Greening the Constitution. The principle of sustainable development anchored in the Belgian Constitution

elni Review ◽  
2012 ◽  
pp. 74-82
Author(s):  
Peter de Smedt ◽  
Hendrik Schoukens ◽  
Tania Van Laer
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Environmental Law ◽  
Regional Level ◽  
Future Generations ◽  
The Political ◽  
European Level ◽  
Policy Goal ◽  
Environment And Development ◽  
Political Scene ◽  
Common Future

The concept of sustainable development is getting settled well within the framework of environmental law. The current meaning of this concept was defined by the report Our Common Future (1987) of the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED): "Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." Since the publication of the Bundtlandreport in 1987, the concept of sustainable development can no longer be thought away from the political scene. Especially since the Conference of Rio in 1992 the concept has been used more often in juridical texts, at international as well as at European level. Also in the Belgian legal order, the concept of sustainable development has found its way into legislation at federal as well as at regional level step-by-step. As in international documents and treaties, the concept is mostly formulated as a policy goal. After examining the anchoring of sustainable development in the Belgian Constitution the authors of this article discuss the concept's juridical enforceability and subsequently analyse the consequences of this qualification for the application in the jurisprudence. The article ends with some concluding remarks.

Sustainable Development

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Leann Brown
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Environmental Policies ◽  
Network Governance ◽  
Future Generations ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Social Challenges ◽  
Environment And Development ◽  
Modes Of Governance ◽  
Common Future ◽  
New Modes Of Governance

Sustainable development (SD) is defined as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” This definition is articulated in Our Common Future, a political manifesto published in 1987 by the United Nations’ World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED). SD promises to resolve in a positive-sum manner the most daunting economic, environmental, political, and social challenges the world is currently facing. However, it has also become a much contested concept, mainly due to the comprehensiveness, ambiguity, and optimism inherent in its underlying assumptions. Ongoing debates within the literature deal with how to define, operationalize, and measure SD; how economic development and environmental protection are conceptualized as mutually supportive; how “nature” is treated in the literature; equity and overconsumption challenges to SD; and the governance, social learning, and normative transformations required to achieve SD. Reaching some consensus on definitions and operationalization of the multiple aspects of SD will lead to standards by which to assess development and environmental policies. Among the most urgent issues that must be addressed in future research are the roles and influence of the relatively new participants in governance, such as intergovernmental/nongovernmental organizations and corporations; the new modes of governance including public-private and private-private partnerships and network governance; and the impacts of implementing compatible and contradictory policies on the various levels and across policy areas.

scholarly journals Sustainability and Asia

2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Els van Dongen ◽  
Hong Liu
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Future Generations ◽  
New Era ◽  
The World ◽  
Environment And Development ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Brundtland Commission ◽  
Common Future

What is the added value of investigating the contested concept of “sustainability” in tandem with the geographical marker of “Asia” in today’s world? To answer this question, we need to return to the formulation of the problematique of “sustainability” and “sustainable development” several decades ago. The Our Common Future report of the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED)—also known as the Brundtland Commission—put forward the most commonly recognized and most frequently used definition of “sustainable development” (SD) in 1987.1 Development could be made sustainable, so the report stated, “to ensure that it meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (WCED 1987: 15). The report further proclaimed that there were limits to development, but that improvements in technology and social development could “make way for a new era of economic growth” (ibid.).

scholarly journals Sustainable Environmental Policy in Turkey: Climate Change Case

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdulmenaf Turan ◽  
Mahmut Güler
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Environmental Policies ◽  
Future Generations ◽  
Legal Regulations ◽  
Main Principle ◽  
Global Level ◽  
The World ◽  
Development Concept ◽  
Environment And Development ◽  
Common Future

Environmental problems have become the main agenda of all countries in the world since 1970’s. Various reports have been written, international meetings have been held and various contracts, agreements and action plans were accepted according to these decisions. Each of these arrangements has reflected to policies of countries. The most important issue of international meetings is that environmental values and natural resources should be used rationally and without extravagancy, should be protected and sustained considering the policy of using rights and benefits of current and future generations. In this sense, the concept of “sustainable development” which aims at enabling economic growth and is defined as an environmentalist view in included in the report called Our Common Future which is prepared by Bruntland in 1987 and presented to United Nations Commission of Environment and Development. Later on, this principle was accepted as the main principle of meeting in RIO Summit of 1992. Turkey which is one of the developing countries did not remain out of this process and determined environmental policies in accordance with decisions in global level. Turkey participated in both meetings mentioned above; carried out preparation studies according to these principles and adapted these principles to legal regulations and policies about environmental and economic development. In this study, first of all historical development of sustainable development concept in global sense will be explained and then it will be evaluated how this principle influences environmental policies in Turkey in analytical way together with examples of practice.

“All Parties Treat Silesians Instrumentally”: On Political Representation at the Regional Level

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Agnieszka Turska-Kawa ◽  
Rafał Glajcar
Keyword(s):  
20Th Century ◽  
Political Representation ◽  
Regional Level ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Debate ◽  
Interview Method ◽  
Clear Vision ◽  
Group A ◽  
State Of Affairs ◽  
Political Scene

Abstract The turn of the 20th century experienced an intensification of processes that strengthened Silesian identity, which became an important element of political debate in the region. This was reflected in the emergence of a growing number of entities that placed Silesian issues among their priority objectives and defined themselves as representatives of the interests of Silesia and Silesians. The aim of the study was to verify the political representative potential of groups in Upper Silesia. We accepted the hypothesis that the stronger the identity of a particular group (regional or national) the greater the probability that entities placing fundamental objectives strictly within the scope of regional issues should enjoy broad support in the region, and such entities consequently should be perceived as political representatives of the group. A study conducted using the categorized interview method (N=54) proves quite clearly that Silesians are unable to identify entities on the regional political scene that could represent them sufficiently. The determinants of this state of affairs are found not only in the negative actions of political entities but also in the absence of a clear vision of representation, which could constitute a basis for the formulated expectations of Silesians.

Editorial: Forging Advances in Sustainable Architecture and Urbanism

2016 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 4-5
Author(s):  
David Grierson ◽  
Ashraf M. Salama
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Social Studies ◽  
Conceptual Understanding ◽  
Intergenerational Equity ◽  
Future Generations ◽  
Ethical Dimension ◽  
Short Term ◽  
The World ◽  
Environment And Development

Sustainability has been an important topic in many disciplines over two decades, and its urgency is rising. At the same time, a conceptual understanding of sustainability remains rather vague, posing a challenge for research in this area. Nevertheless the term ‘sustainability’ is increasingly used in the context of ecological, economic, and social studies. In green economics it is often used interchangeably with the term ‘sustainable development’, defined by the World commission on environment and development in 1987 as, “development which meets he needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” this underlines sustainability’s ethical dimension where a normative view implies treating sustainability as a form of intergenerational equity and fairness. The question of intergenerational equity constitutes a growing concern, and our obligation to future generations requires us to look beyond short-term public policy preoccupations to anticipate building a better future for all.

scholarly journals The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services or the Framing of Scientific Knowledge within the Law of Sustainable Development

2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 231-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leslie-Anne Duvic-Paoli
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Science Policy ◽  
Scientific Knowledge ◽  
Environmental Law ◽  
International Environmental Law ◽  
Global Partnership ◽  
Temporal And Spatial ◽  
Environment And Development ◽  
The Law

The article analyses the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (ipbes) through the spectrum of international environmental law. It unpacks the epistemic logics within which ipbes operates and emphasises the normative constructions underlying the mechanism, arguing that ipbes is best understood in light of the rationale and principles of the law of sustainable development. On that basis, the article provides an in-depth discussion of ipbes, and in particular of i) its mandate analysed in light of the principles of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, ii) its scope that combines a temporal and spatial perspective to scientific knowledge and iii) its outreach activities seeking to co-operate with a variety of partners, interpreted as an embodiment of the ‘global partnership’ that the Rio Declaration calls for.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document