Hasil untuk "Environmental law"

Irmak Kurtul, Ahmet Raif Eryaşar, Tanju Mutlu et al.

Abstract Microplastics are widespread pollutants in freshwater ecosystems, yet comprehensive data on their occurrence across large geographic scales remains scarce. This nationwide study, therefore, examined microplastic ingestion in 621 individuals of non-native Gambusia holbrooki across 24 freshwater sites in Türkiye, selected to represent diverse hydrological types and anthropogenic pressures. Microplastic particles were extracted from the gastrointestinal tracts and analyzed for morphology, polymer type, size, and color using stereomicroscopy and ATR-FTIR spectroscopy. Fibers were the dominant shape (66%), followed by fragments (23%), films (9%), and spheres (2%). The most common polymer types were polyethylene terephthalate (PET, 40%) and polyethylene (PE, 28%), while black (35%) and blue (22%) were the most frequent colors. Over 80% of particles measured less than 1 mm in size. Microplastic loads were higher in lentic systems and areas influenced by agricultural or domestic discharge, highlighting spatial variability driven by land use and waterbody type. This pattern aligns with the ecology of G. holbrooki, whose surface-feeding behavior and preference for lentic waters likely increase its exposure to microplastics. These findings demonstrate the utility of G. holbrooki as a bioindicator of localized microplastic pollution. Future monitoring programs should integrate land-use data and adopt multi-species approaches to capture the full spectrum of contamination. This study supports the inclusion of adaptable, invasive species in cost-effective freshwater pollution assessments and informs targeted management strategies. Graphical Abstract

Upasana Dasgupta

Henry Leonel Cárcamo Macoto, María José Viñals, Arie Sanders

The eight member countries of the Central American Integration System (SICA)—Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, and the Dominican Republic—are signatories to the Convention for the Protection of World Heritage and the Convention on Biological Diversity. Both binding international instruments use the terms ‘cultural landscape’ and ‘protected landscape’, respectively. For this reason, the environmental/natural and cultural legislation of the SICA region has been analyzed to identify the legal frameworks that allow for the declaration of the categories mentioned above for the protection of landscapes. In five of the eight SICA member states, 38 ‘protected landscapes’ were found to exist under environmental law. No designation has been reported for cultural legislation in this region. In addition, the designations and management plans for ‘protected landscapes’ were reviewed, and it was noted that most of them were similar in denomination, but their protection objectives were not aligned with the binding instruments from which they were derived. Thus, we conclude that, given the particular natural and cultural wealth of the SICA region, it is necessary to identify and map landscapes and establish common guidelines for managing them to foster harmony between nature and mankind and according to the international conventions’ objectives.

Zhipeng Zhang, Zong Wang, Xiaoyuan Zhang et al.

China is currently the world’s largest carbon emitter and has pledged to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, which requires significant reductions in emissions and the removal of carbon dioxide removal. Precise and efficient forestation has become a key strategy to increase carbon sequestration and mitigate the effects of climate change. In order to obtain a high-accuracy distribution area of potential forestation land, a variety of influencing factors on potential forestation land were selected in this study, including vegetation factors and environmental factors. Combining the two models “law of the minimum factors (LMF)” and “equal weight classification (EWC)” predicts the spatial distribution pattern of potential forestation land in China. And, we calculated the available forestation area in each province and predicted future forest coverage. The results showed that the potential forestation area using the LMF method reached approximately 5.65 × 105 km2, and the potential forestation area using the EMC method reached approximately 4.95 × 105 km2. Combining the two models, the final potential forestation area in China was approximately 6.29 × 105 km2, of which approximately 1.02 × 105 km2 was evaluated as a high-confidence area. If all potential forestation land obtained from the two models was successfully planted, China’s forest coverage rate would reach nearly 26 %. Two newly introduced vegetation factors, namely vegetation resilience and top vegetation succession, were considered in this study to make the prediction results of potential forestation distribution more accurate and reasonable. In addition, the results obtained in this study can provide certain assistance for the specific implementation of national forestation policies, and can provide a reference for promoting forestation actions and achieving the goal of carbon neutrality.

Hongyan He, Xiuwen Yang, Aurang Zeb et al.

The xanthophyll cycle is a photoprotective mechanism in plants and algae, which protects the photosynthetic system from excess light damage under abiotic stress. Zeaxanthin is considered to play a pivotal role in this process. In this study, the relative content of xanthophylls was determined using HPLC-MS/MS in <i>Ulva prolifera</i> exposed to different salinities. The results showed that high-salt stress significantly increased the relative content of xanthophylls and led to the accumulation of zeaxanthin. It was speculated that the accumulated zeaxanthin may contribute to the response of <i>U. prolifera</i> to high-salt stress. Zeaxanthin epoxidase (<i>ZEP</i>) is a key enzyme in the xanthophyll cycle and is also involved in the synthesis of abscisic acid and carotenoids. In order to explore the biological function of <i>ZEP</i>, a <i>ZEP</i> gene was cloned and identified from <i>U. prolifera</i>. The CDS of <i>UpZEP</i> is 1122 bp and encodes 373 amino acids. Phylogenetic analysis showed that <i>UpZEP</i> clusters within a clade of green algae. The results of qRT-PCR showed that high-salt stress induced the expression of <i>UpZEP</i>. In addition, heterologous overexpression of the <i>UpZEP</i> gene in yeast and <i>Chlamydomonas reinhardtii</i> improved the salt tolerance of transgenic organisms. In conclusion, the <i>UpZEP</i> gene may be involved in the response of <i>U. prolifera</i> to high-salt stress and can improve the high-salt tolerance of transgenic organisms.

Martin Kwan

This article reflects on the international notion of environmental “sustainability” from the normative perspective. As a norm, it has been commonly analogised to “justice” — meaning the failure to uphold such would constitute a “wrong”. At its face value, this positive understanding should be welcomed as it signals and promotes the importance of sustainability. However, this article takes the role of the Devil’s advocate and argues that this analogy does more harm than good. It has over-glorified the notion of environmental sustainability because injustice is — at least in theory — an absolute wrong in all circumstances, but unsustainability is not. On the one hand, the public is being increasingly instilled with the normative idea that unsustainability is wrong. On the other hand, unsustainable acts are not necessarily outlawed and may even be endorsed. This undermines the rule of law and its perception because the law, in effect, is selectively allowing and sanctioning different acts involving the exact same wrong. This goes against the rule-of-law requirement of consistency. If the world truly cares about sustainability, it should be accorded the same paramount status as “justice”, so that it will be upheld to the greatest possible extent. If this is not possible, there is still a pressing need to state the standingof the norm, accurately, to avoid creating an expectation gap and causing further harm to the rule of law.

Kadir Aden

In accord with the aim of achieving global sustainable development, the current article provides empirical evidence on the role of quality of governance, renewable energy consumption and official development assistance (ODA) in providing a successful outcome on ecological footprints. According to the ARDL model, renewable energy decreases the ecological footprint, and among the variables selected to represent quality of governance, only controlling corruption mitigates the ecological footprint, whereas regulatory quality, rule of law and ODA increase the ecological footprint. This is likely, as the current Djiboutian environmental legislation fails to accommodate the ecological issue, and because other underdeveloped sectors absorb the cumulative ODA, thus leaving for small sums to be allocated to environmental activities. Furthermore, the finding of the impulse response and the variance decomposition project was that all the variables have a collective ad-hoc shock on the ecological footprint by restraining the level of the human imprint on ecology; however, it takes significant time to transpire.

Kornelia Grzelka, Agnieszka Bieda, Jarosław Bydłosz et al.

Despite the already advanced work on the construction of jurisdictional 3D cadastre models in many parts of the world and the technical feasibility of building very detailed 3D models of cities, relatively few specialists have focused on the aspects of visualizing property rights in three dimensions. Therefore, to complement the analyses carried out so far in this area, this research aims to investigate the perception of the visualization of multidimensional real estate data using different visual variables and by different audiences. The main contribution of the conducted research to the development of 3D cadastre visualizations is to start a discussion on the differences in their perception among real estate professionals and those who have no experience in this area and may have to use multidimensional property data. The research was conducted using a questionnaire-based survey method with the computer-assisted web interview (CAWI) technique. The questionnaire was completed by students of a course related to real estate law (geodetic science) and those who do not have regular contact with it (environmental engineering, medicine, sports, mechanics, and management). As a result of the survey, it emerged that the group studying geodetic science performed better on average than students in other fields of study. Additionally, the conducted survey confirmed the existing knowledge of the perception of the visualization of property rights in three dimensions. According to it, visualizations of property rights in 3D should use color. The use of transparency helps in visualisations made in grayscale but interferes with more complex colorful objects.

Valeria M. Nurchi, Rosita Cappai, Nadia Spano et al.

Iron, one of the most common metals in the environment, plays a fundamental role in many biological as well as biogeochemical processes, which determine its availability in different oxidation states. Its relevance in environmental and industrial chemistry, human physiology, and many other fields has made it necessary to develop and optimize analysis techniques for accurate determination. Spectrophotometric methods are the most frequently applied in the analytical determination of iron in real samples. Taking advantage of the fact that desferrioxamine B, a trihydroxamic acid used since the 1970s in chelation therapy for iron overload treatment, forms a single stable 1:1 complex with iron in whichever oxidation state it can be found, a smart spectrophotometric method for the analytical determination of iron concentration was developed. In particular, the full compliance with the Lambert-Beer law, the range of iron concentration, the influence of pH, and the interference of other metal ions have been taken into account. The proposed method was validated in terms of LoD, LoQ, linearity, precision, and trueness, and has been applied for total iron determination in natural water certified material and in biological reference materials such as control human urine and control serum.

Erik Pihl, Eva Alfredsson, Magnus Bengtsson et al.

Non-technical summary We summarize some of the past year's most important findings within climate change-related research. New research has improved our understanding of Earth's sensitivity to carbon dioxide, finds that permafrost thaw could release more carbon emissions than expected and that the uptake of carbon in tropical ecosystems is weakening. Adverse impacts on human society include increasing water shortages and impacts on mental health. Options for solutions emerge from rethinking economic models, rights-based litigation, strengthened governance systems and a new social contract. The disruption caused by COVID-19 could be seized as an opportunity for positive change, directing economic stimulus towards sustainable investments. Technical summary A synthesis is made of ten fields within climate science where there have been significant advances since mid-2019, through an expert elicitation process with broad disciplinary scope. Findings include: (1) a better understanding of equilibrium climate sensitivity; (2) abrupt thaw as an accelerator of carbon release from permafrost; (3) changes to global and regional land carbon sinks; (4) impacts of climate change on water crises, including equity perspectives; (5) adverse effects on mental health from climate change; (6) immediate effects on climate of the COVID-19 pandemic and requirements for recovery packages to deliver on the Paris Agreement; (7) suggested long-term changes to governance and a social contract to address climate change, learning from the current pandemic, (8) updated positive cost–benefit ratio and new perspectives on the potential for green growth in the short- and long-term perspective; (9) urban electrification as a strategy to move towards low-carbon energy systems and (10) rights-based litigation as an increasingly important method to address climate change, with recent clarifications on the legal standing and representation of future generations. Social media summary Stronger permafrost thaw, COVID-19 effects and growing mental health impacts among highlights of latest climate science.

Otto Spijkers

This paper addresses the question whether the premises of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), and court judgments adjudicating the responsibility of various actors for what happened in Srebrenica, could be considered “legal monuments”, urging us to remember and show respect for the victims of the Srebrenica genocide of 1995.

Daniele De Luca, Wiebe H. C. F. Kooistra, Diana Sarno et al.

Abstract Concerted evolution is a process of homogenisation of repetitive sequences within a genome through unequal crossing over and gene conversion. This homogenisation is never fully achieved because mutations always create new variants. Classically, concerted evolution has been detected as “noise” in electropherograms and these variants have been characterised through cloning and sequencing of subsamples of amplified products. However, this approach limits the number of detectable variants and provides no information about the abundance of each variant. In this study, we investigated concerted evolution by using environmental time-series metabarcoding data, single strain high-throughput sequencing (HTS) and a collection of Sanger reference barcode sequences. We used six species of the marine planktonic diatom genus Chaetoceros as study system. Abundance plots obtained from environmental metabarcoding and single strain HTS showed the presence of a haplotype far more abundant than all the others (the “dominant” haplotype) and identical to the reference sequences of that species obtained with Sanger sequencing. This distribution fitted best with Zipf’s law among the rank abundance/ dominance models tested. Furthermore, in each strain 99% of reads showed a similarity of 99% with the dominant haplotype, confirming the efficiency of the homogenisation mechanism of concerted evolution. We also demonstrated that minor haplotypes found in the environmental samples are not only technical artefacts, but mostly intragenomic variation generated by incomplete homogenisation. Finally, we showed that concerted evolution can be visualised inferring phylogenetic networks from environmental data. In conclusion, our study provides an important contribution to the understanding of concerted evolution and to the interpretation of DNA barcoding and metabarcoding data based on multigene family markers.

Haifa Rachida Tekarri, Karima Chelihi

As a result of the inability of developing countries to cover the expenses of investment projects on their lands, these countries, including Algeria, have tried to attract national and foreign investors who wish to invest their money outside their countries of origin As these investors usually resort to emigration from their countries and prefer these developing countries to set up their projects in order to avoid the high rise of taxes resulting from the exploitation of the environment and evasion of the strict procedures applied in the field of environmental protection. Algeria, as a developing country that weakens or lacks conservation considerations, remains a country where investors whose projects lead to the emission of substances that cause pollution to the environment and which are not allowed in developed countries are frustrated. In order to deal with harmful and polluting environmental activities, the Algerian State is trying to impose rules of civil liability on these investors to avoid natural disasters and to impose rules to protect the natural environment from pollution that could be inflicted on the Algerian state as a result of the activities and activities of investors harmful to the environment This goal. In this paper, we seek to analyze Law 03-10 on the protection of the environment in the framework of sustainable development in Algeria to highlight the impact of the role of the judge in determining the civil liability of investors with the possibility of prosecuting them to pay appropriate compensation for their actions.

Li Jiang

The EU aspires to utilize the economic advantages of gene-editing technology on one hand and ensure human health and environmental safety on the other. Surrounding the fierce debates over emerging gene-edited plant, the current debate focused on the issue of whether the gene-edited crop should be within or outside the GMO law and its implication for innovation. It should not be forgotten that it is also involved in the complex patentability issues pertaining to the legal interpretation of the patent law. The gene-edited crop is governed by GMO regulations due to its potential risk to human health and environmental safety. But it is heavily patented, as patent regulations ignore its potential risk. This article examines the discrepancy of the gene-edited crop between the existing GMO law and the patent law and reveals the challenges to current EU jurisdiction, including the international trade impediment challenge, the patent monopoly challenge, the market confusion challenge, and the agricultural economy suspension challenge. In the end, this article argues that EU GMO regulations should be bridged with a patent system in facing the regulatory challenges from the gene-edited crop.

A. A. Sinyavskiy

INTRODUCTION. This study analyzes available remedies for victims who have suffered harm from business activity of transnational corporations. The goal of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of available remedies for the protection human rights of individuals from adverse impacts of the business activity of TNCs. To achieve the goal, it is necessary to fulfill the following tasks: to consider the obligations of TNCs in modern international law, the role of states in the protecting human rights against the business activities of TNCs, examine the content of the right to an effective remedy, and characterize the existing remedies for the individuals.MATERIALS AND METHODS. During the research the latest theoretical studies of leading Western scholars was analyzed, as well as the regulatory documents, recommendations and reports of the human rights treaty bodies, international human rights treaties and extensive court practice of the ECHR. For this study formal logical, general scientifi , comparative legal and private scientific methods has been applied. RESEARCH RESULTS. In recent years, the importance of soft law in the field of international business and human rights has been increasingly strengthened. The UN Guiding principles on Business and Human Rights have become the basis for a draft legally binding instrument to regulate, in international human rights law, the activities of transnational corporations. It should be noted that the latest innovations in the draft related to the introduction of environmental rehabilitation as one of the mandatory forms of redress. Indeed, when considering mass violations of human rights by transnational corporations, we oft n encounter with serious damage to the environment, as a result of which environmental rights are violated. Increasing cases of such violations have led to the need to improve international and domestic remedies.DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS. The study concluded that a remedy would be effective if it would be affordable, acceptable, adequate and timely. An effective remedy against the activities of TNCs should provide an adequate compensation or the leveling of the damage caused and bring TNCs to account for human rights violations in order to ensure such compensation. In turn, access to remedies consists of two interrelated elements: the existence of a grievance mechanism that provides a redress for business-related damage and the availability to the mechanism by aff cted persons. Access to remedies should be provided without discrimination on any of the prohibited grounds and should take into account the situation of vulnerable groups. The approach to the calculation of compensation or the choice of remedy should be individualized, taking into account the social and legal status of the victim.

Matemilola Saheed, Elegbede Isa O., Kies Fatima et al.

Fossil fuel such as coal, natural gas, oil and recently shale gas are perhaps the most economically viable means for energy generation but are laden with inexhaustible environmental consequences. Thus, biofuel development has received tremendous support from all quarters in response to quest for energy security and clean energy. However, the rapid rate of development of bioenergy has also raised concern chiefly for its nexus with food security with some scholar considering it a disaster especially for countries in the global south. Due to her prime location along the equator, and the generally favourable climatic conditions all through the year, Nigeria is considered to have enormous potential for bioenergy development. Unfortunately, Nigeria is also highly ranked in the 2018 Global Hunger Index (GHI) of International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). Rested mainly on exploratory approach, this study analyses the bioenergy potential of Nigeria and the implications of the fast-rising market on food security in the Nigerian context. Critical investigation on the food crop-bioenergy trade-offs was conducted while bioenergy development implications were analysed in the context of the four dimensions of food security. Lastly, mitigative measures to bioenergy development impacts were discussed and one key proposition is need to strengthen the second and third generation technology for biofuel production in Nigeria.

Illáš Martin

The current developments in the European legislative protection against the introduction of plant pests is problematic in terms of its quality and in relation of the EU law to the law of EU Member States. The quality of this legislation is significant by non-uniform wording used in Directive 2019/523 and in Council Directive 2000/29/EC, especially in geographical indications, names of taxonomic units of organisms and listing of requirements, conditions, states, plants, plant products and organisms. Another problematic phenomenon of the uncertainty of the EU Member states caused by very slow European law-making process regarding to adoption of implementing regulations, which needed to enter into force on December 14th 2019 based on Regulation 2016/2031 repealing the present legislation in plant pest protection covered by seven older directives. Despite of this fact, the EU amended simultaneously this older legislation only a very short time before the date of repealing.

Mirco Bundschuh, Juliane Filser, Simon Lüderwald et al.

Abstract Nanoparticles serve various industrial and domestic purposes which is reflected in their steadily increasing production volume. This economic success comes along with their presence in the environment and the risk of potentially adverse effects in natural systems. Over the last decade, substantial progress regarding the understanding of sources, fate, and effects of nanoparticles has been made. Predictions of environmental concentrations based on modelling approaches could recently be confirmed by measured concentrations in the field. Nonetheless, analytical techniques are, as covered elsewhere, still under development to more efficiently and reliably characterize and quantify nanoparticles, as well as to detect them in complex environmental matrixes. Simultaneously, the effects of nanoparticles on aquatic and terrestrial systems have received increasing attention. While the debate on the relevance of nanoparticle-released metal ions for their toxicity is still ongoing, it is a re-occurring phenomenon that inert nanoparticles are able to interact with biota through physical pathways such as biological surface coating. This among others interferes with the growth and behaviour of exposed organisms. Moreover, co-occurring contaminants interact with nanoparticles. There is multiple evidence suggesting nanoparticles as a sink for organic and inorganic co-contaminants. On the other hand, in the presence of nanoparticles, repeatedly an elevated effect on the test species induced by the co-contaminants has been reported. In this paper, we highlight recent achievements in the field of nano-ecotoxicology in both aquatic and terrestrial systems but also refer to substantial gaps that require further attention in the future.

Viktoria Yavorska, Antonina Shashero, Kateryna Kolomiyets et al.

The coastal zone in Ukraine is likely to undergo the most profound change in the near future. Already more than 65 percent of the Ukrainian Black Sea region population lives within 30 km of the coast. Consequently, unless territory planning and careful environmental management are instituted, sharp conflicts over coastal space and resource are likely, and the degradation of natural resources will stop future social-economic development. In order to maintain and restore coastal ecosystem it was implemented law about formation of the national ecological network of Ukraine. Later were developed General Scheme for Planning of the Territory of Ukraine and regional level planning scheme but there is no especial document regulating the use of land in the coastal zone. The study of geographical conditions, economic activity, and population resettlement shows separation within the regions of several echelons of economic development in relation to the coastline. Such separation may be based on differences in intensity and types of economic use within the territory and the water area, as well as the population density on the land. These features include the following economic stripes: seaside-facade, middle, peripheral – on land, and coastal, territorial waters, exclusive economic zone – in the direction of the sea. At the same time, each economic stripe has a complex internal structure. There are several basic principles of functional zoning of the territory highlighted in the article can help to rational plan the seaside regions.

Djoko Sihono Gabriel, Albertus Wahyu Anindityo

According to the material-value-conservation paradigm, all material should not be considered to be marginal material, but rather to be valuable resource of which its value should be conserved. Degradation of material value may be prevented by designing for material value conservation that will support easier and faster processes for mechanical recycling; this will produce better quality of product and improve its financial viability. Therefore, it supports resource conservation schemes for plastic materials, reduces material waste, and also promotes a new method of environmental protection. A material value conservation implementation needs appropriate and strategic stakeholder roles in order to optimize the line of sight among stakeholders. Brain-writing and interpretive-process techniques of analysis were implemented in this research by interviewing competent resource persons representing every category of stakeholder (including government institutions, such as the regulator and law-enforcement agencies; plastic-packaging producers; plastic-packaging purchasers; plastic-waste collectors, and plastic recyclers), and then analyzing their responses to determine the appropriate strategic roles. Results of the two methods suggest a list of stakeholders with their strategic roles being to support the material-value-conservation aims in the context of quality and value of plastic-waste improvements, as well as increasing the quantity of waste accepted by plastic recyclers. Stakeholder roles provided valuable information and directions for implementing management of plastic materials and plastic packaging products, as well as its post-consumer materials as valuable waste. The new paradigm, which is supported by the appropriate roles of stakeholders will have a broader impact and provide more benefits through optimizing plastic-waste utilization, especially for regions with high density of people and high consumption rate of plastic packaging products.