Environment - International Law / How and why is the environment protected?

SianPeople are facing a threat we've never faced before: environmental disasters. This programme will show you how the law is adapting to keep the world itself safe, by protecting our environment.

Does nature have any legal rights? How can laws developed for humans be adapted to protect nature?

We'll show how laws are increasingly being used to protect our environment.

The environment is being threatened like never before. Human activity is changing the world around us, warming the air and sea. Extreme floods, droughts and wildfires are increasingly common and affect all continents and oceans. Can the law help?

Laws are basically an agreement between people. How can you have an agreement with something that's not a person a tree for example?

We depend on the world around us: we need clean air, clean water and clean earth to live.

Declaration of Human Rights says everyone has the right to life and security. We can't have either life or security without a healthy environment. So, that's where the law comes in.

Environmental laws started really being developed in the middle of the last century. With more and more countries agreeing treaties international agreements there is greater willingness to engage in conversations about how to prevent environmental disasters.

Hasan, a climate lawyer from Bangladesh, explained some of the laws keeping the environment safe.

HasanThere are UN-sponsored international laws to deal with issues like climate change, Ozone layer depletion, protection of biological diversity, protection of international watercourses, protection of endangered species, regulation on persistent organic pollutants. There are also laws that are made by regional organisations, like the European Union targeting the European environment.