International Environmental Law Concepts Test (Other (Not Listed) Sample)

INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CONCEPTS TEST
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Historical development of international environmental law from 1972 to 2012 including key meetings and agreements
The First United Nations Conference on the human environment was convened in Stockholm, Sweden, in the year 1972. The meeting was attended by more than 100 delegates and two heads of state, i.e. Olaf Palme of Sweden and India Gandhi of India. Among the key outcomes of the meeting was the formation of the UNEP, which would provide global leadership on caring for the environment (Schachter & Christopher 2006, p 13).
In the year 1978, the great lakes water quality agreement (GLWQA) was reached in Canada  HYPERLINK "http://ed.grammarly.com/editor/content?page.paperReportKey=" to eliminate persistent toxins virtually from the great lakes ecosystems (Grover & Krantzberg 2012, p 403).
The Geneva Convention of 1979 also referred to as the Long-range Trans boundary Air Pollution agreement was meant to initiate international cooperation in matters regarding air pollution. The agreement was set after consideration that industrializing countries were not only polluting their own environment, but were also destroying that of their neighbours through air movements (Sands, Peel & Aguilar 2012, p 412).
The Helsinki and Montreal agreements of 1985 and 1988 respectively, were also direct outcomes of the Geneva Convention. In Helsinki, an initiative to reduce the emissions of sulphur dioxide was reached while the Montreal’ meant to curb the destruction of the ozone layer (Sands, Peel & Aguilar 2012, p 1022).
The Lisbon agreement of 1990 was signed out in Portugal and was meant to ensure that there is cooperation among UNEP member states whenever there are environmental emergency disasters (JeanClaude 2010, p 201).
The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification was a 1994 agreement reached out in Paris, France, and consented by more than 195 world nations. It was meant to be a measure that would bring together member states in platforms that mitigate the effects of droughts and desertification through long term strategies (UNDP. 2008, p 344).
The 2012 United Nations Climate Change conference was held in Doha, Qatar, as a reinforcement of the Kyoto protocol and Durban platform. Essentially, it was an agreement, due to which wealthy nations should be financially responsible for other nations due to their failure to reduce carbon emissions.
Definition of sustainable development in regard to different multilateral environmental agreements
According to multilateral environmental agreements, sustainable development refers to the responsible exploitation of the earth’s natural resources (Pearce, Barbier & Markandya 2013, p 203). Through this concept, it is not only the modern generation that should be able to enjoy the resources, but rather, even the future generations should be entitled to the same without any compromise. The term sustainable development traces its origin from the Brundtland commission report of 1987. According to the report, economic development, social development, and environmental protection should be considered as a system that is fully responsible for the present and the future positive situation of the global environment.
The meaning of sovereign consent of states
In a broader definition, the phrase ‘sovereign consent of states’ refers to an initiative by some united nations to work collectively towards environmental issues in which they all have common interests (Langlet 2011, p 77). Such an approach is very imperative in the International Environmental Law because all the citizens, regardless of their country’s level of development are entitled to a pollution free environment. Indeed, according to the IEL and UNEP, any element of pollution should be regarded as a common enemy for all the nations and, therefore, they should work as a unit to abate the threat.
Analyzing the article on coral reefs in regards to Australian government and the UNEP
The Australian government
Foremost, according to the 1992 Rio Declaration on Environment and Development (Fisher, Lange & Scotford 2013 p 97), “all states have the sovereign right to exploit their own resources pursuant to their own environmental policies”. Based on this ideology, the Australian government has the right to go on with the mining of coal since it is the desire to generate more power and foreign exchange that are compelling it to do so. The UNEP also expects each member state to have an internal constitution that will fight all agents of environmental threats. If this is the case, then the assumption here is that Australia is fully aware of the repercussions of not abiding by the set obligations and, therefore, will not act to the contrary.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
Most nations, left to act on their own, will do so selfishly without considering the welfare of other individuals. For this reason, agencies such as the UNESCO are strategically positioned to take a neutral stand and ensure that the interests of individual member states do not surpass what concerns the whole world. In this case, whereas the reefs are legitimately owned by Australia, they are nevertheless a world heritage that ought to be protected by an institution that has no bias. It is not only the...