Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate recent and upcoming changes in urban planning legislation in the Republic of Lithuania, which acknowledge the necessity of introducing climate change management tools. Sustainable development is a core principle of the Spatial Planning Law of the Republic of Lithuania since 2014. Special attention to the management of climate change is given at the national and municipal levels, and recent legislative initiatives are proof of this. Methodology – this analysis is based on evaluating the main applicable documents and introduced amendments. The theoretical publications, statistical data, and judicial practice are also observed while interpreting the given normative rules. This paper specifically analyses the legal requirements enshrined in Lithuanian law that are intended to foster sustainable development. New amendments to manage climate change are also analysed. In addition, the solutions of the Vilnius Master Plan are presented, as they introduced the principle of sustainable development before it became a national rule, as well as climate change management measures. Findings – the analysis reveals that national regulation only sets out the principles for spatial planners, and it is left to local governments to make final decisions on what exact measures may be introduced for the purpose of ensuring sustainable development and climate change management via spatial planning. This is a cause for concern and should lead to renewed calls for a coherent and ambitious approach to introduce the specific measures at the national level – at least in the by – laws to ensure consistent and unified application. Despite the vague wording employed by the regulations, the Vilnius Master Plan actively encourages the introduction of measures which could help in ensuring sustainable development and climate change management via spatial planning. Originality/value – this article is the first to analyse the newly adopted principle of sustainable development in the light of climate change management via spatial planning regulations in the Republic of Lithuania. In addition, the present analysis contributes to worldwide studies on sustainable development and climate change measures by filling a gap from Lithuania’s side, showing recent regulatory changes as a good practice to other jurisdictions.
Highlights
Sustainable development has been a major area of policy focus since a framework for the principles of sustainable development was laid down at a United Nations (UN) Conference on Environment and Development in 1992
This paper presents an analysis of the main legal norms in the Republic of Lithuania which enable sustainable development in the context of climate change, with the purpose of demonstrating the legal constraints and finding the exact measures which have been, or soon will be, implemented
The sustainable development principle is widely accepted, and climate change management is a reality which should be dealt with in spatial planning. This principle was introduced in the Spatial Planning Law of the Republic of Lithuania in 2014
Summary
Sustainable development has been a major area of policy focus since a framework for the principles of sustainable development was laid down at a United Nations (UN) Conference on Environment and Development in 1992. This paper consists of two main parts It analyses the most relevant research of other scholars to better understand the relationship between sustainable development and climate change management via spatial planning. It examines the national regulations in four sub-chapters: the analysis of the current legal regulations; the analysis of the changes on the way, through the lens of how they reflect climate change management measures; the examination of the main by-law regulating spatial planning; and an assessment of the newly drafted Vilnius Master Plan. During the research and drafting of this article, the newly appointed European Commission was just beginning to prepare their package for climate change management. The comparative method helped to highlight the relevance of the analysed topic
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