scholarly journals Depleting Time Itself: The Plight of Today’s “Human” Environment

2021 ◽  
Vol 51 (6) ◽  
pp. 361-369
Author(s):  
Nicholas A. Robinson
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Environmental Law ◽  
Biodiversity Loss ◽  
Human Environment ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Un General Assembly ◽  
Economic Developments ◽  
The Right ◽  
Stockholm Conference ◽  
Business As Usual

Earth, and its human societies, are seized with the triple crises of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pervasive and escalating levels of pollution. In the 50 years since the 1972 UN Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment (UNCHE), States and UN Environment Program (UNEP) have created an entirely new body of international environmental law, and agreed on the UN Sustainable Development Goals for further socio-economic developments to help the 7.9 billion people on Earth today, and the 1.5 more billion expected soon. The article highlights the accomplishments of the past five decades, launched in Stockholm. However, beyond depleting the resources of Earth’s natural and physical environment, humanity has also depleted time itself. There is not enough time left to permit the pace of environmental law-making to lead to success. Political will has eroded too, leaving “business as usual” to continue to harm the environment. Fortunately, most nations have recognized the right to the environment, and the UN General Assembly is asked to do so in 2022. At the same time, courts around the world are increasingly enforcing environmental rights. If courts world-wide begin to enforce the right to the environment, pathways to attaining sustainable development can be developed beyond Stockholm+50 (2022).

scholarly journals IN THE MAKING OF A BETTER WORLD: U N SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS, 2030

2020 ◽  
pp. 13-16
Author(s):  
Rupali Daimari ◽  
Dr. Basanta Kalita
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Environmental Law ◽  
Future Generations ◽  
Human Environment ◽  
Healthy Environment ◽  
Global Challenge ◽  
Commission Report ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
The Right ◽  
Sustainable Economic Growth

Sustainable development can be defined as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The Brundtland Commission Report 1987 defines Sustainable Development thus “Sustainable Development is the development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” From the very beginning the United Nations have taken the initiative to make Sustainable Development a reality to protect our planet from degradation and depletion in various forms. The Declaration of the UN Conference on the Human Environment or Stockholm Declaration was adopted on June, 1972 by the UN Conference on the Human Environment at the 21st plenary meeting as the first document in International Environmental law to recognize the right to a healthy environment. In the declaration, the nations agreed to accept responsibility for any environmental effects caused by their actions. Keeping this in view the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, adopted 27 principles intended to guide future sustainable development around the world in tune with the Stockholm Declaration 1972 on Human Environment. In this paper an attempt would be made to study the various aspects of sustainable development especially reducing inequalities in all forms, including the empowerment of women and girls’ and the most marginalized. To focus on balanced and sustainable economic growth with employment creation which is fundamental for addressing the multi-dimensional nature of poverty and which must be decoupled from environmental degradation. KEYWORDS: Degradation, Depletion, Empowerment, Poverty, Global Challenge

scholarly journals The Anthropocentric Ontology of International Environmental Law and the Sustainable Development Goals: Towards an Ecocentric Rule of Law in the Anthropocene

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louis J. Kotzé ◽  
Duncan French
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Environmental Law ◽  
Ecological Crisis ◽  
International Environmental Law ◽  
Human Environment ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Human Rights Abuses ◽  
Development Goals

In this article we argue that the Anthropocene’s deepening socio-ecological crisis amplifies demands on, and exposes the deficiencies of, our ailing regulatory institutions, including that of international environmental law (iel). Many of the perceived failures of iel have been attributed to the anthropocentric, as opposed to the ecocentric, ontology of this body of law. As a result of its anthropocentric orientation and the resultant deficiencies, iel is unable to halt the type of human behaviour that is causing the Anthropocene, while it exacerbates environmental destruction, gender and class inequalities, growing inter- and intra-species hierarchies, human rights abuses, and socio-economic and ecological injustices. These are the same types of concerns that the recently proclaimed Sustainable Development Goals (sdgs) set out to address. The sdgs are, however, themselves anthropocentric; an unfortunate situation which reinforces the anthropocentrism of iel and vice versa. Considering the anthropocentric genesis of iel and the broader sdgs framework, this article sets out to argue that the anthropocentrism inherent in the ontological orientation of iel and the sdgs risks exacerbating Anthropocene-like events, and a more ecocentric orientation for both is urgently required to enable a more ecocentric rule of law to better mediate the human-environment interface in the Anthropocene. Our point of departure is that respect for ecological limits is the only way in which humankind, acting as principal global agents of care, will be able to ensure a sustainable future for human and non-human constituents of the Earth community. Correspondingly, the rule of law must also come to reflect such imperatives.

scholarly journals THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS AND INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL LAW: NORMATIVE VALUE AND CHALLENGES FOR IMPLEMENTATION

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (26) ◽  
pp. 13-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Riccardo Pavoni ◽  
Dario Piselli
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Environmental Law ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
International Environmental Law ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Development Agenda ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Un General Assembly ◽  
Normative Value

This article explores the implications for international environmental law of the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which occurred at the 2015 United Nations Sustainable Development Summit. Following a summary of the main outcomes of the Summit, the paper evaluates the process and vision of the SDGs against both the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the past efforts of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in the field of sustainable development. The paper then examines how the environmental dimension of the SDGs is integrated into the general framework of the post-2015 development agenda and addresses two important questions which will most likely prove instrumental in the achievement of the Goals themselves. First, it the light of UN General Assembly Resolution 70/1, it discusses the normative value of the environmental obligations of States enshrined in the SDGs. Secondly, it deals with problems of implementation of the outcomes of the Summit, and accordingly attempts to identify the main legal challenges for the operationalization of the environmental component of the SDGs, in the wider context of the Agenda and taking the recent developments under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) into account.

scholarly journals Sustained sustainable development actions of China from 1986 to 2020

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bingsheng Liu ◽  
Tao Wang ◽  
Jiaming Zhang ◽  
Xiaoming Wang ◽  
Yuan Chang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Local Development ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Development Levels ◽  
The Right ◽  
Resource Conditions

AbstractAchieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is a long-term task, which puts forward high requirements on the sustainability of related policies and actions. Using the text analysis method, we analyze the China National Sustainable Communities (CNSCs) policy implemented over 30 years and its effects on achieving SDGs. We find that the national government needs to understand the scope of sustainable development more comprehensively, the sustained actions can produce positive effects under the right goals. The SDGs selection of local governments is affected by local development levels and resource conditions, regions with better economic foundations tend to focus on SDGs on human well-being, regions with weaker foundations show priority to basic SDGs on the economic development, infrastructures and industrialization.

scholarly journals Malta X Anniversary and COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 16-19
Author(s):  
Emma Zajdela ◽  
Zafra Lerman
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Innovation Research ◽  
Science Diplomacy ◽  
Peace And Justice ◽  
Second Intifada ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
Un General Assembly ◽  
Research And Education ◽  
Science Innovation

Abstract In December 2021, the Malta X Conference “Frontiers of Science: Innovation, Research and Education in the Middle East—A Bridge to Peace” will mark the celebration of the tenth anniversary of the Malta Conferences. The first Malta Conference was held on the island of Malta in 2003 amidst the height of the Second Intifada. Since then, the Malta Conferences Foundation (MCF) has been a pioneer in using science diplomacy as a bridge to peace and sustainable development in the Middle East [1]. MCF uses science diplomacy to advance the following four UN Sustainable Development Goals: 1. Ensure inclusive and quality education for all (Goal 4) 2. Ensure access of Water and Sanitation for all (Goal 6) 3. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern Energy for all (Goal 7), and 4. Promote Peace and Justice, as well as inclusive societies (Goal 16). In 2016, MCF received the UN NOVUS Summit award for Goal 16: Peace and Justice [2]. The Summit was held in the UN General Assembly.

Pharmaceutical pollution and sustainable development goals: Going the right way?

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 ◽  
pp. 100428
Author(s):  
Helena de Oliveira Souza ◽  
Rafaela dos Santos Costa ◽  
Gabrielle Rabelo Quadra ◽  
Marcos Antônio dos Santos Fernandez
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
The Right

scholarly journals INFLUENCE OF THE RIGHT TO THE ENVIRONMENT ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF INTERNATIONAL LAW

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Akramosadat Kia
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Environmental Law ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Legal Protection ◽  
Third Generation ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Right

Nature is one of the most important pillars of human life, which is why the environment has been considered in all historical periods. At first, contemporary international law seeks to protect the environment as part of international environmental law, but the inadequacy of this protection and the need to protect the environment for Nowadays's human beings and future generations, the link between the environment and human rights It was considered because legal protection of human rights could be a means to protect the environment. Hence, in the context of the third generation of human rights, a new right called "the right to the environment" was created in international human rights instruments, in which the environment was raised as a human right. This right is not only a reminder of the solidarity rights that are categorized in the third generation of human rights, but also necessary for the realization of many human rights, civil, political or economic, social and cultural rights. However, the exercise of this right requires a level of development which in turn provides for a greater degree of environmental degradation. Hence, the international community since the nineties has promoted the idea of sustainable development at all levels of national, regional and the international has put it on its agenda.

The Role of Information Institutions in Promoting Information Literacy and Access to Information for Sustainable Development in the Post-Truth Era

2021 ◽  
pp. 78-99
Author(s):  
Proscovia Svärd
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Open Government ◽  
Government Information ◽  
Development Goal ◽  
Qualitative Research Methodology ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
The Right ◽  
Role Of Information

The right to access government information has been a key element of sustainable development since the 1992 Rio Declaration. It is further recognized in the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Therefore, governments are through open government initiatives making information available to the citizens. This is based on a supposition that everyone is information literate and yet this is not the case. Information literacy is defined as the ability to be able to act on the information that is provided to us citizens. Being able to locate, evaluate, and ethically use information is an ability that is crucial to the citizens' participation in society. It requires individuals to be in possession of a set of skills that can enable them to recognize when information is needed to be able to locate, evaluate, and use it effectively. Information institutions have been the gateways to knowledge, and hence, their resources and services have been crucial to the development of information literate, creative, and innovative societies. This study sought to establish how the information institutions in Sweden were promoting information literacy in accordance with Sustainable Development Goal 16 amidst the post-truth era. The author has applied a qualitative research methodology where interviews have been used as a data collecting technique.

The Role of Information Institutions in Promoting Information Literacy and Access to Information for Sustainable Development in the Post-Truth Era

2022 ◽  
pp. 1179-1200
Author(s):  
Proscovia Svärd
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Open Government ◽  
Government Information ◽  
Development Goal ◽  
Qualitative Research Methodology ◽  
Development Goals ◽  
The Right ◽  
Role Of Information

The right to access government information has been a key element of sustainable development since the 1992 Rio Declaration. It is further recognized in the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Therefore, governments are through open government initiatives making information available to the citizens. This is based on a supposition that everyone is information literate and yet this is not the case. Information literacy is defined as the ability to be able to act on the information that is provided to us citizens. Being able to locate, evaluate, and ethically use information is an ability that is crucial to the citizens' participation in society. It requires individuals to be in possession of a set of skills that can enable them to recognize when information is needed to be able to locate, evaluate, and use it effectively. Information institutions have been the gateways to knowledge, and hence, their resources and services have been crucial to the development of information literate, creative, and innovative societies. This study sought to establish how the information institutions in Sweden were promoting information literacy in accordance with Sustainable Development Goal 16 amidst the post-truth era. The author has applied a qualitative research methodology where interviews have been used as a data collecting technique.

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