Environmental Laws,

Treaties and Protocols

 Law Definition
The word law derives from the old English word ‘Lagu’ meaning
something laid down or fixed. Law has been defined as,

“law is a system of rules, as an interpretive concept

to achieve justice as an authority to mediate peoples interests and
even as the command of a sovereign backed by the threat of a
sanction.”

▪ Law is a system of rules and guidelines, usually enforced through a set

of institutions.

▪ It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves

as a social mediator of relations between people.

▪ Some example of laws include Contract law, Property law, criminal

law, Administrative law, Public international law, Environmental
law, common law etc.
 Treaty Definition

▪ A treaty may also be known as an (international) agreement, protocol,

covenant, convention or exchange of letters, among other terms.

“A treaty is an express agreement under

international law entered into by actors in international
law, namely sovereign states and international
organizations.”
▪ Regardless of terminology, all of these forms of agreements are, under
international law, equally considered treaties and the rules are the same.

▪ Treaties can be loosely compared to contracts: both are means of willing

parties assuming obligations among themselves, and a party to either
that fails to live up to their obligations can be held liable under
international law.
 Protocol Definition

▪ In international law and international relations, a protocol is,

“A treaty or international agreement that

supplements a previous treaty or international
agreement.”

▪ A protocol can amend the previous treaty or add additional provisions.

▪ Protocol is commonly described as a set of international courtesy rules.

▪ These well-established and time-honored rules have made it easier for

nations and people to live and work together.
 Environmental Law Definition
“Environmental law is a complex and interlocking body
of treaties, conventions, statutes, regulations, and common law that
operates to regulate the interaction of humanity and the natural
environment, toward the purpose of reducing the impacts of human
activities.”

The topic may be divided into two major subjects:

(1) Pollution control and remediation,
(2) Resource conservation and management.

▪ Laws dealing with pollution are often media-limited - i.e., pertain only to a
single environmental medium, such as air, water (whether surface water,
groundwater or oceans), soil, etc.
▪ Laws regarding resource conservation and management generally focus on
a single resource - e.g., natural resources such as forests, mineral deposits
or animal species, or more intangible resources.
 Environmental Rights
If human rights are disrupts due to the
Environmental problem then those environmental
conditions arises are termed as environmental rights.

The basic environmental rights are:

▪ Everyone has the right to life, liberty, and security of

person
▪ The right to freedom of peaceful assembly and
association
▪ Right to lead healthy life
▪ Right to get information in environmental rights
▪ Food, clothing, housing, and medical care are also
environmental rights.
 Environmental Ethics
“Environmental
ethics is the part of
Environmental philosophy which considers the
ethical relationship between human being and the
natural environment.”

It includes,

▪ Environmental aesthetics
▪ Environmental theology
▪ All the branches of philosophical investigation
 Environmental Justice
“Environmental justice is the fair
treatment and meaningful involvement of all people
regardless of race, color, national origin, or income
with respect to the development, implementation
and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations
and policies.”

The main two themes of Environmental justice is ,

▪ Fair treatment and

▪ Meaningful involvement
 Environmental Laws in Bangladesh

▪ The legal system of Bangladesh, inherited from the British, provides

limited safeguard for the country’s environment known as common
law system from the British colonial rules which was introduced in the
18th, 19th and 20th centuries.

▪ The statutory laws and by laws (rules, regulations etc promulgated by

the concerned authorities) are the primary source of environmental
legislation.

▪ Another major source of rules of conduct that is customs, uses and

practices.
General principles of Environmental Law
There are several principles of environmental laws. These
are summarized as,

1. Precautionary principle
2. Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
3. Common but differentiated responsibility
4. Polluters pay principle
5. Preventing principle
6. Sustainable development
 Categorization of Environmental Legislation
In general, environmental legislation can be categorized to
cover sectors and issues like :
▪ Pollution and conservations
▪ Displacement
▪ Relief and rehabilitation,
▪ Land use and administration,
▪ Agriculture and agrochemicals,
▪ Water resources
▪ Fisheries
▪ Forestry
▪ Wildlife
▪ Energy and mineral resources
▪ Rural and urban planning
▪ Occupational rights and safety etc.
 Bangladesh position on International
Conventions, Treaties, and protocols (ICTPs)
Bangladesh has signed, ratified, or accessed a good no. of international
conventions, treaties and protocols. But not every of them has the same
and equal importance to Bangladesh. Some important of them includes:
▪ United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, New
York, 1992
▪ Convention on Biological Diversity, Rio De Janerio, 1992
▪ International Convention to Combat Desertification, Paris, 1994
▪ Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundry Movements of
Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal, Basel, 1989
▪ International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution of the
Sea by Oil, London, 1954
▪ Convention on Wetlands of International Importance as
Waterfowl Habitat (Ramsar Convention), Ramsar, 1971
▪ Conventions Concerning Occupational Safety and Healthy
Working Environment, 1981
▪ Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer,
1990
Environmental Laws in Bangladesh
▪ The Play Ground and Wet Land Rule 1940
▪ The Building Construction Act 1952
▪ The Water Pollution Control Ordinance, 1970
▪ The Environment Pollution Control Ordinance 1977
▪ The Motor Vehicle Ordinance, 1983
▪ The Brick Burn Law 1989
▪ The Environmental Conservation Act 1995
▪ The Environmental Conservation Rules 1997
▪ The Environment Court Law 2000
▪ The Environment Court Act 2010

Besides them, some amendments also included.

 The Bangladesh Environment
Conservation Act, 1995
An Act to provide for conservation of the environment, improvement of
environmental standards and control and mitigation of environmental
pollution.

The main objectives of ECA 1995 are:

▪ Conservation and improvement of environment
▪ Control and mitigation of pollution of environment

To fulfill these objectives, some strategies have been taken included:

▪ Declaration of ecologically critical area
▪ Regulation in respect of vehicles emitting smoke harmful for the
environment
▪ Environmental clearance
▪ Regulation on discharge permit
▪ Promulgation of standards for quality of air, water, noise, soil etc.
▪ Formulation and declaration of environmental guidelines
 The Limitations of ECA, 1995
Some important limitations which are the main obstacles to achieve the
objectives include:

▪ This Act completely failed to specified the standards of various

environmentally related activities like emission, discharge etc

▪ There is no specific outline about environmental clearance

For several limitations ECR 1997 is established on the basic of ECA 1995
Kyoto Protocol
 The Kyoto Protocol is a protocol to the United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change (UNFCCC or FCCC), aimed at fighting
global warming.
 The UNFCCC is an international environmental
treaty with the goal of achieving the "stabilisation
of greenhouse gas concentrations in the
atmosphere at a level that would prevent
dangerous anthropogenic interference with the
climate system.
 The Protocol was initially adopted on 11 December
1997 in Kyoto, Japan, and entered into force on 16
February 2005.
Signatory of protocol
 As of September 2011, 191 states have signed and
ratified the protocol.
 The only remaining signatory not to have ratified
the protocol is the United States.
 Other United Nations member states which did
not ratify the protocol are Afghanistan, Andorra
and South Sudan.
 In December 2011, Canada renounced the
Protocol.
Cont..
 Under the Protocol, 37 countries ("Annex I
countries") commit themselves to a reduction of
four greenhouse gases (GHG) (carbon dioxide,
methane, nitrous oxide, sulphur hexafluoride)
and two groups of gases (hydrofluorocarbons and
perfluorocarbons) produced by them, and all
member countries give general commitments.
Negotiation Targets
 At negotiations, Annex I countries (including the
US) collectively agreed to reduce their greenhouse
gas emissions by 5.2% on average for the period
2008-2012.
 This reduction is relative to their annual
emissions in a base year, usually 1990.
 Since the US has not ratified the treaty, the
collective emissions reduction of Annex I Kyoto
countries falls from 5.2% to 4.2% below base year.
Flexible Mechanisms
 The Protocol allows for several "flexible
mechanisms", such as
❖ Emissions trading,
❖ The clean development mechanism (CDM) and
❖ Joint implementation to allow Annex I countries to
meet their GHG emission limitations by purchasing
GHG emission reductions credits from elsewhere,
➢ through financial exchanges,
➢ projects that reduce emissions in non-Annex I countries,
from other Annex I countries, or from annex I countries
with excess allowances.
 Each Annex I country is required to submit an
annual report of inventories of all anthropogenic
greenhouse gas emissions from sources and
removals from sinks under UNFCCC and the Kyoto
Protocol.
The five principal concepts of the
Kyoto Protocol are:
 Commitments for the Annex I Parties. The main feature of
the Protocol lies in establishing commitments for the reduction
of greenhouse gases that are legally binding for Annex I Parties.
The Annex I Parties took on legally binding commitments based
on the Berlin Mandate, which was a part of UNFCCC
negotiations leading up to the Protocol.
 Implementation. In order to meet the objectives of the
Protocol, Annex I Parties are required to prepare policies and
measures for the reduction of greenhouse gases in their
respective countries.
 In addition, they are required to increase the absorption of
these gases and utilize all mechanisms available, such as joint
implementation, the clean development mechanism and
emissions trading, in order to be rewarded with credits that
would allow more greenhouse gas emissions at home.
Cont..
 Minimizing Impacts on Developing Countries by
establishing an adaptation fund for climate
change.
 Accounting, Reporting and Review in order to ensure
the integrity of the Protocol.
 Compliance. Establishing a Compliance Committee
to enforce compliance with the commitments under
the Protocol.