Role of generational equity in
environment protection
Bharath Kumar D K IFS(P) 2022
Roll no: 22014
Submitted for
Module II: ASSIGNMENT – 2 | RESEARCH PAPER
ASSIGNMENT
Index:
1. Introduction
2. Generational equity
3. International conventions affirming this principle
4. Sustainable development and equity
5. Right to environment, a fundamental right for all generations
6. Major cases
7. Conclusion
8. References
Abstract: This research paper deals with the pivotal role played by the generational equity that is
being hotly debated. It talks about how this has led to environmental protection. The concept of
generational equity has evolved in the regime of international law, now its finding the place in
environment law jurisprudence. This will analyse the attitude of Indian court towards equitable role
towards protection of environment.
Introduction:
The foundation of the entire environmental philosophy is the idea of intergenerational
fairness. Based on the environment, it highlights how interdependent human generations are. The
rapid advancement of technology that balances industrialisation and economic growth fosters the
impending threat to the environment's sustainability. Future generations are undoubtedly faced with
serious difficulties, and at the same time, the stakeholders from the current generation are under
tremendous pressure to act quickly to address these issues. This essay attempts to define the scope of
the principle and analyse its legal standing within the current international system. In contrast, it
emphasizes how the environmental revolution brought to the principle's emergence and inevitable
existence. Besides analysing the most significant international environmental accords we also analyse
domestic laws and precedents set by Indian courts and people.
Every generation "holds the Earth in common with members of the present generation and with other
generations, past and future," according to the concept of intergenerational equity. The idea of fairness
between generations in the use and preservation of the environment and its natural resources is
articulated in the principle.
The idea that ecosystems and other significant natural resources should be the focus of legal
protection and prevention for future generations did not exist before the late 19th century.
Environmental law did not have a separate domestic or international statute of its own prior to the
1960s. Even in the 1970s, there were only a handful of multilateral accords pertaining to
environmental law, and most nations lacked an environmental legislation.
Since the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, 1972, held in Stockholm and
popularly known as the "Stockholm Convention," it has become clear that international environmental
law is evolving and that environmental concerns for the present and the future are being incorporated
into policy making and governance. It established a new standard for the body of international
environmental law, which included practical measures and unifying concepts to motivate and direct
people around the globe in preserving and improving the human environment.
International conventions affirming the generational equity principle:
Intergenerational equity has long been a central tenet of international environmental law or
governance. The afore mentioned principle has been an unbreakable, inescapable fundamental object
from the 1972 Stockholm Declaration on Human Environment to the more recent Minamata
Convention on Mercury which came into effect in 2017. Every international environmental pact
incorporates the principle into a specific area. The biggest international environmental accords that
have significantly addressed the world's environmental challenges are listed below.
United Nations Conference on Human Environment, Stockholm Declaration 1972
The historic declaration's second tenet states that "careful planning or management, as appropriate,
must be used to ensure that the earth's natural resources, including the air, water, land, flora and fauna,
and especially representative samples of natural ecosystems, are preserved for the benefit of present
and future generations."
Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development: Our Common Future, 1987
The following statement from this report, among other things, reaffirms the concepts of
intergenerational equity: "Humanity has the ability to make development sustainable to ensure that it
meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their
own needs."
United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, Rio Declaration 1992
"The right to development must be fulfilled so as to equitably meet the developmental and
environmental needs of present and future generations," states principle 3 of this proclamation.
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, 1992
In accordance with equality and their shared but distinct obligations, it is said that parties "should
protect the climate system for the benefit of present and future generations of humankind."
The UNECE Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and
Access to Justice in Environmental Matters, The Aarhus Convention, 2001
With the words "Recognizing that each and every person has the right to live in an environment
adequate to his or her health and well-being, and the duty, both individually and in association with
others, to protect and improve the environment for the benefit of present and future generations," the
convention's preamble makes an effort to consider both present and future generations.
United Nations Climate Change Conference, Copenhagen Declaration 2009
Para 6 of the declaration refers to “equitable social development and social justice”.
Sustainable development and equity
The phrase "sustainable development" did not become widely used until the World
Commission on Environment and Development Report, "The Brundtland Report," and the 1992
United Nations Conference on Environment and Development. Over 7,000 delegates from 178
nations urged for sustainable development and acknowledged the necessity for environmental
protection together with economic and social progress on a global scale.
Development that is sustainable is one which satisfies existing demands without jeopardizing
the capacity of future generations to satisfy their own needs. The global society has acknowledged
sustainable development as the most comprehensive paradigm for enhancing quality of life. The
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are what present equity for both within- and between-
generations. A developmental mechanism that balances development while without sacrificing the
environment or the needs of the future.
Equity and sustainable development are two sides of the same coin. The SDGs all share the
same goal of preserving sustainability through the use of preventative, protective, and precautionary
measures. It is the process of preserving the debate about progress while safeguarding it.
Intergenerational equity is a fundamental component of sustainable development, and achieving the
former is the goal of the latter. Sustainable development is the only jalopy on the road to a better,
cleaner, and safer environment for tomorrow.
Right to environment, a Fundamental Right for all
generations.
Today, more than 100 States have added the right to a healthy environment to their
constitutions, making it the strongest level of legal protection possible. A healthy environment is
mentioned in relation to almost two-thirds of the constitutional rights; other definitions include rights
to a clean, safe, favourable, healthful, or ecologically balanced environment.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights' Preamble states that "the foundation of freedom,
justice, and peace in the world is recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable
rights of all members of the human family." All generations are included in the reference to all
members of the human family because it has a temporal component. This generation's basic equality
within the human family is confirmed by the mention of equal and inalienable rights.
Humans have an intrinsic obligation to protect nature, in addition to having a fundamental
right to the environment. The environment belongs to all generations equally and is not a possession
of either individuals or governments. We, the people of this generation or even this century, are the
inheritors of such a right, but we are also the enablers, actively participating in the creation of
irreversible prejudice against such rights of the people of the next generation. By destroying
resources, changing landscapes, and endangering biodiversity, development can have a significant
negative influence on the environment and has done so over time. Such actions unquestionably put the
rights of future generations in grave danger.
Major legal cases
Oposa doctrine
The Supreme Court of the Philippines ruled in Oposa v. Factoran Minors Oposa that the
petitioners could bring a class action on behalf of other members of their generation and future
generations. The court further declared that every generation has a responsibility to the following one
to preserve the rhythm and harmony required for the full enjoyment of a balanced and healthy
ecological, taking into consideration the idea of intergenerational responsibility.
Goa foundation case:
The Supreme Court of India declared that four principles—intergenerational equality,
sustainable development, the precautionary principle, and the polluter pays concept—are a part of the
right to life under the Constitution in the case of the Goa foundation v. Union of India and others.
Additionally, it has decided that the state is a trustee for the people, particularly for future generations,
and that the public trust doctrine applies to all natural resources. The intergenerational equality
concept, which states that future generations must inherit at least as much as the present generation
does, has been acknowledged by the Supreme Court in the context of protecting finite resources, such
as minerals.
CZR notification case:
A complete bench of the Indian Supreme Court stated in the 1996 case Enviro-Legal Action v.
Union of India that "A law is passed because the law makers and the Legislature believe and foresee
that it is necessary. And it is from this perspective that it is vital to safeguard a high standard of living
while also safeguarding the environment. It made its decision based on several rights, including the
right to intergenerational equity. Similar to this, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has recognized
and upheld that current generations should protect the interests of future generations under
international law.
Maritime Delimitation in the Area between Greenland and Jan Mayen
Judge Christopher Weeramantry stated in his concurring opinion that respect for "elemental
constituents of the inheritance of succeeding generations dictated rules and attitudes based upon a
concept of an equitable sharing which was both horizontal with regard to the present generation and
vertical for the benefit of generations yet to come" in the 1993 International Court of Justice decision
in the case of Denmark v. Norway.
Gabčíkovo-Nagymaros project
Judge Weeramantry described the concern for future generations across several continents in a
1997 case between Hungary and Slovakia before the ICJ involving the Gabckovo Nagymaros Project
of locks and dams on the Danube River: "... land is never the subject of human ownership, but is only
held in trust, with all the connotations that follow of due care, wise management, and custody for
future generations."
Conclusion:
A threat still exists in the face of human civilization's growth and the human race's leap
towards modernism; this threat is aimed at those who are unable to defend their rights, at those who
have not yet evolved but will live in the future. The simultaneous voice and collective decision-
making that such aspects are addressed are made possible by the formation of intertemporal principles
and prospective justice concern addressed. The pillars of a good environment policy are and will
continue to be public engagement, RTI, and access to justice. We of this generation must make a
commitment to act with integrity in order to give the people of tomorrow no less than what we have
today considering the mounting environmental problem. The violation of this moral and natural law
would have a devastating effect on natural law's fundamental principles rather than triggering legal
liability.
References:
• Edith Brown Weiss, Intergenerational Equity, Oxford Public International
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9780199231690-e1421
• Pratyush Pandey, History of Environmental Law, Law Times
Journal, http://lawtimesjournal.in/history-of-environmental-law/
• Segger, M., & Khalfan, A. (2004-11-25). Origins of the Sustainable Development
Concept *. In Sustainable Development Law: Principles, Practices, and Prospects.:
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• The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, often shortened to Rio Declaration,
was a short document produced at the 1992 United Nations "Conference on Environment
and Development" (UNCED), informally known as the Earth Summit. The Rio Declaration
consisted of 27 principles intended to guide future sustainable development around the
world.
• The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC or FCCC) is an
international environmental treaty produced at the United Nations Conference on
Environment and Development (UNCED), informally known as the Earth Summit, held in
Rio de Janeiro from June 3 to 14, 1992. The objective of the treaty is to stabilize greenhouse
gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic
interference with the climate system.
• Norgaard, R. B., "Sustainability as Intergenerational Equity: The Challenge to Economic
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• Weiss, Edith Brown “Environmental change and international law: New challenges and
dimensions”, Tokyo: United Nations University Press, 1992 at p. 154. 6 Weiss, Edith
Brown, "The Planetary Trust: Conservation and Intergenerational Equity", Ecology Law
Quarterly, Vol. 11, No. 4, (1984).
• Ibid.
• (1995) 3 SCC 363
• (1996) 5 SCC 281
• 1999 (2) SCC 718
• The Brundtland Commission, formally the World Commission on Environment and
Development (WCED), known by the name of its Chair Gro Harlem Brundtland, was
convened by the United Nations in 1983. The commission was created to address growing
concern "about the accelerating deterioration of the human environment and natural
resources and the consequences of that deterioration for economic and social development."
In establishing the commission, the UN General Assembly recognized that environmental
problems were global in nature and determined that it was in the common interest of all
nations to establish policies for sustainable development.
• Taniya Malik, “The Evolution of the Concept of Inter-Generational Equity under the Indian
Environmental Jurisprudence” Volume: 2, Issue: 10, 184-187 Oct 2015.
