Suchergebnisse

A high quality environment is coming to be regarded as a necessary prerequisite for the enjoyment of some of the most fundamental human rights, including the rights to life and health. However, the precise recognition of a 'right to environment' has not yet been settled. The essays collected here address this and related questions from different perspectives.

In the past three decades, the realm of environmental law in many Western countries, and internationally, has grown from a small baby crying for attention to a full-fledged, articulate adult, participating in a wide variety of international, regional, and national fora concerning the protection of the environment and the management of our natural resources. More recently, in many non-Western countries and especially in Asia, environmental law has begun to enter into adulthood, manifested by significant legislative initiatives, judicial activism and a resulting environmental jurisprudence, and the establishment and growth of environmental and resource management agencies.

This article outlines the development of environmental and resource law in Australia and explores its constitutional and political setting. The need for a national approach to the environment within the context of Australia as a federally organized country is recognized, particularly with regard to Australia's international obligations and the fact that environmental issues span state, territory, and/or national boundaries. It is argued that, to date, federal action with respect to the environment does not satisfactorily demonstrate the emergence of a national environmental strategy. However, the recent Intergovernmental Agreement on the Environment, signed by the state and federal governments in 1992, and the development of ecologically sustainable strategies for Australia are acknowledged for their potential to overcome the federal-state conflicts, which have inhibited an adequate national approach.