PRINCIPLES OF ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY DECISIONS The six principles discussed in the book are: • The sustainability principle Sustainability requires balancing economic, social, and environmental priorities. The need for development is often confused with the need for economic growth alone. This is flawed. Many human needs can be satisfied by improved environmental quality and a safe and engaged social life. • The polluter pays principle The 'polluter pays' principle is the commonly accepted practice that those who produce pollution should bear the costs of managing it to prevent damage to human health or the environment. • The precautionary principle The precautionary principle states that if a product, an action, or a policy has a suspected risk of causing harm to the public or to the environment, protective action should be supported before there is complete scientific proof of a risk. • The equity principle The theory of intergenerational equity argues that we, the human species, hold the natural environment of our planet in common with all members of our species: past generations, the present generation, and future generations.As members of the present generation, we hold the Earth in trust for future generations • the human rights principles Man has the fundamental right to freedom, equality and adequate conditions of life, in an environment of a quality that permits a life of dignity and well-being, and he bears a solemn responsibility to protect and improve the environment for present and future generations. • the participation principle Participation can refer to taking part in preliminary arrangements, influencing decision-makers, or taking part in actual decision-making processes. But participation can also be justified from the point of view of a sensible government finding out potential flaws and realizing ownership. Environment Action Programmes Since 1973, the Commission has issued multiannual Environment Action Programmes (EAPs) setting out forthcoming legislative proposals and goals for EU environment policy. In late 2020, the Commission tabled its proposal for the 8th EAP, which should run from 2021 to 2030. It reiterates the EU’s commitment to the 7th EAP’s vision for 2050: ensuring well-being for all, while staying within planetary boundaries. The new programme endorses and builds on the environmental and climate objectives of the European Green Deal and provides an enabling framework for achieving six priority objectives: • Achieving the 2030 greenhouse gas emission reduction target and climate neutrality by 2050, • Enhancing adaptive capacity, strengthening resilience and reducing vulnerability to climate change, • Advancing towards a regenerative growth model, decoupling economic growth from resource use and environmental degradation, and accelerating the transition to a circular economy, • Pursuing a zero-pollution ambition, including for air, water and soil and protecting the health and well-being of Europeans, • Protecting, preserving and restoring biodiversity, and enhancing natural capital (notably air, water, soil, and forest, freshwater, wetland and marine ecosystems), • Reducing environmental and climate pressures related to production and consumption (particularly in the areas of energy, industrial development, buildings and infrastructure, mobility and the food system). B. Horizontal strategies The EU introduced its first Sustainable Development Strategy (SDS) in 2001, thus bringing an environmental dimension to its Lisbon Strategy. In response to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted at the September 2015 United Nations General Assembly, the Commission published a communication in 2016 entitled ‘Next steps for a sustainable European future – European action for sustainability’, outlining how to integrate the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into EU policy priorities. On 30 January 2019, the Commission presented a reflection paper on sustainable development goals entitled ’Towards a Sustainable Europe by 2030‘, which puts forward three scenarios for the future. The European Parliament has expressed its support for the scenario that goes the furthest, which proposes guiding all EU and Member State actions by defining specific SDG implementation targets, proposing concrete deliverables for 2030, and establishing a mechanism of reporting and monitoring of SDG progress. In 2011, the EU adopted its Biodiversity Strategy to 2020, reflecting the commitments made within the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the main international agreement on biodiversity, to which the EU is a party. As a contribution towards the discussions on a post-2020 global biodiversity framework (Kunming Conference), the Commission presented its Biodiversity strategy for 2030 in May 2020 as a comprehensive, ambitious and long-term plan to protect nature and reverse the degradation of ecosystems. In June 2021, the European Parliament endorsed this strategy and made further suggestions for strengthening it. Within the framework of the European Green Deal, in May 2020 the European Commission presented its Farm to Fork Strategy, which aims to make food systems fair, healthy and environmentally friendly. The European Parliament is preparing an own-initiative report to be put to the vote before the end of 2021. C. International environmental cooperation The EU plays a key role in international environmental negotiations. It is a party to numerous global, regional or sub-regional environmental agreements on a wide range of issues, such as nature protection and biodiversity, climate change, and transboundary air or water pollution. The Union helped shape several major international agreements adopted in 2015 at UN level, such as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (which includes the 17 global SDGs and their 169 associated targets), the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. It also became a party to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) that year. D. Environmental impact assessment and public participation Certain projects (private or public) that are likely to have significant effects on the environment, e.g. the construction of a motorway or an airport, are subject to an environmental impact assessment (EIA). Equally, a range of public plans and programmes (e.g. concerning land use, transport, energy, waste or agriculture) are subject to a similar process called a strategic environmental assessment (SEA). Here, environmental considerations are already integrated at the planning phase, and possible consequences are taken into account before a project is approved or authorised so as to ensure a high level of environmental protection. In both cases, consultation with the public is a central aspect. This goes back to the Aarhus Convention, a multilateral environmental agreement under the auspices of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), which entered into force in 2001 and to which the EU and all its Member States are parties. It guarantees three rights to the public: public participation in environmental decision-making, access to environmental information held by public authorities (e.g. on the state of the environment or of human health where affected by the former), and the right of access to justice where the other two rights have been disregarded. E. Implementation, enforcement and monitoring EU environmental law has been built up since the 1970s. Several hundred directives, regulations and decisions are in force today in this field. However, the effectiveness of EU environmental policy is largely determined by its implementation at national, regional and local levels, and deficient application and enforcement remain an important issue. Monitoring is crucial – both of the state of the environment and of the level of implementation of EU environmental law. To counteract the wide disparity in the level of implementation among Member States, in 2001 the European Parliament and the Council adopted (non-binding) minimum standards for environmental inspections. In order to improve the enforcement of EU environmental law, Member States have to provide for effective, proportionate and dissuasive criminal sanctions for the most serious environmental offences. These include, for instance: the illegal emission or discharge of substances into the air, water or soil; illegal trade in wildlife; illegal trade in ozone-depleting substances; and illegal shipment or dumping of waste. The European Union Network for the Implementation and Enforcement of Environmental Law (IMPEL) is an international network of the environmental authorities of EU Member States, accession and candidate countries, as well as Norway, created to boost enforcement by providing a platform for policymakers, environmental inspectors and enforcement officers to exchange ideas and best practice. UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development 2005 - 2014The DESD at a glance WHAT IS SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, AND HOW CAN WE MAKE IT HAPPEN? What do we mean exactly by sustainable development and how toattain it? Here are some concrete examples • Fostering peace The 1990s saw an increase in conflicts in Africa and South America ,as well as in Asia and Europe. War is a state of extreme human rights violations, namely the right to life, and of deep country-wide disorganization, that destroys all social and economic progress. Without peace, no model of development will be possible. Fostering peace is thus also working towards sustainable development! • Fighting against global warming Experts from around the world study the causes and effects of greenhouse gas emissions that are the root of the planet’s global warming. The international community is mobilized to address this problem. Measures are taken to preserve the planet from the negative consequences of global warming caused by air pollution(transportation, factories and power plants) including climate change, rising sea levels, and modification of marine currents. We must, therefore, protect the planet in order to pass on a sustainable heritage to future generations. • Reducing North/South inequalities and fighting against poverty An importer from the North organizes a purchase and distribution circuit for coffee produced by farmers in the South in a preserved environment. These farmers sell their production at a fair price, which allows them to cover their production costs and to live decently. This is fair trade, and it contributes to poverty reduction.• Fighting against the marginalization of women and girlsLiterate women and girls enrolled in school in the South guarantee the well-being of their families: children are better nourished, cared for, and attend at least primary school from the first to the last year. Mothers can then contribute to the household income through economic activities and fully take part in community life. Providing literacy to adults or schooling to children allows everyone to benefit from her or his right to education! • Sustainable development means having a different vision of the world Sustainable development, a constantly evolving concept, is thus the will to improve everyone’s quality of life, including that of future generations, by reconciling economic growth, social development and environmental protection. As the above examples illustrate, improving the quality of life takes on a different aspect from one continent to another, from one region to another, and from one country to the next. No single continent, government, institution orindividual, however, can attain this alone because the nature of the challenges to overcome requires a global, collective, and individual commitment. Improving the quality of our life implies a change in our learning. As UNESCO’s Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura stresses: "Education– in all its forms and at all levels – is not only an end in itself but isalso one of the most powerful instruments we have for bringing about the changes required to achieve sustainable development”. WHY A DECADE OF EDUCATION FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT? Education is a motor for change. That is why in December 2002, the United Nations General Assembly, through its Resolution 57/254,declared a Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014). It also designated UNESCO as the lead agency for thepromotion of this Decade. 3. WHAT DO WE EXPECT FROM THE DECADE? Throughout the Decade, education for sustainable development will contribute to enabling citizens to face the challenges of the present and future and leaders to make relevant decisions for a viable world. These actors will: have acquired various skills (critical and creative thinking, communication, conflict management and problem solving strategies, project assessment) to take an active part in and contribute to the life of society, be respectful of the Earth and life in all its diversity, and be committed to promoting democracy in a society without exclusion and where peace prevails. This vision of the world is not an utopia but an ideal towards which to work, by: taking into account education in sustainable development plans, creating public awareness of the importance of sustainable development, having regular and substantial coverage of sustainable development issues in the media. HOW TO IMPLEMENT THE DECADE? To attain the objectives mentioned above, the Decade will focus on:• Promoting and improving quality education Basic education needs to focus on sharing knowledge, skills, values and perspectives throughout a lifetime of learning in such a way that it encourages sustainable livelihoods and supports citizens to live sustainable lives.• Reorienting educational programmes Rethinking and revising education from nursery school through university to include a clear focus on the development of knowledge, skills, perspectives and values related to sustainability is important to current and future societies.• Building public understanding and awareness Achieving the goals of sustainable development requires widespread community education and a responsible media committed to encouraging an informed and active citizenry.• Providing practical training All sectors of the workforce can contribute to local, regional and national sustainability. Business and industry are, thus, key sites for on-going vocational and professional training, so that all sectors of the workforce can have the knowledge and skills necessary to make decisions and perform their work in a sustainable manner. This Decade will also seek to create synergies with the other global initiatives that preceded it, like the Millenium Development Goals. The Personal Values required in Environmental Leadership Perhaps we can agree that at their core environmental leaders, in the absence of professional leadership training have: • A central altruism and commitment to environmental beliefs, philosophy and approaches; • The desire to utilise their personal capabilities and professional expertise to influence not only organisational and regulatory processes but equally: o the values, culture and individual behaviours of a multitude of function holders within an organisation; o to define a balance between the economic performance of an organisation with its social and environmental performance; o the environmental governance controls on impacts arising from their employers activities currently and in future years; and o to protect the interests of external stakeholders and their environments. • To achieve these aims through a transformational, holistic and ethical approaches to leadership that fulfils social responsibilities and contributes ultimately to the concept of sustainability. Environmental leaders who promote environmental sustainability infuse their desire to protect the natural environment into their decision-making and actions.