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| As can be read in the Manual
of European Environmental Lawby Kiss and Shelton (Cambridge, Grotius
Publication, 1993, p.11) : "the Post-War II environmental consciousness
has had a major impact on international law. Several environmental measures
for the protection of areas outside the terrirtory of any state, such as
the high seas, outer space, and Antartica, date from the 1950’s; even more
were adopted between 1968 and 1972, after the Torrey Conyon disaster. However
the watershed event in the international environmental law was the Stockholm
Conference on the Human Environment in 1972 which summed up the awakened
conscience and marked the beginning of a truly ecological era." The
influence on the Higher Education Community was of equally significant.
In : UN. Doc. A/Conf.48/14/rev.1 (UN Pub. E 73, IIA. 14) (1973): (The following text has been reproduced from the "Manual of European Environmental Law" edited by A. Kiss and D. Shelton, Cambridge, Grotius Publications Limited, 1993, p. 26-28.) The United Nations Conference on the Human Environment proclaims that : 6. A point has been reached in history when we must shape our actions throughout the world with a more prudent care for their environmental consequences. Through ignorance or indifference we can do massive and irreversible harm to the earthly environment on which our life and well-being depend ... To defend and improve the human environment for present and future generations has become an imperative goal for mankind - a goal to be pursued together with, and in harmony with, the established and fundamental goals of peace and of world-wide economic and social development. 7. To achieve this environmental goal will demand the acceptance of responsibility by citizens and communities and by enterprises and institutions at very level, all sharing equitably in common efforts. Individuals in all walks of life as well as organisations in many fields, by their values and the sum of their actions, will shape the world environment of the future. Local and national governments will bear the greatest burden for large-scale environmental policy and action within their jurisdictions. International cooperation is also needed in order to raise resources to support the developing countries in carrying out their responsibilities in this field. A growing class of environmental problems.because they are regional or global in extent or because they affect the common international realm, will require extensive cooperation among nations and action by international organisations in the common interest. The Conference calls upon governments and peoples to exert common efforts for the preservation and improvement of the human environment, for the benefit of all people and for their posterity. States the common conviction that : Man has the fundamental right to freedom, equality and adequate conditions of life, in an environment of a quality that permits a life of dignity and well-being, and he bears a solemn responsibility to protect and improve the environment for present and future generations ... The natural resources of the earth including the air, water, land, flora and fauna and especially representative samples of natural ecosystems must be safeguarded for the benefit of present and future generations through careful planning or management, as appropriate. The capacity of the earth to produce vital renewable resources must be maintained and, wherever practicable, restored or improved. Man has a special responsibility to safeguard and wisely manage the heritage of wildlife and its habitat which are now gravely imperilled by the combination of averse factors. Nature conservation including wildlife must therefore receive importance in planning for economic development. The non-renewable resources of the earth must be employed in such a way as to guard against the danger of their future exhaustion and to ensure the benefits from such employment are shared by all mankind. The discharge of toxic substances or of other substances and the release of heat, in such quantities or concentrations as to exceed the capacity of the environment to render them harmless, must be halted in order to ensure that serious or irreversible damage is not inflicted upon ecosystems ... States shall take all possible steps to prevent pollution to the seas by substances that are liable to create hazards to human health, to harm living resources and marine life, to damage amanities or to interfere with other legitimate uses of the sea. [...] Environmental deficiencies generated by the conditions of underdevelopment and natural disasters pose grave problems and can best be remedied by accelerated development through the transfer of substantial quantities of financial and technological assistance as a supplement to the domestic effort of the developing countries and such timely assistance as may be required. [...] In order to achieve a more rational management of resources and thus to improve the environment, States should adopt an integrated and co-ordinated approach to their development planning so as to ensure that development is compatible with the need to protect and improve the human environment for th benefit of their population. [...] States have, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and the principles of Environmental law, the sovereign right to exploit their own resources pursuant to their own environmental policies, and the responsibility to ensure that activities within their jurisdiction or control do not cause damage to the environment of other states or of areas beyond the limits of national jurisdiction. States shall cooperate to develop further the international law regarding liability and compensation for the victims of pollution and other environmental damage caused by activities within the jurisdiction or control of such states to areas beyond their jurisdiction. [...] International matters concerning the protection and improvement of the environment should be handled in a co-operative spirit by all countries, big or small, on an equal footing. Cooperation through multilateral or bilateral arrangements or other appropriate means is essential to effectively control, prevent, reduce and eliminate adverse environmental effects resulting from activities conducted in all spheres, in such a way that due account is taken of the sovereignty and interests of all States. |