Water, air and soil pollution, global warming, deforestation, overfishing, industrial and nuclear accidents, loss of biodiversity, etc. These are just some examples of the alarming environmental crisis situation that the planet is going through. Irrationally and unconsciously, the human species has exploited natural resources and has neglected its empathy for nature, reaching an extreme situation. That is why specific laws are needed to ensure the protection and recovery of the environment.
With scientific and technological advancement and the disproportionate growth of the species, people have tried to dominate nature by breaking its balance. Given the awareness of what has been caused, Environmental Law and Ecological Law are born as regulatory measures, both internally and internationally, to try to alleviate this crisis situation through the regulation and education of human behavior with nature.
Next, from Evidence Network, we want to explain to you What is the difference between Environmental and Ecological Law so that you can understand the focus and importance of both terms in today’s society.
What is Environmental Law
He Environmental Law is one of the bases of environmental sustainability. So much so, that its violation represents an obstacle to achieving the sustainable development goals and environmental sustainability in all its aspects, therefore, this regulation of the relationship between people and nature is proposed as the main purpose to preserve and protect the environment through the fight against pollution, the preservation of biodiversity and the protection of natural resources.
Regarding the regulation of Environmental Lawwe can find it in all its essence in the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP)which aims to address environmental issues at both global and regional levels, acting as a defender of the environment, providing support to the governments of different countries for the implementation of the aforementioned environmental program, promoting the application of international environmental law.
In turn, in 2017 France began the Global Compact for the Environment, with the aim of facilitating global progress in the adoption of binding environmental standards, thus closing existing gaps in international environmental law. Both the individual, society and the State must comply with the policies adapted within Environmental Law to achieve conservation awareness and a healthy human environment.
In the case of Spain, the Spanish Constitution in its article 45 establishes that:
- “Everyone has the right to enjoy an environment suitable for the development of the person, as well as the duty to conserve it.”
- “Public powers will ensure the rational use of all natural resources, in order to protect and improve the quality of life and defend and restore the environment, relying on the indispensable collective solidarity.”
This competence in environmental matters is distributed between the State, the different Autonomous Communities and the municipalities. Being, therefore, the central administration (State), which will have the responsibility of legislating on environmental matters regarding waste, environmental impact assessments, atmospheric pollution, etc. The different autonomous communities may increase this protection collected by the state, approving laws and regulations regarding Environmental Law respecting the basic legislation made by the state.
To further expand this information, you can read this other article from Evidence Network about What is Environmental Law – definition, summary and regulations.
Ecological Law: what it is and its characteristics
He Ecological Law is defined as the set of policies and legal regulations that regulate life in ecosystems in its entirety. They are a set of both international and internal regulations aimed at the conservation of ecosystems and the living beings that inhabit them. Therefore, life is the legal asset protected in this matter.
The Stockholm Declaration of 1972, made during the United Nations Conference on the Environment in that city, was the first document to collect the aforementioned ecological regulations, collecting in turn, the principles on which the ecological regulations that would be subsequently carried out by the different states would be governed, making reference in these regulations to nature, natural resources, the environment and the action of people within ecosystems in general.
Difference between Environmental and Ecological Law
Although it is true that both environmental and ecological law are closely linked, since the rules regarding environmental defense and prevention are included in the same matter, there is something basic that differentiates them, since while environmental law is aimed at the defense of the environment as a whole, ecological law is limited to the regulation for the defense of ecosystems and the beings that inhabit them, therefore and at a colloquial level, it could be said that while environmental law focuses on a more Globally, ecological law focuses on regulation at a more centralized level. Other key points of the difference between Environmental Law and Ecological Law are:
- While Ecological Law focuses on the relationships that living organisms and their habitat have, in order to protect the life of ecosystems as a whole and without focusing on the effects that environmental damage produces on man; Environmental Law refers to the protection of the environment in relation to one of the species, humans.
- Environmental Law focuses on the optimization of natural resources and protection of the environment through a set of legal norms that regulate rational use, conservation of the environment and prevention of damage to it. In Ecological Law, this environmental balance is also achieved through legal norms that regulate human activity, as well as its interaction with the different species that inhabit the ecosystem.
- Environmental Law focuses on aspects of well-being and quality of human life and, therefore, develops regulations that go beyond ecological aspects. Furthermore, the Environmental Law is made up of an organic set of principles that are included only in the Organic Law of the Environment, including the conservation, defense and improvement of the environment; while the Ecological norms are dispersed in public law.
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