Gaps in environmental law on sustainable socioeconomic development (original) (raw)

2013, WIT Transactions on State of the Art in Science and Engineering

International environmental law aims to resolve and prevent environmental disputes between two or more countries, and to solve environmental crises that damage the health and economies of those affected. Although environmental legislation aims to promote sustainable development, it is limited by several factors. These ranges from a lack of economic resources with which to implement laws, corruption, lack of an established normative structure, and lack of commitment by the countries involved; to restraints stemming from the economic and political interests that determine legislation and governments. More fundamentally, the essence of the law is permeated by, and emanates from, humankind's philosophy of dominance over all other species. International conferences, meetings, agreements and treaties seek to preserve the environment and to promote sustainable development. These include efforts to control hazardous materials, slow climate change, prevent the extinction of species and restore the health of oceans and rivers. Inherent in these laws is the concept of the human species as the beneficiary of every other species on earth. This, from an evolutionary point of view, we are a failed species, as we do not adapt to the environment, but rather adapt the environment to us. Important improvements have been made in International Environmental Legislation and its contribution to Sustainable Development, but a change of focus is still required, from an anthropocentric to a holistic point of view, where the purpose should not be the well-being of the human species but the maintenance of the Earth's biotic equilibrium, in which individuals and societies participate.