ESS Laws

Ecocide

• Unlawful or wanton (reckless regard for the acts on another) acts committed with knowledge that there is a substantial likelihood of severe and either widespread or long-term damage to the environment being caused by those acts.

Laws

• Rules that govern human behaviour and are enforced by social or governmental authority.

Environmental Law

• A field of law concerning the conservation and use of natural resources and the control of pollution. The aim is to improve social and ecological sustainability.

Lobbying 

• Engaging in activities aimed influencing public officials, especially legislators, and the policies they enact.

Environmental Constitutionalism

• The introduction of environmental rights and obligations into the constitution. This means governments can be held accountable for environmental protection.

International Law

• Body of rules established by custom or treaty and recognized by nations as binding in their relations with one another. It provides an essential framework for transboundary issues of pollution and resource management.

Transboundary Pollution

• Pollution that starts in one country and crosses boundaries into other countries. It can cause environmental issues in nearby countries by travelling via pathways such as air or water.

ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution

• A legally binding regional environmental treaty that aims to prevent and mitigate haze pollution.

Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO)

• A specialised agency of the United Nations that promotes agricultural development and food security.

Paris Agreement

• A legally binding treaty within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) dealing with greenhouse gas emissions mitigation & adaptation. Its main aim is to limit the increasing global temperatures to 1.5°C. It was signed in 2015 in Paris, France. Every 5 years, countries submit their national action plans to achieve the aims of the treaty.

CITES

• Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora is an international agreement that aims to ensure the international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten the survival of the species.

International Court of Justice

• UN body that makes legal decisions involving disputes between national governments.

International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea

• An independent judicial body to adjudicate disputes arising out of the interpretation and the application of the Convention

European Court of Justice

• A judicial arm of the European Union, based in Luxembourg. The court has actively established its jurisdiction and its right to overrule national law when it conflicts with EU law.

Legal Personhood

• Granting a living or nonliving entity the ability to do things that a human being is entitled to do in the legal system.

Environmental Impact Assessment

• Important legal frameworks to study the potential environmental impact of human developments such as house estates, transport infrastructure, and energy production such as power stations.

Montreal Protocol

• A multilateral international agreement made in 1987 to take steps to fight against ozone depletion. It worked towards a reduction in production and consumption of ozone depleting substances (ODS).

Kyoto Protocol

• An international treaty made with legally binding targets to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases.

Ramsar Convention

• A treaty that provides for international co-operation and shared knowledge for the conservation, use and management strategies of wetlands and their resources.

Whanganui River

• A river found in New Zealand that was the first river in the world to be given the same legal rights as humans (legal personhood).