ASSIGNEMENT

Environmental science
Mid term 20 - 24 (evening)
Name : Ajmal khan
Roll no : 0435 - A
TOPIC : Environmental laws

Environmental Law

INTRODUCTION :
It is the law of the environmental problems. "The desire to protect the environment
is at the heart of environmental law that desire can be seen right across population
in countries". Thats because the environmental law is not just about valuing the
environment but protecting it so we as population live within the carrying capacity
of the earth.
A better way to think about an environment law is as the law of environmental
problems. Environmental law is the term used to explain local, national,
international legislation designed to protect the environment from harm and
damage. It is a collective term consisting all the aspects of law that protects the
environment.
Numerous problems are there in environment in common. Other are going to be
going to be global : climate change. A common feature of environmental problem
is that they are both physically complex and socially complex. They are physically
complex because they involve ecosystem - if we push fertilizers on agricultural
land and it runs off into rivers, a whole range of implications might happen for
natueal environment and also for humans health, but they are also socially
complex.
Environmental problems are often caused by a range of different people not
intending to harm the environment but each of their actions contributing to
environmetal problems. Nation states play a significant role in environmental law
and thats because they have the authority and the capacity to develop collective
responces in relation to these problems. Modern environmental law really has its
roots in the 1960s and it was not just a response to environmental problems it was
also a part of commitment to make socities more just, more fair and more
democratic. Environmental law is not a magic wand. It is not a case of passing a
piece of legislation, signing a treaty, or a court deciding a case and an
environmental problem disappears. What is required is the creation of legal
frameworks which ensures the ongoing management of an environmental problem
in as fair and just way as possible. Environmental law is very technically complex.
If you look at a text book on the environmental law of any country it is big, it is
thick, and environmental lawyers need to know a lot new law and they know how
to apply it with nuance and sophistication. Thats because a lot new has not
developed with the environmental and these types of collective action problems in
mind and so with the development of environmental law; we have had to think
about different types of legal obligations in countries sucha as india and
newzealand. It might means justice between nations, justice across generations,
justice with in local communities, or even a form of justice that takes rights of the
earth into account. Environmental law is othen controversial. We might debate
whether there is an environmental problem, we might debate how to solve it, there
may be issues about what is a legitimate role for government, and given the fact
that environmental law often requires limiting peoples behaviour, it will awake
resentment, but it is controvercial it is necessary and its necessary coming back to
the first point, because we have to live with in the carrying capacity of the earth.

Environmental laws started some 30-35 years ago and with time, they have gone
and became very stringent and covers almost all aspects of our life . Humans have
both ; a responsibility towards environmental law-an obligation-as well as certain
rights.
The question which arises is that why we need the law ? When we understand the
system of environmental pollution or environmental propogation or poppulation
transport, we can say that three things are happening: there is a sourse, there is a
transport mechanism and there is a receptor. Receptor is the people, the ecology
that is affected. So there are three components of environmental system. It could be
water pollution, air pollution, noice pollution but they would be three components.
the medium is to transport pollutants and its effect.. When the effect is so severe,
the people tend to suffer because of pollution and we need to do the control and
that is the direction of the control. When it is controlled for example , if an industry
is causing pollution, the industry must control the pollution. But some times saying
is not enough- we may ask the industry to control but there has to be certain rules
and regulations so that the industry is duty bound to control the pollution. So we
define what is receptor - it could be the ecology and the people. When we dont
need the laws ? For example, if the industry or the citizens or the people running
the industry or running other pollution activities voluntarily control the pollution
on thier own, then we dont need so many laws. But obviously, certain laws are
required for pollution control and they have come through societal response as the
society tends to ask for more and more pollution control so then the environmental
laws become a very important component of legal enforcement. So laws are
through parliment- that we can see. Our parliment will make the law and there will
be a system or there will be a body, there will be a mechanism to implement the
laws. In addition, the laws can be the national laws- we will see some of them,
there could be international laws that we have to follow and there could be treaties
between two countries or there could be treaties amung many countries or several
countries and then there could be protocols that we need to follow. soon we have to
go on this journey.

EXPLAINITION :
Why there was need for environmental laws. If you look at history, air pollution
episode have been reported; for example, suddenly because of the poor weather
conditions, dispersion is poor, there have been many episodes that cauesd very
high level of pollution and that resulted in several deaths and injury and there
could be some accidents as well. There are little examples i am giving here: Meuse
valley (belgium), Donara in pennsylvania in 1948, Poza Rica in mexico in 1950,
London smog, very famous - several thousand people died because of pollution
problem in 1952. Obviously if such a situation exists, we need to control pollution
because the basic fundamental requirement or objective for poullution control
engineers is to provide good and better public health to the people. Clean air act
was there was in response to the 1952 london smog, water quality conservation law
came in japan in 1958. So with this little history, we see that mankind has been
responding.
But lets see what exactly happened in the Landon smog. It was during the month of
early week of december, that was in 1952. Suddenly during the third or fourth of
december, the pollution started rising, so suddenly in london, sulphur dioxide
started going up, so was the smoke-and level of both of them were 2 milligram per
meter cube which is very very high. It started affecting people. It caused death
apart from injuries. One can imagine how pollution can cause very serious
problems. So we need to control and we have to have a legal system that would be
enforced, industries needs to follow and individual people have to follow, the
vehicle owners have to follow - how to clean keep thier vehicle. These things
become very important .

Nature became an object that we can use and exploit. The invention of
steam enjine played a very important part in this because thanks to the steam
engine; ships could now cross the world seas independent of the strenght in the
direction of the winds. Colonists and merchants could now access foreign countries
and the raw material they held at thier own control.So the idea emerged that we
could conquer foreign people but we could aslo conquer the earth herself.
Legislative bodies paved the way for this because they passed laws that enabled
companies dutch east indies company to conquer the world.. In 20th and 21th
century we have really seen the effects of this way of thinking. Natural disasters as
a result of climate change are the talk of day. Eco sites are the massive damage and
destruction of ecosystems,. for example the fukashima nuclear disaster, the
overfishing of north sea and the destruction of amazon. We have come face to face
with the effect of a system that placces profit above people and planet.
Unfortunately law has not being able to turn us around. Environmental law has
done great things by protecting parts of nature but has not been able to adress the
the core flaw in our legal system and that is that the earth is considered to be an
object insted of the living super complex organism that it really is. So when the
enlightenment liberated individuals, it contributed to a way of thinking that has
enslaved the natural world and law helped this process. The lawyers came out with
the slogun that if enslave the natural world thn we also threaten our own freedom
because without a clean and safe living environment its really hard to enjoy right to
health or right to education or to employment, simply put there are no human rights
on a dead planet. At this realization lies at the basis of the climate case that earth
honda and dutch organization started ahainst the dutch state. We have to balance
and harmonize our own laws with the laws of nature. how are we going to bridge
the systems, how we are going to get from where we are right now where the earth
is an object to a world where the earths has rights, the rights which we respect.

Environmental laws and policy in Pakistan :

Pakistan encironmental protection act, 1977
An act to provide for conservation, rehabilitation, protection and improvement of
environment, for the prevention and control of pollution, and promotion of
sustainable development.
Defination of impotant terms were explained
Environmental tribunals
Establishment of Pakistan Environmental protection agency
Establishment of Federal / Provincial Pakistan Environmental Protection
Agency
Rules for protection of Environment
 REFERENCES

YOUTUBE
https://youtu.be/i9lWzhYsVtc
https://youtu.be/CTUOchYZG2k
https://youtu.be/fKt2DlZWH7k
https://youtu.be/nq3racsBxg0