8/2/2019 Ecology and Environmental Issues CLASS NOTES

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ecology-and-environmental-issues-class-notes 1/29

Ecology and environmental issues

• Definition

• Examples of environmental problems

• Conferences on law

• Developments in International Environmental law

Definition

Environment, is a terminology that comprises all living and non-living things that occur naturally on Earth or some part of it (e.g. thenatural environment in a country). This term includes a few keycomponents:

1. Complete ecological units that function as natural systems

without massive human intervention, including all vegetation,animals, microorganisms, rocks, atmosphere and natural phenomena that occur within their boundaries.

2. Universal natural resources and physical phenomena that lackclear-cut boundaries, such as air, water, and climate, as well asenergy, radiation, electric charge, and magnetism, notoriginating from human activity.

 The natural environment is contrasted with the built environment,which comprises the areas and components that are strongly

influenced by man. A geographical area is regarded as a naturalenvironment (with an indefinite article), if the human impact on it iskept under a certain limited level (similar to section 1 above). Thislevel depends on the specific context, and changes in different areasand contexts. The term wilderness, on the other hand, refers to areaswithout any human intervention whatsoever (or almost so).

Goals commonly expressed by environmental scientists include:

• reduction and clean up of  pollution, with future goals of zero

pollution;• cleanly converting nonrecyclable materials into energy through

direct combustion or after conversion into secondary fuels;• reducing societal consumption of non-renewable fuels;• development of alternative, green, low-carbon or renewable 

energy sources;

1

8/2/2019 Ecology and Environmental Issues CLASS NOTES

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ecology-and-environmental-issues-class-notes 2/29

• conservation and sustainable use of scarce resources such aswater, land, and air;

• protection of representative or unique or pristine ecosystems;• preservation of threatened and endangered species extinction;• the establishment of  nature and biosphere reserves under

various types of protection; and, most generally,• the protection of  biodiversity and ecosystems upon which all

human and other life on earth depends.

Ecology (from Greek: οίκος, oikos, "household"; and λόγος, logos,"knowledge") is the scientific study of the distribution and abundanceof life and the interactions between organisms and their environment.

 The environment of an organism includes physical properties, whichcan be described as the sum of local abiotic factors such as insolation (sunlight), climate, and geology, and biotic factors, which are other

organisms that share its habitat.

 The word "ecology" is often used more loosely in such terms as social ecology and deep ecology and in common parlance as a synonym forthe natural environment or environmentalism. Likewise "ecologic" or"ecological" is often taken in the sense of environmentally friendly.

 The term ecology or oekologie was coined by the German biologistErnst Haeckel in 1866, when he defined it as "the comprehensivescience of the relationship of the organism to the environment."[1] 

Haeckel did not elaborate on the concept, and the first significanttextbook on the subject (together with the first university course) waswritten by the Danish  botanist, Eugenius Warming. For this earlywork, Warming is often identified as the founder of ecology.[2]

Background

2

8/2/2019 Ecology and Environmental Issues CLASS NOTES

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ecology-and-environmental-issues-class-notes 3/29

The development of the environmental movement took placein three periods of raised environmental consciousness inthe 20th century:

 The first period of raised environmental consciousness began in 1900

and ended in 1910. The most influential environmentalists of thatdecade were the founders of the American Sierre Club and otherenvironmental organizations.

In this period the central aim of the environmental movementwas to achieve a high rate of  environmental protection. Therewere no a-political movements or protest organizations that wereanti-industrial or anti-capitalist. These organizations began todevelop in the second period of raised environmentalconsciousness.

 The second period of raised environmental consciousness started atthe end of the 1960s and ended around 1973. It was the result of ‘Silent Spring’, the famous book by Rachel Carson published in 1962. In this book Carson discusses environmentaland health problems caused by pesticides, among other things.

 The publication of the book resulted in a widespread criticism onmodern-day industry and capitalism. The second period of raised environmental consciousness was mainlynoticeable in industrialized countries.

In the middle-class small environmental organizations began toform, which were soon called NGOs (Non-GovernmentalOrganizations). Theories such as ‘Limits to Growth’ by the Club of Rome and ‘Small is Beautiful’ by Schumacher led to widespreadenvironmental discussions.Governments started introducing environmental legislation, suchas the Clean Air Act. In 1972 the first environmental conferencetook place in Stockholm, Sweden.

 The second period of raised environmental consciousness ended in

1973 when the oil crisis took place. Little money was left forenvironmental purposes after that.

3

8/2/2019 Ecology and Environmental Issues CLASS NOTES

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ecology-and-environmental-issues-class-notes 4/29

 The third period of raised environmental consciousness started in1987 with the publication of the Brundtland report, titled‘Our Common Future’, written for the United Nations bythe Norwegian prime minister Gro Harlem Brundtland. Thereport was about sustainability and sustainable production.

According to this theory, environment and economy should develop simultaneously, causing a decrease in economic

 pressure on the environment.

Contrary to the second period of raised environmentalconsciousness, the third period involved developing countries inthe process. International environmental policy wasformulated.

In 1992 the UN-CED (United Nations Conference on Environment

and Development) was held, leading to the formulation of Agenda21.

 The UN-CCC (United Nations Conference on Climate Change) wasalso convened. Biodiversity became part of the internationalenvironmental agenda.

The third period of raised environmental consciousnessended in 1993, when the environment became less of a hottopic.

 The periods of raised environmental consciousness becomeincreasingly shorter. It is thought that increasing media dynamicscauses this. The introduction of radio and television caused peopleto be informed of situation quicker. This caused media attentionfor environmental topics to become more and more brief.

II. Examples of environmental problems

List of Environmental Problems

• Acid deposition• Air pollution• Air pollution news• Climate change• Development environmental movement• Drinking water pollution• Environmental disasters

4

8/2/2019 Ecology and Environmental Issues CLASS NOTES

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ecology-and-environmental-issues-class-notes 5/29

• Environmental effects and toxicology• Environmental impact of volcanic eruption• Environmental effects of warfare• Eutrophication• Filamentous bacteria• Floods• Global warming and the greenhouse effect• Groundwater pollution• Heavy metals• Irrigation water pollution• Matter cycles and pollution• Odour• Ozone toxicology• Particulate matter• Periodic table, including environmental effects• Population growth• Recent environmental disasters• Water pollution

Major Causes of Environmental Problems

 Three categories of environmental problems:

• natural disasters,

• technological catastrophes, and

• long-term environmental degradation.

It is important to point out how these categories areincreasingly overlapping.

Many natural disasters, if not caused outright by human intervention,are worsened by human factors.

Global warming seems to be causing an increase in hurricanes andtheir severity.

Deforestation promotes floods and landslides because the naturalbuffers of the forests no longer absorb the rainfall they used to.

Even the spread of human habitation increases the likelihood of theloss of property and life in natural disasters.

5

8/2/2019 Ecology and Environmental Issues CLASS NOTES

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ecology-and-environmental-issues-class-notes 6/29

So, the boundary between natural disasters and technologicalcatastrophes is more blurred than before.

A. Natural disasters (e.g., floods, hurricanes, storms causedby natural processes)

1. Usually unpredictable (though there may be some short-termwarnings), uncontrollable, destructive, acute, BUT they areexpectable. While we cannot predict the next tsunami, forest fire, ortornado, we can expect they will occur. Furthermore, they tend tohave a recognizable low point. With natural disasters, we generallyknow when the worst is over.

2. Psychological effects: Short-term stress is common. Generally,chronic stress is rare. Often, increases in cooperation and social

bonding are seen.

B. Technological catastrophes, sudden, major toxic exposure (e.g.,chemical and radioactive leaks, industrial accidents, e.g., Chernobyl,

 Three-Mile Island, Bhopal)

1. Duration is variable. There may be long-term effects, there is oftenno clear low point, and victims have little control. There may be alack of visible destruction and no closure since the long-terms effectsare unknown and unknowable. Most people have low familiarity with

these, and there is low predictablity. Basically, such catastrophes areNEVER supposed to happen, so when they do, people are notpsychologically prepared for them.

2. Toxic exposure leads to both neuropsychological effects and stresseffects. The belief in exposure leads to stress. In some cases, theirlow salience may lead to a denial.

3. Psychological effects: Compared to natural disasters, these effectsare more severe, complex, longer-lasting, and likely to be chronic.

 They often increase interpersonal conflict.

C. Chronic, pervasive, long-term environmental degradation(e.g., air, water, noise, and light pollution; global warming).While there is some available theory, there is little researchon these effects. Some parallels can be drawn from researchon the psychological effects of the threat of nuclear war. It iseasy to hypothesize the following effects.

6

8/2/2019 Ecology and Environmental Issues CLASS NOTES

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ecology-and-environmental-issues-class-notes 7/29

1. Psychic numbing, denial. This is by far the most common andvisible effect.

2. Anxiety

3. Helplessness, depression

4. Alienation, the sense of not-belonging

5. Child development. E.g., the need for a positive future to enable anEgo-Ideal will have negative effects of child development.

6. There may also be a positive effect of recognizing and dealing withenvironmental destruction. It may be a call to awareness and service,existential authenticity, responsibility & empowerment

WATER POLLUTION

Water use for irrigation

Agriculture is by far the largest water use at global level. Irrigation of agricultural lands accounted for 70% of the water used worldwide. Inseveral developing countries, irrigation represents up to 95% of allwater uses, and plays a major role in food production and foodsecurity. Future agricultural development strategies of most of thesecountries depend on the possibility to maintain, improve and expandirrigated agriculture.

On the other hand, the increasing pressure on water resources byagriculture faces competition from other water use sectors andrepresents a threat to the environment.

Water is a resource that may create tensions among countries downand upstream. Irrigated agriculture is driving much of the competitionsince it accounts for 70-90% of water use in many of these regions.

In fact the major part of irrigated land in Europe is located in theSouth with Spain, Italy, France, Greece and Portugal accounting for85% of the total irrigated area in the EU. For example, in Spainirrigated agriculture accounts for 56% of total agricultural production,occupying only 18% of the total agricultural surface

7

8/2/2019 Ecology and Environmental Issues CLASS NOTES

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ecology-and-environmental-issues-class-notes 8/29

Water

Changes in the environment can have a dramatic effect on thequality and availability of water.

Much of the water used in human activities is returned to theenvironment, but in a polluted form. Around the world, millions lackaccess to proper sanitation systems, which means that used water isreturned to the environment without any treatment for bacteria orother hazards. Phosphate residues from fertilizers and pesticidesused in intensive agriculture, untreated manure from pig and cattlefarming, and hazardous chemicals from industry, all threaten thequality of groundwater and ultimately the health of those who use it.

Problems with water contaminated by bacteria and parasites are not

restricted to developing countries. Ineffective water treatmentsystems have caused serious outbreaks, for example of the parasitecryptosporidium in the United States or the bacteria E. coli in Canada.During an outbreak of the cholera in South America in the early1990's, Peru was most affected because of the poor state of its watersanitation systems.

CLIMATE CHANGE

Climate change is a reality. Today, our world is hotter than it has

been in two thousand years. By the end of the century, if current trends continue, the global temperature will likelyclimb higher than at any time in the past two million years.

While the end of the 20th century may not necessarily be thewarmest time in Earth's history, what is unique is that the warmth isglobal and cannot be explained by the natural mechanisms thatexplain previous warm periods. There is a broad scientific consensusthat humanity is in large part responsible for this change, and thatchoices we make today will decide the climate of the future.

How we are changing the climate

For more than a century, people have relied on fossil fuels such as oil,coal and gas for their energy needs. Burning these fossil fuelsreleases the global warming gas carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.Other, even more potent, greenhouse gasses are also playing a role,as is massive deforestation.

8

8/2/2019 Ecology and Environmental Issues CLASS NOTES

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ecology-and-environmental-issues-class-notes 9/29

What we know

While there are still uncertainties, particularly related to the timing,extent and regional variations of climate change, there is mainstreamscientific agreement on the key facts:

• Certain gasses, such as carbon dioxide, in the atmospherecreate a "greenhouse effect", trapping heat and keeping theEarth warm enough to sustain life as we know it.

• Burning fossil fuels (coal, oil, etc.) releases more carbon dioxideinto the atmosphere. Although not the most potent greenhousegas, carbon dioxide is the most significant in terms of humaneffects because of the large quantities emitted.

• Carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere are now thehighest in 150,000 years.

•

 The 1990’s were most likely the warmest decade in history, and1998 the warmest year.

Climate and Environment

More than any other substance on Earth, water, with its uniqueproperties, affects and is affected by changes in climate or theenvironment. Water acts like a climatic thermostat-it can absorbmore heat than most other substances. Holding this heat rather thanreleasing it, large bodies of water, like oceans and lakes, will maintain

more constant temperatures. Water also acts as a heat exchanger.When temperatures rise, it stores the heat, becoming a vapour; whentemperatures drop, it releases the heat and freezes. In this way, bothheat from the sun and water - in the form of vapour, rain, snow, orice-are redistributed. This cycle of change of water is referred to asthe hydrological cycle.

• Rising temperatures increase the rate of water evaporationcreating yet more vapour in the atmosphere.

• Rising temperatures also increase melting of glaciers and polar

ice caps, which can cause sea levels to rise.• Higher temperatures also cause more water to be lost from soil,

which in turn will become drier and need more irrigation.

• Increased water vapour in the atmosphere not only has agreenhouse effect, but also can change precipitation patternscausing flooding and monsoons in some regions, while othersface drought.

9

8/2/2019 Ecology and Environmental Issues CLASS NOTES

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ecology-and-environmental-issues-class-notes 10/29

• Dams, reservoirs, irrigation and drainage systems, andwaterways, all change how much and where water flows.

• Removal of trees and vegetation, changes of land uses, andexpansion of paved areas, not only affect soil ecology, but alsothe water balance. Without cover, more soil moisture is lost tothe atmosphere. Drier soils are more at risk of erosion andfurther water loss.

• Similarly, changes in land use from agriculture to urban candramatically change surface water distribution, blocking routesthat once drained into natural reservoirs.

• Increased urbanization also requires more water to feed thecity's population and industry, often requiring deeper anddeeper wells to be drilled or water to be moved from even moredistant locations.

•

Expansion of paved areas reduces the amount of vegetationavailable to transpire water back into the atmosphere. It alsoaffects the drainage of surface water, and in northern latitudes,contributes to groundwater pollution should salt used to meltroad ice be allowed to runoff into the natural drainage system.

The World Resources Institute reports that there is a link  between biodiversity and climate change, as rapid globalwarming can affect an ecosystems chances to adapt naturally.This highlights the importance of attempts to do thingsabout it, such as the Kyoto Protocol and the Buenos Aires Conference.

 The weather phenomenon, El Niño, having wreaked much havocaround the world, coupled with deforestation and other unregulatedactivities by many countries, are leading to huge disaster zones, suchas that in Mexico, which houses a whopping great 10% of all thespecies on this earth.

Airborne pollution, particularly sulfur dioxide, causes water vapourin the atmosphere to become more acidic. This so-called acid rain

then passes on this increased acidity further along the hydrologicalcycle-to surface water, groundwater, lakes, and rivers. The increasedacidity not only affects the water itself, but all life that relies on it.

UNFAIR TRADING PRACTICES

10

8/2/2019 Ecology and Environmental Issues CLASS NOTES

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ecology-and-environmental-issues-class-notes 11/29

 The World Trade Organisation (WTO) promotes free trade for the gainof private interests, over and above our health and the environment.It is fatally flawed and is moving the world in the wrong direction -away from peace, security and sustainability. By stalling on issuesthat are crucial to poorer countries, the WTO faces a crisis of 

legitimacy.

•  The WTO is secretive, non-transparent and undemocratic.Meetings are by invitation only, are hidden from public view andare closed to direct public input.

•  The WTO puts trade on the highest pedestal - before our healthand the environment.

•  This is because the WTO is driven by narrow corporate interests,like genetic engineering companies and the agri-business.

•  These companies are behind the US attempt to use the WTO as 

a tool to force feed the world genetically engineered (GE) food. •  The WTO threatens crucial environmental agreements, like the

first legally binding global agreement that allows countries toreject genetically modified organisms, the Biosafety Protocol.

• So-called "free" trade is speeding up the use of natural resources such as water, forests, fisheries, and minerals, muchfaster than they can be regenerated.

TOXIC CHEMICALS

 Toxic chemicals in our environment threaten our rivers and lakes, ourair, land, and oceans, and ultimately ourselves and our future.

 The production, trade, use, and release of many synthetic chemicalsis now widely recognised as a global threat to human health and theenvironment.

 Yet, the world's chemical industries continue to produce and releasethousands of chemical compounds every year, in most cases withnone or very little testing and understanding of their impacts on

people and the environment.

Hi-Tech - Highly toxic

 The world is consuming more and more electronic products everyyear. This has caused a dangerous explosion in electronic scrap (e-waste) containing toxic chemicals and heavy metals that cannot bedisposed of or recycled safely. But this problem can be avoided.

11

8/2/2019 Ecology and Environmental Issues CLASS NOTES

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ecology-and-environmental-issues-class-notes 12/29

Solving the chemicals crisis

Substituting hazardous chemicals with safer materials is the answerto governments and industry that have failed to control the spread of dangerous chemicals around the globe.

Toxic trade

Stricter environmental regulations in developed countries have led tomany polluting industries transferring their toxic technologies to thedeveloping world. Across the globe irresponsible companies andnegligent governments have created many global toxic hotspots.

Many toxic chemicals are global pollutants and areas such as oldfactories, dumping grounds, effluent outfalls and waste storage sites

are heavily polluted and listed on our Global Toxics Hotspots Map. Check the Map to find out where toxics hotspots are in your countryand who was responsible for creating them.

Bhopal: The Bhopal disaster in India, in 1984, was the world'sworst chemical disaster. Toxic gas leaked from the poorlymaintained and understaffed plant owned by Union Carbide,killing up to 20,000 people and leaving 120,000 chronically ill.

The survivors have never received adequate compensation

for their debilitating illnesses and even 20 years after thedisaster, the polluted site of the abandoned factory, bleedspoisons daily into the groundwater of local residents. Bhopalis an ongoing disaster and Union Carbide's new owners, DowChemicals, should pay to clean up the toxic mess.

EMERGING DISEASES

In the last decades of the 20th century, new diseases beganemerging at the unprecedented rate of one or more per year. From

1997 to 2000, 9 infectious agents capable of causing human diseasewere newly identified. Since new diseases partly arise fromfundamental changes in the way humanity inhabits the planet, theemergence of new diseases is likely to continue, if not escalate.

1. In January 2004, intensified surveillance detected a cluster of young children with severe respiratory disease at a paediatric

12

8/2/2019 Ecology and Environmental Issues CLASS NOTES

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ecology-and-environmental-issues-class-notes 13/29

hospital in Hanoi, Viet nam, many of whom had died. That eventmarked the first human cases of H5N1 avian influenza outsideof China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Since then,the world has been on constant alert for an influenza pandemic.

Highly contagious, a pandemic of influenza could extend thedevastating consequences that had been seen with SARS to everycorner of the world within a matter of weeks or months.

2. Even more worryingly, the rate of drug failure due to thedevelopment of microbial resistance outpaced scientific discovery of replacement drugs.

 The danger that new diseases to which there is universal vulnerabilitywill cause international harm means that countries can no longer

manage certain types of outbreaks as though they were strictlydomestic affairs. An absolute concept of national sovereignty hasbeen challenged by these events and by the need to secure collectivedefence against the emerging disease threat. The potential inabilityof affected countries to engage fully in surveillance and sustain anemergency response system over months, if not years in the case of a severe pandemic, is the single most important obstacle tointernational health security.

UNSUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

A key issue is how we use the resources that we have. Our choice of how to use those resources (i.e. our economic policies) and for whatpurposes (i.e. our political directions and policies) are critical issuesas well on the resulting impact on the environment to meet thoseuses and purposes.

Inequality in wealth and consumption is a key issue. "Globally, the20% of the world's people in the highest-income countries account for86% of total private consumption expenditures - the poorest 20% a

minuscule 1.3%". This means richer nations consume moreenergy, use more communication and technology devices liketelephones and computers, and use more paper and morepolluting vehicles.

13

8/2/2019 Ecology and Environmental Issues CLASS NOTES

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ecology-and-environmental-issues-class-notes 14/29

The developed nations, whose population is one fourth of the world total, consume 80% of world goods. T hedeveloping nations consume their environment and their renewable resources faster than one can

rebuild them.

Possible guidelines for the sustainable developmentare:

• Protection of the agriculture soil• Reafforestation• Demographic control• Energy saving• Development of renewable energy sources

Industries:a) Fishing

Fishing is one of the oldest industries that man has known andvarious fishing practices are followed in different parts of the world.The global fishing fleet is estimated to be 250% larger thanneeded to catch what the ocean can produce. It is only now thatpeople are waking up to the environmental impact of fishing and howit affects the ecosystem of the oceans.

b) Tourism

Another growing industry is tourism. One of the largest issues abouttourism is the pollution it causes; air emissions, solid waste, litter,noise, oil and chemical, and the release of sewage. Tourism nowaccounts for more than 60% of air travel, and thuscontributes more to air emissions.

c) Coal

Coal is still one of the major sources of energy in the developing anddeveloped world. The coal mines not only cause environmentaldamage but also have adverse effect on the health of the workers.Burning coal also releases tons of pollutants like carbondioxide (a major cause of global warming) and sulphurdioxide (a cause of acid rain) into the atmosphere. Coal is the

14

8/2/2019 Ecology and Environmental Issues CLASS NOTES

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ecology-and-environmental-issues-class-notes 15/29

most carbon-rich of all fossil fuels. Burning it generates 70% more of the most important greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide (CO2), for everyunit of energy produced than natural gas. From 1971 to 1995there was an eightfold increase in coal burning for electricitygeneration in the industrializing countries of Asia.

 The trend continues, and India and China will be responsible for 75%of the increased global coal consumption. By 2025, nearly 60% of allcoal will be burned in Asia-Pacific. As a consequence, the region'sCO2 emissions are predicted to double.

Extensive use of coal in the Chinese industrial town of Taigen causessome of the worst air pollution in the country, and has been linkedto respiratory diseases and lung cancer.

Besides those concerns, in recent years, in the context of growinginternationalization, a pressing need exists for responses to globalenvironmental risks, such as trans-boundary acid deposition, dioxinsand endocrine disruptors, and global warming.

Burning coal is a leading cause of smog, acid rain, global warming,and air toxics. In an average year, a typical coal plant generates:

• 3,700,000 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2), the primary humancause of global warming--as much carbon dioxide as cutting

down 161 million trees.• 10,000 tons of sulphur dioxide (SO2), which causes acid rain

that damages forests, lakes, and buildings, and forms smallairborne particles that can penetrate deep into lungs.

• 500 tons of small airborne particles, which can cause chronicbronchitis, aggravated asthma, and premature death, as well ashaze obstructing visibility.

• 10,200 tons of nitrogen oxide (NOx), as much as would be

emitted by half a million late-model cars. NOx leads toformation of ozone (smog) which inflames the lungs, burningthrough lung tissue making people more susceptible torespiratory illness.

• 720 tons of carbon monoxide (CO), which causes headachesand place additional stress on people with heart disease.

15

8/2/2019 Ecology and Environmental Issues CLASS NOTES

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ecology-and-environmental-issues-class-notes 16/29

• 220 tons of hydrocarbons, volatile organic compounds (VOC),which form ozone.

• 170 pounds of mercury, where just 1/70th of a teaspoondeposited on a 25-acre lake can make the fish unsafe to eat.

• 225 pounds of arsenic, which will cause cancer in one out of 100people who drink water containing 50 parts per billion.

• 114 pounds of lead, 4 pounds of cadmium, other toxic heavymetals, and trace amounts of uranium.

Air pollution

Air pollution is identified as one of main causes of environmental andhealth problems in the world today. Many air pollutants, such asthose that form urban smog and toxic compounds, remain in theenvironment for long periods of time and are carried by the windshundreds of miles from their origin. This increases the damage theycan cause

Radioactive contamination

• Radioactive contamination seems the most dangerous kind of pollution. Nuclear wastes are radioactive for thousands of years.

 The volumes of radioactive wastes discharged in the

environment are growing very fast.

•  They are generally highly toxic and can contaminate water orthe marine environment.

•  The reprocessing of spent nuclear fuels is creating mostradioactive wastes in Western Europe; reprocessing plantsbased in United Kingdom and France are contaminating theNorth Sea and North Atlantic coasts.

• In these plants, also spent fuel coming from other European andnon-European countries is reprocessed: so, there are additionalrisks, due to the shipments of radioactive material by land andsea.

Nuclear power already delivers less energy globally than renewableenergy, and the share will continue to decrease in the coming years.

16

8/2/2019 Ecology and Environmental Issues CLASS NOTES

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ecology-and-environmental-issues-class-notes 17/29

Despite what the nuclear industry tells us, building enough nuclearpower stations to make a meaningful reduction in greenhouse gasemissions would cost trillions of dollars, create tens of thousands of tons of lethal high-level radioactive waste, contribute to furtherproliferation of nuclear weapons materials, and result in a Chernobyl-

scale accident once every decade. Perhaps most significantly, it willsquander the resources necessary to implement meaningful climatechange solutions.

"Nuclear power plants are, next to nuclear warheads themselves, themost dangerous devices that man has ever created. Theirconstruction and proliferation is the most irresponsible, in fact themost criminal, act ever to have taken place on this planet."

Patrick Moore, Assault on Future Generations, 1976

 The Nuclear Age began in July 1945 when the US tested their firstnuclear bomb near Alamogordo, New Mexico. A few years later, in1953, President Eisenhower launched his "Atoms for Peace"Programme at the UN amid a wave of unbridled atomic optimism.

In November 2000 the world recognised nuclear power as adirty, dangerous and unnecessary technology by refusing togive it greenhouse gas credits during the UN Climate Changetalks in The Hague. 

Nuclear power was dealt a further blow when a UN SustainableDevelopment Conference refused to label nuclear a sustainabletechnology in April 2001.

 The risks from nuclear energy are real, inherent and long-lasting.

1) Safety: No reactor in the world is inherently safe. Alloperational reactors have inherent safety flaws, which cannotbe eliminated by safety upgrading. Highly radioactive spent fuelrequires constant cooling. If this fails, it could lead to acatastrophic release of radioactivity. They are also highlyvulnerable to deliberate acts of sabotage, including terroristattack.

17

8/2/2019 Ecology and Environmental Issues CLASS NOTES

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ecology-and-environmental-issues-class-notes 18/29

2) Waste: From the moment uranium is mined nuclear waste on amassive scale is produced. There is no secure, risk free way tostore nuclear waste. No country in the world has a solution forhigh-level waste that stays radioactive for hundreds of thousands of years. The least damaging option at this current

time is for waste to be stored above ground, in dry storage atthe site of origin, but this option also presents major challengesand the threats.

3) Weapons proliferation: The possession of nuclear weaponsby the US, Russia, France, the UK and China has encouraged thefurther proliferation of nuclear technology and materials. Everystate that has a nuclear power capability, has the means to

obtain nuclear material usable in a nuclear weapon. Basicallythis means that the 44 nuclear power states could become 44nuclear weapons states. Many nations that have activecommercial nuclear power programs, began their research withtwo objectives - electricity generation and the option to developnuclear weapons. Also nuclear programs based on reprocessingplutonium from spent fuel have dramatically increased the riskof proliferation as the creation of more plutonium, means morenuclear waste which in turn means more materials available forthe creation of dirty bombs.

18

8/2/2019 Ecology and Environmental Issues CLASS NOTES

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ecology-and-environmental-issues-class-notes 19/29

III. Development of InternationalEnvironmental Law

When attempting to determine the boundaries of internationalenvironmental law, one finds that no clear definition can be applied.Like many other branches of international law, internationalenvironmental law is interdisciplinary, intersecting and overlappingwith numerous other areas of research, including economics, politicalscience, ecology, human rights and navigation/admiralty.

“International environmental law, a new branchof international law, is already complex andvast, comprising hundreds of international

norms the purpose of which is to protect theearth’s living and non-living elements andecological processes. This body of law emergedfrom a growing awareness that the activities of a continually-increasing number of humans,invasive technology, and rapid consumption of the earth’s resources endanger our planet.”Alexandre Kiss, INTERNATIONALENVIRONMENTAL LAW (1999).

Conventions1 and protocols2 are referred to as ‘hard law’instruments; they are legally binding on States that are parties tothem.

Until the late 1960s, most international agreements aimed atprotecting the environment served narrowly defined utilitarianpurposes. Alexandre C. Kiss and Dinah Shelton, InternationalEnvironmental Law (New York: Transnational Pub., 1991) at p. 1.

Beginning with the 1972 Stockholm Declaration of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, however, international

agreements came to reflect a desire to limit damages to theenvironment. (linked fromhttp://www.unep.org/Documents/Default.asp?DocumentID=97)

1An agreement between states, sides, or military forces, especially an international agreement dealing with a

specific subject, such as the treatment of prisoners of war.

2 A Protocol is a set of guidelines or rules.

19

8/2/2019 Ecology and Environmental Issues CLASS NOTES

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ecology-and-environmental-issues-class-notes 20/29

 These international agreements paralleled national legislation whichincreasingly sought to preserve the environment. Internationalenvironmental law encompasses a diverse group of topics, including:

• sustainable development ( The Rio Declaration on Environment

and Development http://www.unep.org/documents/default.asp?documentid=78),

• biodiversity (Convention on Biological Diversity http://www.biodiv.org/convention/articles.asp,

• transfrontier pollution (Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Pollution http://www.unece.org/env/lrtap/,

• marine pollution (Convention on the Prevention of MarinePollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matterhttp://www.londonconvention.org/,

• endangered species (Convention on International Trade in

Endangered Species(CITES) http://www.cites.org/eng/disc/text.shtml

• hazardous materials and activities (Basel Convention on theControl of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and

 Their Disposal http://www.basel.int/text/documents.html• cultural preservation (Convention Concerning the Protection of 

the World Cultural & Natural Heritage,http://whc.unesco.org/en/conventiontext/),

• desertification (United Nations Convention to CombatDesertification, http://www.unccd.int/),

• uses of the seas (United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea(UNCLOS) linked from http://www.un.org/Depts/los/index.htm),and

• climate change (United Nations Framework Convention onClimate Change and the Kyoto Protocol on Global Warming (http://unfccc.int/essential_background/convention/items/2627.php).

Over the past 30 years, UNEP was significantly involved in developinglegally and non-legally binding instruments. Today, UNEP is also

working to ensure that the policies pursued under existingconventions remain as mutually supportive as possible.

20

8/2/2019 Ecology and Environmental Issues CLASS NOTES

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ecology-and-environmental-issues-class-notes 21/29

UNEP’s efforts to promote the development of international lawinclude:

• encourage international action to address gaps and weaknesses

in existing international environmental law• respond to new environmental challenges• promote and provide legal advisory services for the

development or strengthening of regional and globalmultilateral environmental agreements

• assist governments, particularly those of developing countriesand countries with economies in transition, in the developmentof legal instruments

• develop and promote the development of soft law instruments,such as codes of conduct and guidelines

Development of Multilateral InternationalLaw Instruments

GLOBAL LEVEL

Multilateral Environmental Agreements

• 1979 Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of  Wild Animals (CMS - Bonn Convention) 

• 1985 Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer and 1987 Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer 

• 1989 Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal and 1999Basel Protocol on Liability and Compensation for Damage resulting from Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal 

• 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity (CDB) and 2000Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the Convention on Biological 

Diversity • 1998 Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent 

Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade (PICs) 

• 2001 Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)

21

8/2/2019 Ecology and Environmental Issues CLASS NOTES

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ecology-and-environmental-issues-class-notes 22/29

Biodiversity Cluster

• Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)• Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety• Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species

(CITES)

UNEP provided technical assistance to the development of:

• 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the related Tokyo Protocol, negotiated following

the establishment of UNEP and WMO of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 1997• 1994 United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in 

 Those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa (UNCCD) 

REGIONAL LEVEL:

UNEP has actively supported governments and regional organizationsin the development of environmental law at a regional level throughthe provision of technical legal assistance as well as legal advice andsupport to intergovernmental meetings in the context of developingregional environmental agreements. Areas of focus at the regionallevel include:

• Regional Seas Programme• Shared Water Resources• Biodiversity• Atmosphere• Hazardous Waste

Regional Seas Programme

 This programme focuses on the protection of the oceans and seas,including enclosed and semi-enclosed seas and coastal areas and theprotection, rational use and development of their living resources. It

22

8/2/2019 Ecology and Environmental Issues CLASS NOTES

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ecology-and-environmental-issues-class-notes 23/29

is also a catalyst for the implementation of the United NationsConvention on the Law of the Sea.

 The revitalising of the Regional Seas programme is a current priority.Under this programme, a variety of agreements have been

concluded:

23

8/2/2019 Ecology and Environmental Issues CLASS NOTES

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ecology-and-environmental-issues-class-notes 24/29

Black Sea:

• 1992 Convention on the Protection of the Black Sea against Pollution, the Bucharest Convention

• 1992 Protocol on Protection of the Black Sea Marine Environment against Pollution from Land-Based Sources 

• 1992 Protocol on Cooperation in Combating Pollution of the Black Sea Marine Environment by Oil and Other Harmful Substances in Emergency Situations 

• 1992 Protocol on the Protection of the Black Sea Marine Environment against Pollution by Dumping 

Eastern Africa:

•

1985 Convention for the Protection Management and Development of the Marine and Coastal Environment of the Eastern African Region, the Nairobi Convention

• 1985 Protocol Concerning Protected Areas and Wild Fauna and Flora in the Eastern African Region 

• 1985 Protocol Concerning Co-operation in Combating Marine Pollution in Cases of Emergency in the Eastern African Region 

Kuwait region:

•

1978 Kuwait Regional Convention for Co-operation on the Protection of the Marine Environment from Pollution, the KuwaitConvention

• 1978 Protocol Concerning Regional Co-Operation in Combating Pollution by Oil and Other Harmful Substances in Cases of  Emergency 

• 1989 Protocol Concerning Marine Pollution Resulting from Exploration and Exploitation of the Continental Shelf  

• 1990 Protocol for the Protection of the Marine Environment Against Pollution from Land-Based Sources 

• 1998 Protocol on the Control of Marine TransboundaryMovements and Disposal of Hazardous Wastes, Tehran

Mediterranean:

• 1976 Convention for the Protection of the Mediterranean Sea against Pollution, the Barcelona Convention

24

8/2/2019 Ecology and Environmental Issues CLASS NOTES

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ecology-and-environmental-issues-class-notes 25/29

• 1976 Protocol for the Prevention of Pollution of theMediterranean Sea by Dumping from Ships and Aircraft

• 1978 Protocol Concerning Regional Co-Operation in Combating Pollution by Oil and Other Harmful Substances in Cases of  Emergency

• 1980 Protocol for the Protection of the Mediterranean Sea Against Pollution from Land-Based Sources, Athens 

• 1982 Protocol Concerning Mediterranean Specially Protected Areas, Geneva

• 1994 Protocol for the Protection of the Mediterranean Sea against Pollution resulting from Exploration and Exploitation of  the Continental Shelf and the Seabed and its Subsoil, Madrid

• 1995 Protocol Concerning Specially Protected Areas and Biological Diversity in the Mediterranean, Barcelona

• 1996 Protocol on the Prevention of Pollution of the 

Mediterranean Sea by Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal, Izmir 

North-East Pacific:

• 2002  The Convention for Cooperation in the Protection and Sustainable Development of the Marine and Coastal Environment of the Northeast Pacific, Antigua Convention

Red Sea and Gulf of Aden:

• 1982 Regional Convention for the Conservation of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden Environment, the Jeddah Convention

• 1982 Protocol Concerning Regional Co-operation in Combating Pollution by Oil and Other Harmful Substances in Cases of  Emergency, Jeddah 

South-East Pacific:

• 1981 Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and Coastal Area of the South-East Pacific, the Lima Convention

• 1981 Agreement on Regional Co-operation in Combating Pollution of the South-East Pacific by Hydrocarbons or Other Harmful Substances in Cases of Emergency, Lima

• 1983 Supplementary Protocol to the Agreement on Regional Co-operation in Combating Pollution of the South-East Pacific by Hydrocarbons or Other Harmful Substances, Quito 

25

8/2/2019 Ecology and Environmental Issues CLASS NOTES

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ecology-and-environmental-issues-class-notes 26/29

• 1983 Protocol for the Protection of the South-East Pacific Against Pollution from Land-based Sources, Quito 

• 1989 Protocol for the Conservation and Management Of  Protected Marine and Coastal Areas of the South-East Pacific, Paipa 

• 1989 Protocol for the Protection of the South-East Pacific Against Radioactive Contamination, Paipa 

• 1992 Protocol on the Programme for the Regional Study on theEl Nino Phenomenon (ERFEN) in the Southeast Pacific

South Pacific:

• 1986 Convention for the Protection of the Natural Resources and Environment of the South Pacific Region, the NoumeaConvention

• 1986 Protocol for the Prevention of Pollution of the South Pacific Region by Dumping, Noumea

• 1986 Protocol Concerning Co-operation in Combating Pollution Emergencies in the South Pacific Region, Noumea

West and Central Africa:

• 1984 Convention for Co-operation in the Protection andDevelopment of the Marine and Coastal Environment of theWest and Central African Region, the Abidjan Convention

•

1984 Protocol Concerning Cooperation in Combating Pollution inCases of Emergency, Abidjan

Wider Caribbean:

• 1983 Convention for the Protection and Development of the Marine Environment of the Wider Caribbean Region, theCartagena Convention

• 1983 Protocol Concerning Co-operation in Combating Oil Spills in the Wider Caribbean Region, Cartagena

• 1990 Protocol Concerning Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife to the Convention for the Protection and Development of the Marine Environment of the Wider Caribbean Region, Kingston(SPAW)

• 1999 Protocol Concerning Pollution from Land-Based Sources and Activities to the 1983 Convention for the Protection and Development of the Marine Environment of the Wider Caribbean, Oranjestad (Aruba) 

26

8/2/2019 Ecology and Environmental Issues CLASS NOTES

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ecology-and-environmental-issues-class-notes 27/29

Partner programmes:

• 1992 Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of  the Baltic Sea Area, the Helsinki Convention

• 1972 Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by 

Dumping from Ships and Aircraft, & 1974 Convention for the Prevention of Marine Pollution from Land-Based Sources, theOslo and Paris conventions respectively – revised and combinedinto the 1992 Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic, the OSPAR Convention

back to top 

Shared Water Resources

•

Environmentally Sound Management of Inland Waters(EMINWA);• 1987 Agreement on the Action Plan for the Environmentally 

Sound Management of the Common Zambezi River System, Harare (ZACPLAN);

• 1995 Protocol on Shared Watercourse Systems of the Southern African 

Development Community (SADC), Johannesburg• 1995 Agreement on the Cooperation for the Sustainable 

Development of the Mekong River Basin, Chiang Rai• Rules for the Environmental Management of the Victoria Basin

and the Lake Tanganyika Basin

Biodiversity

• 1994 Lusaka Agreement on Co-Operative Enforcement Operations Directed at Illegal Trade in Wild Fauna and Flora, Lusaka;

• 1995 Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA); 1992 Agreement on the Conservation of Small Cetaceans of the Baltic and North Seas (ASCOBANS);

• 1996 Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans of the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and Contiguous Atlantic Area, Monaco (ACCOBAMS) 

• Revision of 1968 Algiers Convention on the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (adopted in 2003 subject toratification)

27

8/2/2019 Ecology and Environmental Issues CLASS NOTES

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ecology-and-environmental-issues-class-notes 28/29

Atmosphere

• Hosting and supporting the Latin America and Caribbeanregional coordination of the network of ozone-depleting

substance offices;• Development of a legal framework for the prevention of 

transboundary haze/pollution for the association of South EastAsian nations (ASEAN) countries (2002 ASEAN Agreement on 

 Transboundary Haze Pollution)

Hazardous Waste

1991 Bamako Convention on the Ban of the Import into Africa and the Control of Transboundary Movement and Management of  

Hazardous Wastes within Africa

28

8/2/2019 Ecology and Environmental Issues CLASS NOTES

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ecology-and-environmental-issues-class-notes 29/29

Chemicals and Hazardous Wastes Cluster

• Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movementsof Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal

• Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)• Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure

for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International  Trade (PICs) 

• Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer

Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer