economical spheres along with their active participation in

environmental regeneration. I strongly believe that there cannot be any environmental

solution without alleviating poverty from the world.

QUESTION 6: What do you mean by Environmental Governance?

Environmental governance is a concept in political ecology and environmental policy that

advocates sustainability (sustainable development) as the supreme consideration

for managing all human activities—political, social and economic.[1] Governance includes

government, business and civil society, and emphasizes whole system management. To

capture this diverse range of elements, environmental governance often employs alternative

systems of governance, for example watershed-based management.[2]

It views natural resources and the environment as global public goods, belonging to the

category of goods that are not diminished when they are shared.[3] This means that everyone

benefits from, for example, a breathable atmosphere, stable climate and stable biodiversity.

Public goods are non-rivalrous—a natural resource enjoyed by one person can still be

enjoyed by others—and non-excludable—it is impossible to prevent someone consuming the

good (such as breathing). Public goods are recognized as beneficial and therefore have value.

The notion of a global public good thus emerges, with a slight distinction: it covers

necessities that must not be destroyed by one person or state.

The non-rivalrous character of such goods calls for a management approach that restricts

public and private actors from damaging them. One approach is to attribute an economic

value to the resource. Water is an example of this type of good.

Environmental governance refers to the processes of decision-making involved in the control

and management of the environment and natural resources. International Union for

interactions (i.e., local, national, international/global) among, but not limited to, three main

actors, i.e., state, market, and civil society, which interact with one another, whether in formal

and informal ways; in formulating and implementing policies in response to environment-

related demands and inputs from the society; bound by rules, procedures, processes, and

widely accepted behavior; possessing characteristics of “good governance”; for the purpose

of attaining environmentally-sustainable development' (IUCN 2014)

Key principles of environmental governance include:

 Embedding the environment in all levels of decision-making and action

 Conceptualizing cities and communities, economic and political life as a subset of

the environment

 Emphasizing the connection of people to the ecosystems in which they live

 Promoting the transition from open-loop/cradle-to-grave systems (like garbage

disposal with no recycling) to closed-loop/cradle-to-cradle systems

(like permaculture and zero waste strategies).

QUESTION 7: What do you mean by Earth’s Capacity Building Program?

at do you mean by Earth’s Capacity Building Program?

The Capacity Building Program provides individuals and institutions with workforce

development, training activities, and collaborative projects to strengthen understanding of

Earth observations and expand their use around the world. Through our ARSET,

DEVELOP and SERVIR programs and our Indigenous Peoples Pilot project, we work with

observation data.