General principles of international environmental law
Sovereignty and responsibility
International environmental law has developed based on two contradicting principles. The first principle establishes that each state has sovereign rights over their natural resources whilst the second one affirms that they should try not to damage other states’ environment.
However, the concept of sovereignty is not absolute. It is bound by a general principle that claims that states should not cause environmental damage to the environment of other states. In the 1992 Rio Declaration, it was established that states have the sovereign right to use their natural resources within their own environmental and development policies, however, they cannot damage the environment of other states.
Good Neighborliness and international cooperation
The principle of good neighbourliness establishes a responsibility not to damage the environment of other countries. On the other hand, the international cooperation principle puts a duty on states to forbid activities that are against the rights of other nations and which might harm other states and their population.
The precautionary principle
This principle is deeply important as it establishes that in the case of a strong possibility that activity may harm the environment it is better to check on that action in advance instead of waiting for terrible scientific evidence. To be more specific the principle stipulates that threats of serious or irreversible harm, which lack scientific assurance, should not be used as a reason for postponing strict measures to safeguard the environment.
The prevention principle
According to this rule, a country has to prevent damage in its jurisdiction. Preventing such vast harm is both cheaper and less environmentally dangerous than acting when it is too late. Hence, it is of vital importance to safeguard the environment in the best way possible as it is extremely important to avoid environmental disaster.
The “polluter pays” principle
This latter has been an extremely important concept in environmental law. Broadly speaking, a state which is responsible for a breach of international environmental law has to stop the wrongful behaviour, as it might be an issue for the safety of the environment, and has to revise the rules before the illegitimate actions.
Relying on this principle, if the country is not able to re-establish the condition it should pay a reimburseìment.
Benefits by using electric vehicles
Electric vehicles are of vital importance, especially, in a world where the concern of reducing carbon emissions and pollution is growing day by day. Undeniably, as shown by several research electric cars are better for the environment. They emit fewer greenhouse gases than diesel or petrol cars. There are various benefits for the environment if we drive electric vehicles.
As electric cars do not emit tailpipes, the vehicles do not produce any carbon dioxide emissions when driving them, hence the pollution would sharply decrease. Additionally, not only the reduction of pollution is essential for the environment but also for all the people who inhale polluted air every day. Having electric vehicles would provide us with cleaner streets and cities.
Secondly, when an electric car needs to be recharged, it uses renewable energy. Another possibility is to buy green power from the electricity seller, to reduce the greenhouse gas emission. Additionally, electric vehicles are made of eco-friendly materials, such as recycled materials.
To sum up, international environmental law includes a lot of important principles which should be adopted by each state. To safeguard the environment it is important to use electric vehicles as normal cars have a huge impact on air pollution.
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