What is the Much Ado About Environmental Law: Another Addition to the Rhetorics?

Abstract

The question of what necessitated the formulation of the principles on which environmental law is structured is of antiquity. However, this question is more an issue today as it was in the 1970s when the world first collectively woke up to the importance of the environment and its relevance vis-a-vis the continued survival of humanity. Academic discourse about the environment and environmental laws today typically associates the latter with an ever increasing and dynamic array of principles. Environmental law was developed in response to the public perception that human health and the environment were inadequately protected. This dissertation posits that which it is believed amounts to a discourse of the theoretical basis and relevance of environmental law. To achieve this, the paper is divided into six parts: this being the first; Part II is dedicated to an expose on the nature - and not a definition - of environment law. It puts across the thesis that environmental law is an admixture of thoughts sourced from different and divergent fields of endeavour. Part III has as its scope the need for environmental law. Part IV attempts a chronicle of the emergency of environmental law and also makes it known that environmental law is a modern day construct and Part V focuses on the theoretical basis of environmental law with specific attention to the principles of sustainable development and its subset - intergenerational equity. Part VI is the climax of the discourse and it captures the closing thoughts as it relates to the theme of this paper.