Hasil untuk "Environmental law"

Thiet Tran Cong

This article argues that reforming Vietnam’s legal framework for environmental damage compensation (EDC) is essential to achieving sustainable economic development and effective environmental governance. Through a comparative analysis of Vietnam’s Law on Environmental Protection 2020 and the European Union’s Environmental Liability Directive (Directive 2004/35/EC), the study identifies two structural weaknesses in Vietnam’s current regime: ambiguous liability exemptions that undermine consistent enforcement, and the absence of an effective collective litigation mechanism to safeguard community interests. In contrast, the EU framework provides clearer liability standards and institutionalized collective redress mechanisms that enhance accountability and access to justice. Drawing on these comparative insights, the article advocates for harmonizing Vietnam’s exemption regime and institutionalizing collective litigation as core components of environmental governance reform. It proposes a set of normative and institutional reforms inspired by EU experience to strengthen legal certainty, improve enforcement effectiveness, and better protect the right to a healthy environment, thereby supporting Vietnam’s long-term sustainable development.

José Amorim Reis-Filho, Yram Lecht Fiterman, Tommaso Giarrizzo et al.

Decentralizing environmental governance is often cast a route to greater administrative efficiency and local empowerment. Yet its ability to uphold socio-environmental safeguards remains under-scrutinized, particularly when authority is devolved to subnational entities with limited institutional capacity. Brazil faces its most severe regulatory rollback: The environmental legislation reform would dramatically expand municipal autonomy in environmental licensing—including for complex, high-impact projects—while weakening oversight mechanisms, community consultation, and technical safeguards. To evaluate the risks of this institutional shift, we assessed the environmental governance and institutional capacity of 1270 municipalities across all twenty-six Brazilian states. Using a multidimensional framework, we analyzed indicators such as the presence of municipal environmental secretariats, existence of local environmental legislation and councils, and availability of qualified technical staff. Our findings reveal widespread and persistent institutional fragility: most municipalities lack even the minimum structures required to conduct precautionary and effective environmental licensing. These deficits are especially acute in regions with lower Human Development Index (HDI) and in ecologically critical biomes such as the Amazon—home to the planet’s highest biodiversity—and the Caatinga, a uniquely Brazilian semiarid biome of high socioecological vulnerability. We also identify strong associations between territorial, socioeconomic, and environmental profiles of municipalities and their institutional readiness. We argue about the need to strengthen municipal capacity, standardize licensing procedures, and provide intergovernmental technical support before transferring complex projects to local authorities. Without these safeguards, decentralization could undermine Brazil’s environmental protection and its commitments under global frameworks. This study offers a national-scale diagnostic of subnational environmental governance and provides a scalable framework for assessing institutional capacity in countries facing similar deregulatory pressures.

Hao Xia, Chaoqiang Jiang, Muhammad Riaz et al.

Abstract Continuous cropping obstacles are significant factors that limit the yield and quality of tobacco. Thus, the selection and breeding of varieties is a crucial strategy for mitigating these challenges. However, the effects and mechanisms by which different tobacco varieties influence the structural composition of soil microbial remain unclear. To address this, we conducted a field experiment involving five tobacco varieties (K326, K394, XL, Y87, and Y97) and two types of soil (continuous cropping obstacle soil and normal soil). We examined microbial responses to different tobacco varieties in each soil type. Our results revealed that soil available nutrients and organic matter were decreased in obstacle soil compared to normal soil. The fresh biomass decreased by 18.05–27.92% in obstacle soil (except K394 and Y97). The microbial community composition in the rhizosphere soil remained consistent in various tobacco varieties in obstacle soil. The connections between soil fertility nutrients and microbial communities were reduced in obstacle soil compared to normal soil. The alteration of bacterial community composition was a stochastic process, whereas the modification of fungal community composition was a deterministic process in obstacle soil. Furthermore, the abundance of differential fungi (Zoopagomycota) was notably higher in obstacle soil. Overall, our results revealed that the disturbance of microbial communities and soil degradation in the obstacle soil are primary factors contributing to reduced crop yields. Therefore, it is an economical strategy for overcoming continuous cropping obstacles by utilizing rhizosphere microecology through multi-variety planting.

Azam Raoofi, Hajar Haghighi, Khatere Khanjankhani et al.

Objective(s): Sustainable development entails a meaningful integration of economic, social, and environmental goals with human well-being, without harming the capacities of future generations to meet their needs. Good governance mechanisms are crucial for fostering sustainable development, which in turn contributes to creation, maintenance, and promotion of individuals and communities’ health. This study aims to provide a comprehensive definition of governance and its components, with a focus on health, and provide an overview of the challenges and opportunities of good governance and sustainable health development in Iran. Methods: This is a review study. We considered all published articles in Scopus and PubMed in Farsi and English, regardless of time limit until September 22, 2023. Results: According to the World Bank, governance includes "traditions and institutions" by which authority is established in a country. So far, many frameworks, models and components have been introduced for governance. For health system studies, the five-component model of governance, which was first introduced in 2018, is one of the most widely used models. Participation, accountability, rule of law, equity and equality, transparency, corruption control, effectiveness and efficiency are among the recurring components of governance in different models. Besides, the improving trends in indicators such as the Neonatal Mortality Rate, Infant Mortality Rate, Under-Five Mortality Rate, Maternal Mortality Rate, and human development indices represent opportunities for good governance in Iran. Conversely, the increasing trends in deaths caused by accidents, deteriorating air quality, soil pollution and erosion, unemployment, and inflation have been posing challenges to good governance in the country. Moreover, several factors have hindered the promotion of good governance in Iran’s health system. These include the lack of an efficient monitoring and evaluation system, inadequate transparency and accountability, insufficient participation of relevant stakeholders, weak management of conflicts of interest and corruption, insufficient coordination and cooperation between and within departments, inadequate use of scientific information and solid evidence in policies, and fragile acceptance of  good governance concept as a fundamental value. Conclusion: It appears that the health system needs to implement the principles of good governance in order to successfully respond to the needs and expectations of the people. We suggest that, while creating an enabling environment for the effective implementation of good governance in line with the sustainable development goals, managing conflict of interest situations in the health system, transparency, and the use of institutional approach need be used to create executive structures and the necessary tools for monitoring and evaluating these measures. We advocate these items to be placed on the policy makers’ agenda.

Corentin Guinault, Pauline Coster, Jacques Avoine et al.

Nature reserves in France, along with national parks and biological reserves, are one of the main tools for strong environmental protection. Nature reserve status was officially introduced in France by a law in 1957 and the first nature reserve was subsequently created in 1961 in the Alps. Since 1982, nature reserves are connected nationwide within the network of the Réserves Naturelles de France (RNF). The RNF members have played a significant role in the recognition and protection of geoheritage in France which has notably resulted in the establishment of nature reserves based on geological criteria and the creation in 1986 of a specific working group: the Geological Heritage Commission. The French geological reserves encompass a diversity of geological objects, including stratotypes, major paleontological and mineralogic sites, exceptional metamorphic, volcanic or geomorphologic sites, and outcrops of historical significance. Over time, RNF, alongside its collaborative partners, has been actively engaged in the protection, management, and recognition of geoheritage inside the French network of nature reserves and beyond. Despite these efforts, broader recognition of concepts like geodiversity and geological heritage remains somewhat limited, even within environmental protection organizations.

S. O. Serbenyuk

The research is devoted to the formulation of a simplified list of requirements for higher education institutions put forward by leading rating agencies for inclusion in international rankings of activities in the framework of sustainable development. Compliance with the relevant requirements for the activities and regulatory framework of higher education institutions creates conditions for increasing the number of Ukrainian institutions in international rankings, improving the position of existing higher education institutions, as well as for improving the image of our country in the international arena, attracting investment and increasing the efficiency of recovery (reconstruction), strengthening Ukraine as a state governed by the rule of law, protecting the environment, and developing the economy. In addition, a fragmentary historical overview of the modern content of the concept of “sustainable development” and the Ukrainian regulatory framework for the Sustainable Development Goals is presented. Despite the great attention of the global and Ukrainian scientific community to the activities of higher education institutions in the context of sustainable development, many studies are general in nature, detailing such activities and their specifics in the context of one or more of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, or are fragmentary. Moreover, there is no clear, coherent, simplified list of the necessary requirements for the activities and regulatory framework of higher education institutions that would meet the criteria of good practice at various levels. The impact of sustainable development activities of universities on the growth of the state's image in the international arena and the attraction of additional allocations for economic reconstruction, as well as on strengthening the rule of law, requires more detailed research. The recommendations for higher education institutions contribute to: restoration of ecology and prevention of environmental crimes and offences; creation of conditions for social security and a “safe society” environment, increase of employees’ motivation on the basis of fair remuneration, ensuring rights and freedoms; improvement and qualitative impact on the development of social relations as a result of cooperation of higher education institutions with authorities (local, regional, national), local residents, business, volunteers, as well as international enterprises; attracting investment, including foreign investment, based on quality management, fair cooperation, environmental culture, compliance with the law, including international law; sustainable development of communities and economic relations based on the previous points; strengthening the institution of the Ombudsman, improving the international image of Ukraine in terms of respect for rights and freedoms, business opportunities, including investment.

Elena V. Alferova, Elena V. Skurko

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Romain Figuière, Flora Borchert, Ian T. Cousins et al.

Abstract Background In 2020, the European Commission published the Chemical Strategy for Sustainability (CSS) in which it aims to increase the level of protection for human health and the environment from hazardous chemicals. Part of the implementation of the CSS will involve a reform of the REACH authorisation and restriction processes. One option for the reform of the authorisation process is to implement the essential-use concept as a tool to guide decision-making on applications for authorisation to make the process more efficient and to align it with societal needs. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether changes in the legal text that defines the authorisation process, and of the amount and type of information that applicants should provide in an application for authorisation, are needed to enable an implementation of the essential-use concept. Results The results suggest that no fundamental changes in the regulatory requirements are needed and that applicants should already provide sufficient and relevant information to the authorities to determine if the use(s) applied for is (are) essential. Conclusions Although the REACH authorisation already provides a legal and practical basis for an implementation of the essential-use concept, the feasibility of the essentiality assessment and its potential to make the decision-making on applications more efficient are highly dependent on the quality of the information provided and the clearness of decision criteria. However, if an applicant successfully demonstrates that the risk related to the use(s) applied for is adequately controlled, it could not be legally justified for the European Commission to refuse an authorisation by arguing that the use(s) applied for is (are) non-essential.

Mehmet Semih Gemalmaz

In this study transformation from soft law to hard law of international environmental protection is analysed within the historical perspective with a special emphasis on process, basic concepts and principles. In Part I of this study, firstly soft hard law dichotomy and enforcement is examined and attention has been drawn to the 1972 Stockholm and the 1992 Rio Declarations. It follows the examination of “common heritage of mankind”, “present and future generations”, “inter/ intra-generational equity”, and “sustainable development” as the basic notions and principles which have roots in soft law and subsequently become an integral part of international environmental protection of hard law instruments. In Part 2 of the study which will be published in the subsequent issue, “no transboundary environmental harm”, “precautionary”, “environmental impact assessment” principles as well as “access to information and participation to decision-making processes” criteria have been analysed. As a whole in this study in addition to relevant international literature and soft/ hard law documents some of the significant jurisprudence in its historical process have been referred to.

Pajtić Bojan L.

The paper focuses on formal and practical problems in the field of environmental protection, which occur as a consequence of omissions of the legislative and executive authorities in Serbia. The text analyzes the positive legislation and compliance of domestic legal regulations with international declarations and conventions ratified by our country (from the Stockholm Declaration and the Council of Europe Convention on Civil Liability for Damage Caused by Dangerous Activities to the Environment to the Rio Declaration), as well as with European Directives (EU Directive on Industrial Emissions) and Regulations (Regulation No. 525/2013 on monitoring and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions and reporting on other information relevant to climate change). The candidacy for equal membership in the European family of nations obliges the Serbian Parliament and the Government to make additional efforts in the direction of harmonizing our law with the European one. The paper takes a de lege ferenda approach, so the author explains the need to amend a number of laws, such as the Law on Environmental Impact Assessment, the Law on Strategic Environmental Assessment, the Law on Fees for the Use of Public Goods and the Law on Budget system, as well as the enactment of the Law on Climate Change and the Serbian Civil Code as soon as possible (in which dilemmas that hinder the subjects of law in using the environmental lawsuit as an instrument of environmental protection should be resolved). An unacceptable deviation from one of the fundamental principles established by the Rio Declaration was pointed out, which brings with it a number of structural problems and the inability of both the Green Fund institutions and a number of organizations that focus on ecology. The consequences of the discrepancy between the intentions proclaimed by the Constitution of Serbia and the National Strategy of Serbia for the accession of Serbia and Montenegro to the European Union from 2005 on the one hand and the absence of adequate legislative and executive activities in environmental protection, on the other hand, are obvious in the reports of the European Commission and the European Environment Office, as well as in the health risk and increased mortality of a large number of citizens of Serbia and other European countries, due to harmful emissions that cause pollution of air, water and soil in our country. In addition to the proposals for changes in the formal framework in the field of environmental protection, the paper points out the need to use those mechanisms of civil protection, such as environmental lawsuits (established by the Law on Obligations 1978), which is, by its nature, actio popularis and in that sense accessible to the widest range of subjects. The defense of the standards established by the Kyoto Protocol and the Basel Convention would, through the extensive use of this procedural instrument, be placed not only in the hands of representatives of the legislature and the executive, but also, the judiciary (conditionally, of course, because courts can decide only initiate a civil action, but not on its own initiative).

Tatiana M. Vorotyntseva

Hazardous waste is a trigger of the environmental crisis, especially at the stage of increasing production and consumption of goods, leading to a significant increase in industrial waste and its movement across customs borders. The cross-border movement of hazardous waste is controlled by the state, customs authorities are entrusted with the tasks of protecting national security, human life and health, animal and plant life, the environment, including protection against the illegal import of hazardous waste. The transboundary movement of hazardous wastes is carried out within the framework of the permissive procedure. Such a unified licensing procedure has also been adopted in the EAEU with respect to the import into the customs territory, transit, export from the customs territory of dangerous wastes. This procedure assumes that the declarant submits to an official of the authorized body a license of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation or a permit for the transboundary movement of hazardous waste of the Federal Service for Supervision of Environmental Management. However, despite the efforts of the international community in the fight against hazardous waste, the dynamics of illegal movement of certain types of waste continues to grow, which indicates the existence of a number of unresolved problems. In the course of the study, the conceptual and categorical apparatus in the field of hazardous waste is analyzed, the main provisions of the procedure for moving this category of goods across the customs border of the EAEU are considered. The basis for national legislation in terms of the conceptual apparatus and regulation of the transboundary movement of hazardous wastes through the customs territory of the EAEU is the norms of international law, while a comparative analysis confirms the ambiguity of their recognition and classification in the EAEU member states. The analysis of the dynamics of the movement of hazardous waste, including used pneumatic tires and tires, showed that every year the problems of environmental protection become more acute. As a result of the study, specific problems in the field of transboundary movement of hazardous wastes were identified and recommendations for their solution were given.

Manshi Asher

Ana Luiza Felix Severo, Patrícia Borba Vilar Guimarães

O presente trabalho parte de pesquisa empírica para estudar os elementos trazidos na Política Nacional de Resíduos Sólidos, Lei Federal instituída em 2010. A importância do empirismo é de trazer a realidade da práxis em contraponto com o que reza a lei. O marco teórico utilizado de Enrique Leff tem a finalidade de trazer o papel da nova racionalidade ambiental diante da mudança de paradigmas e diálogo de saberes. Sob o princípio da especialidade do local permitiu-se estudar cada local sem compará-lo. Dessa forma, visa-se esclarecer o papel do catador de material reciclável no desenvolvimento de sua atividade a partir do princípio da livre iniciativa em constituir a cooperativa ou associação para ser reconhecido como agente socioeconômico ambiental.

Paola Villavicencio Calzadilla, L. Kotzé

Abstract Juridical protection of the rights of nature is steadily emerging in several legal systems and in public discourse. Building on a recent publication in Transnational Environmental Law in which we interrogated Ecuador’s constitutional experiment with the rights of nature, we critically reflect in this contribution on Bolivia’s legal regime providing for the rights of Mother Earth. We do so, first, by sketching the juridical-political context within which these statutes were drafted and adopted, and then by analyzing the relevant constitutional provisions that provide the basis for the laws of Mother Earth. The third part forms the bulk of the discussion and details the background and the most relevant provisions of Bolivian statutes with a view to enabling a deeper critique in Part 4, in which we critically evaluate both the symbolic and the theoretical significance of the statutes as well as concerns related to their practical implementation. Insofar as the rights of nature paradigm has now become a truly global debate and a consideration in transnational comparative legal borrowing practices, our analysis aims to reveal the Bolivian experience, which could be instructive for civil society groups, academics, politicians and legislatures in a transnational setting.

Bambang Saharjo, Johann Georg Goldammer

Landscape fires and excessive use of fire in land use and land-use change have become one of the most important issues in Southeast Asia for about 25 years. The impacts of fires result not only in environmental destruction with adverse effects on health and security, the transport sector and the overall socio-economic conditions, but also affect the relations between neighbouring countries, as transboundary haze pollution pose negative impacts on the neighbor countries. Fire and smoke episodes occur every year but fluctuating. During the last three years burning activities have slowed down in Indonesia, while in the others parts of the region sometimes the situation is worsening. This is why it was proposed to create an institution that would take the lead in solving the problem at regional level. In 2017 the Regional Fire Management Resource Center - Southeast Asia (RFMRC-SEA) was established at the Faculty of Forestry, Bogor Agricultural University (Indonesia), with the assistance of the Global Fire Monitoring Center (GFMC) (Max Planck Institute for Chemistry and University of Freiburg). The aim of the Center, which is an independent academic entity, is to contribute to informed political decision making and the development of relevant policies for Indonesia and the neighboring countries of the Maritime Continent. The structure of a Regional Center of Competence for Fire Management is a measure of the decentralization of the work of the GFMC and is the fourth Regional Center in line (after the establishment of the first three Centers in Southeast Europe/Caucasus, Eastern Europe and Central Asia). Since 2017 many activities have been conducted by the Center, i.e., monitoring of wildfires and land-use fires in the region, monitoring particle emissions in critical situations, collecting and evaluating imagery of burned areas at different land use, sharing the information to the government agencies and others communities (CSO), conducting training for fire investigators using satellite and for law enforcement personnel, and communication with the directly and indirectly using social media

Ocspp, Oppt

Stefan Nickel, Winfried Schröder, Roman Schmalfuss et al.

Abstract Background This paper aims to investigate the correlations between the concentrations of nine heavy metals in moss and atmospheric deposition within ecological land classes covering Europe. Additionally, it is examined to what extent the statistical relations are affected by the land use around the moss sampling sites. Based on moss data collected in 2010/2011 throughout Europe and data on total atmospheric deposition modelled by two chemical transport models (EMEP MSC-E, LOTOS-EUROS), correlation coefficients between concentrations of heavy metals in moss and in modelled atmospheric deposition were specified for spatial subsamples defined by ecological land classes of Europe (ELCE) as a spatial reference system. Linear discriminant analysis (LDA) and logistic regression (LR) were then used to separate moss sampling sites regarding their contribution to the strength of correlation considering the areal percentage of urban, agricultural and forestry land use around the sampling location. After verification LDA models by LR, LDA models were used to transform spatial information on the land use to maps of potential correlation levels, applicable for future network planning in the European Moss Survey. Results Correlations between concentrations of heavy metals in moss and in modelled atmospheric deposition were found to be specific for elements and ELCE units. Land use around the sampling sites mainly influences the correlation level. Small radiuses around the sampling sites examined (5 km) are more relevant for Cd, Cu, Ni, and Zn, while the areal percentage of urban and agricultural land use within large radiuses (75–100 km) is more relevant for As, Cr, Hg, Pb, and V. Most valid LDA models pattern with error rates of < 40% were found for As, Cr, Cu, Hg, Pb, and V. Land use-dependent predictions of spatial patterns split up Europe into investigation areas revealing potentially high (= above-average) or low (= below-average) correlation coefficients. Conclusions LDA is an eligible method identifying and ranking boundary conditions of correlations between atmospheric deposition and respective concentrations of heavy metals in moss and related mapping considering the influence of the land use around moss sampling sites.

Kamyla Borges da Cunha, Fernando Rei

O artigo tem como tema a litigância climática, entendida como litígios que requerem, do Poder Judiciário ou de instâncias administrativas, decisões que direta ou expressamente abordam questões, fatos ou normas jurídicas relacionadas, em sua essência, às causas ou impactos das mudanças climáticas. O objetivo do artigo é trazer ao debate algumas questões relacionadas à litigância climática que podem ser relevantes no contexto brasileiro, apresentando casos concretos já decididos ou em andamento outras jurisdições. Para a sua elaboração, adotou-se como metodologia o levantamento de referencial bibliográfico, trazendo, em especial, exemplos de ações judiciais já decididas ou em andamento extraídas do direito comparado que ilustram algumas das reflexões que se mostram relevantes para a doutrina e a jurisprudência brasileiras. O artigo conclui destacando que, no Brasil, iniciativas específicas de litigância climática ainda são recentes, mas já adiantam algumas reflexões para a doutrina e a construção da jurisprudência, podendo-se mencionar o entendimento das emissões de gases de efeito estufa como poluentes e as consequências daí decorrentes em termos de incidência do arcabouço regulatório em vigor no país; as discussões em torno da comprovação da causalidade e a consequente responsabilização civil objetiva; e a definição da jurisdição competente.

P.V. Chalapathi, B. Prathima, Y. Subba Rao et al.

A new catalytic and kinetic spectrophotometric method for the determination of vanadium(V) was studied using 2,3,4-trihydroxyacetophenonephenylhydrazone (THAPPH) as an analytical reagent. The present method was developed on the catalytic effect of vanadium on oxidation of THAPPH by hydrogen peroxide in hydrochloric acid–potassium chloride buffer (pH = 2.8) at the 20th minute. The metal ion has formed 1:2 (M:L) complex with THAPPH. Beer’s law was obeyed in the range 20–120 ng/mL of V(V) at λmax 390 nm. The sensitivity of the method was calculated in terms of molar absorptivity (1.999 × 105 L mol−1cm−1) and Sandell’s sensitivity (0.000254 μg cm−2), shows that this method is more sensitive. The standard deviation (0.0022), relative standard deviation (0.56%), confidence limit (±0.0015) and standard error (0.0007) revealed that the developed method has more precision and accuracy. The stability constant was calculated with the help of Asmu’s (9.411 × 10−11) and Edmond’s & Birnbaum’s (9.504 × 10−11) methods at room temperature. The interfering effect of various cations and anions was also studied. The present method was successfully applied for the determination of vanadium(V) in environmental and alloy samples. The method’s validity was checked by comparing the results obtained with atomic-absorption spectrophotometry and also by evaluation of results using F-test.