Frequent attempts to increase a country’s sustainability and eco-protection consist of bottle-return laws, setting standards for emissions for coal-fired power plants, like in Germany, planting more trees like the “Great Green Wall” in China, and agreeing on international treaties for the protection of biological diversity, as well as the protection of the ozonosphere. Any regulation is created to protect the non-human world from the human world in response to a noticeable decline in environmental health or human health. Prior to the 20th century, many national agreements were solely made to establish boundaries on water, navigation, and fishing. When considering the formation of law, many things need to be presented: specific data about the human impact on the environment, concerns about the scientific capabilities, accommodations that could be made, and understanding the effects of any regulation put in place. In the past, uncertainties have arisen if a convention didn’t specify which chemical was going to be reduced or replaced, specific target goals weren’t set, binding limitations weren’t implemented, or the larger whole didn’t uphold the agreement.   

 

Different types of environmental laws can be created, all to move towards environment-quality goals. Most common are the “Command and Control” laws which start by identifying the harmful activity, forcing a standard on said harmful activity, then limiting any actions imposing on that criteria. For any harmful action that cannot fully be restricted, limitations will be put in place. These types of laws also typically work for protecting endangered species through trade.

 

Another type of law is an Environmental Assessment Mandate which works to identify a threshold for when a thorough assessment may need to be made, set goals for that assessment, and require the assessment to be considered when determining how to proceed away from a harmful notice. These assessments generally increase the amount and quality of environmental information available to the public in order to intensify the public’s ability to have a say in the proceedings. These assessments also propose an option for an action to be taken as well as a conclusion if there were to be no action taken.  Such economic incentives have been set in regards to these assessments: either taxing those who do not comply with restrictions or compensating those who thoroughly work towards cleaner goals. It has been recorded that when goals and restrictions are set, there can be major environmental re-growth such as in protected areas where land and water are set aside in their natural form and human activity is limited to allow preservation of the natural life.

 

With any environmental law, environmental law principles must follow. These principals help lawmakers in decisions that impact the environment and the act as guidelines. The precautionary principle states that if there will be any harm done in the future, it is best to set a process to slow that harm down now, then wait. The prevention principle works at the forefront and reinstates how it is cheaper, easier, and less dangerous to prevent an issue before it has started. The polluter pays principle requires the polluter responsible for the environmental harm to pay to clean up their activity -- this is usually through a payment. This principle also recommends polluters consider the life cycle of their product through packaging and disposal. The integration principle asks lawmakers to make all laws - then just specifically environmental decisions - with the environment’s fate in mind. The public participation principle requires enough information to be available to the public to enhance its ability and opportunity to participate in decisions. Finally, the all-around goal of environmental law is to promote sustainable development that implants the responsibility of all to plan appropriately to grow and to preserve the quality of our environment for future generations.