Environmental Policies In Britain And The Efforts By International Community Towards A Sustainable Environment

Introduction.

Environment and the politics surrounding it remains a key consideration not only on the United Kingdom’s radar but also on the global radar through the United Nation’s concerns on its protection towards sustainable development. In pursuit of leaving the environment a better place than they found it and for the good and benefit of their future generations, the United Kingdom recently through the department of Environment, food and Rural affairs adopted a 25-year environment plan that outlined their intention to ensure protection of its environment especially water, air and wildlife (Handl, 2012). The policy paper is at an advanced stage of implementation.

Why environment remains on the United Kingdom’s Political agenda and the content of successive environmental policies in Britain since 1970

There is little doubt concerning politics with regards to environment in Britain and such any question as to whether or not the environment remains on the country’s political agenda is answered in the affirmative. It remains one of the key areas that features on the political agenda. Overtime, Britain has developed a number of strategies aimed at protecting and improving the environment and this is an indicator as to how the environment and factors surrounding it never escapes the Country’s political agenda (Ling, 2012). From educating the community on the sustainable use of soil and pesticides to protection of rivers and catchment areas and a general approach towards biodiversity, Britain’s politics and environment remain interdependent.

A number of policies and strategies have been developed, some of which have culminated into environmental laws in Britain. These includes; the Clean Air Act, 1993. This act was an updated version and a consolidation into a single document of the Clean Air Act 1956 and 1968 drawing their origin from the London smog that occurred in 1956, with a separate and distinct provision for England, Wales and Scotland excluding the Northern Ireland which had its own policies. This Act was promulgated purposely to respond to air pollution that had become a common phenomenon in the United Kingdom after a recommendation by both the Law Commission and the Scottish Law Commission. It is divided into five major parts with each part tackling a distinct area as far as air pollution is concerned. Part one for example deals with dark smoke from chimneys and its meaning thereof (Loeser and Treede, 2008). Part two deals with smokeless furnaces and limits on emission from furnaces to the environment. Part three tackles the issue of smoke-controlled areas and prevention of smoke from furnaces, if any, to the controlled areas. The last two parts deal with procedure and information on air pollution. The act has been a success as far as control of air pollution is concerned.

There is also the Control of pollution Act 1974 whose main purpose was to provide provisions to local authorities, later devolved administrations in England, Wales and Scotland with the exclusion of Northern Ireland that had in place its own policies. This act was part of a larger extension to control all forms and kinds of pollution produced by all sources of pollution in the United Kingdom since the country was in a period of transition from an industrial-based economy to a market-based one. By and large, this act was timely and, in the end, it was a success as far as the transition period was concerned. Then there was the Environment Protection Act 1990 that was enacted by the parliament of the United Kingdom to re-enact and renew partly the Control of pollution Act of 1974 purposely to provide for better and improved control of pollution from industrial processes and other sources of pollution with a clear structure of waste management authority (McCormick, 2013). The act was also and has been a success in its area of specification. Lastly, there is the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Act (IPPC) (EU Derivative), Energy performance of Building Directive (EPBD) 2002. This is one of the European Union directives binding on all members and to the observant members like Norway. It is a typical version of the Control of pollution Act above that sets out requirements for main sources of pollution like industries and urges them in part to consider investing in green sources of power to avoid pollution.

Through the department of environment, a number of strategies and policies have been developed to help in protecting the environment, some of which are waiting assent and they include the policy paper on the 25-year plan for the environment that covers several aspects of environment such as National action plan for the use of soil products, caring for the water catchment areas and general protection of biodiversity (Murphy and King, 2010).

Does environment affect other policy areas?

Literally, environment is all that surrounds us. This implies that other areas of policy making cannot be mentioned in isolation to or with the environment. Areas such as housing, transport, construction, education among others relate closely with environment to the effect that before a policy on any of the above is made or adopted, such policy makers must and should consider in mandatory terms how such will affect the environment. It is said that the manner in which houses are built and used must have an immediate impact on the environment in one way or the other (Murphy and King, 2010).

First, on housing, there is the issue of water consumption in houses. Before a policy can be made on the use of water in houses, there is need to understand that proper use of water in houses is a way of conserving the environment. Therefore, water, which is part of the environment must be considered. There is also the idea of energy consumption in houses. Energy emanates from the environment. As such, before a policy on energy use is prepared, makers must first consider the source of the energy, which is the environment. Should it have adverse effects on the environment, the policy must fail. Such that a policy on energy use in houses and houses here include dwelling places, industrial buildings, shopping malls et all, must be one that encourages conservation of energy, whose very source is the environment. Lastly on housing, there is need to consider the use of renewable resources (Murphy and King, 2010). This can be achieved through policies on design, painting, renovation and construction of houses. Such that the use of renewable resources in housing which are environmentally friendly must be considered at the expense of non-renewable resources. This clearly shows how the environment affects housing with regards to use of various resources emanating from the environment.

There is the issue of environment and transportation. There are a number of ways in which environment affects policies relating to transportation. Emission of toxic gases into the air including carbon IV oxide (CO2) from exhaust of vehicles leads to air pollution. Spillage of hazardous substances into water bodies during transport leads to water pollution. There is loss of biodiversity during fragmentation of habitats by roads and even railways. This leads to expansion of urban areas at the expense of habitats. There is noise pollution from transport machines leading to communication problems or even sleeping interferences. Infrastructural developments lead to destruction of habitats and finally, disposal of old vehicles and even engines oils affects the environment. It is therefore true that any form of transportation will affect the environment. As such, for any policy to be developed on transportation, its effect to the environment must first be considered. In this way, environment itself becomes a pre-requisite of any transportation policy (Viñuales, 2015). No policy will thus be approved or made that does not take into account the environment and thus the affirmative answer to the topical question.

When it comes to general construction, no policy will be developed that fails to take into account the environment. Construction will normally involve destruction of trees, deforestation and general loss of biodiversity. As such, constructions must be conducted within the confines of the law and no law will fail to consider environment first. It is thus true that environment will also affect construction policies.

Range of measures taken by the international community to tackle environmental problems.

In response to the ever-increasing environmental problems, the international community has not been left behind in putting in place measures to solve the same. The United Nation Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) met in Rio, Brazil in 1992 and came up with the document popular known as the Rio Declaration. The document defines the rights of human being to be involved in the development of their economies and their roles and responsibilities towards protecting their environment. It was further intended to guide member countries towards a sustainable environment. Key in Rio Declaration are the 27 principles that it proclaimed towards achieving the goal of sustainability. Among the achievements of the declaration include principle 15 and 16 on precautionary measures, otherwise called the precautionary principle and the polluter pay principle respectively (Viñuales, 2015). The polluter pay principle in part was important in the sense that an individual would assume responsibility for polluting the environment in whichever way. Ideally, this principle is closely related to the precautionary principle in that before one could undertaker an adverse activity to the environment, they had to take precautions and foresee the effects of their actions failure of which principle 16 would come in handy to remedy the situation by compelling the polluter to pay.

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The declaration had around 170 members as signatories and as such it claimed a global representation. Key among its successes are global education on the need to protect the surrounding for a sustainable development. It was also a major milestone in the development of International Environment law that has seen the environment law form part of international laws. It also raised awareness on the need to fund Non- Governmental Organisations that had environment as one of its key objectives. The Rio Declaration also led an awareness on media campaigns and its importance in ensuring that human being protected the environment for a sustainable future. The declaration has been a success (Murphy and King, 2010).

Then there is the Kyoto Protocol, which was basically an amendment to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This is an international treaty whose aim was to first ensure unity of countries then to take advantage of such unity towards reducing global warming and to deal with the effects of climatic change on the environment especially temperature increase. It was adopted in Kyoto, Japan in 1997 but came into force in 2005 with at least 192 members having ratified it. It aimed at essentially reducing greenhouse gases emissions like Carbon Dioxide, Methane, Nitrous Oxide, and Sulphur Hexafluoride. It remains the world’s first major global treaty on emissions reduction that increased awareness towards resolving climatic change internationally (Loeser and Treede, 2008). It is the first treaty to legally bind member countries towards reduction of greenhouse gas emission.

Lastly, there is the European Union Directive, 2002 that is binding on all members and to the observant members like Norway that sets out requirements for main sources of pollution like industries and urges them in part to consider investing in green sources of power to avoid pollution (Murphy and King, 2010).

Conclusion.

It is trite to conclude that Britain’s successive laws on environment and their interplay with politics have seen a great milestone towards protection of the environment. Also true is that environment is a pre-requisite of policy making in other areas that directly affects it. Lastly, the international community must be lauded in part for being part of development of the international environment laws and increasing awareness on the need to protect the environment for a sustainable development.

References

• Handl, G., 2012. Declaration of the United Nations conference on the human environment (Stockholm Declaration), 1972 and the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, 1992. United Nations Audiovisual Library of International Law, 11.
• Ling, C.Y., 2012. The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development: An Assessment. Penang: Third World Network.
• Loeser, J.D. and Treede, R.D., 2008. The Kyoto protocol of IASP Basic Pain Terminology. Pain, 137(3), pp.473-477.
• McCormick, J., 2013. British politics and the environment. Routledge.
• Murphy, E. and King, E.A., 2010. Strategic environmental noise mapping: Methodological issues concerning the implementation of the EU Environmental Noise Directive and their policy implications. Environment international, 36(3), pp.290-298.
• Viñuales, J.E. ed., 2015. The Rio declaration on environment and development: a commentary. OUP Oxford.

Clean Air Act, 1993

Control of pollution Act 1974

Control of pollution Act 1974

Environment Protection Act 1990

Kyoto Protocol (Treaty), 1997

Rio Declaration, 1992