International Environmental Law and the United Kingdom

• NCJ Number: 130127
• Journal: Journal of Law and Society Volume: 18 Issue: 1 Dated: special issue (Spring 1991) Pages: 155-173
• Author(s): R Churchill
• Date Published: 1991
• Length: 19 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Legislation/Policy Analysis
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom

Annotation

Four environmental issues discussed in this paper (global warming, protection of the ozone layer, acid rain, and waste dumping at sea) show a rather mixed record in terms of the United Kingdom's contribution to international environmental law.

Abstract

Emissions of chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) gases are controlled at the international level by the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer (1985) and the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (1987). The United Kingdom has ratified both the Vienna Convention and the Montreal Protocol. International efforts to deal with the greenhouse effect have focused on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change established in 1988. The Thatcher government took a strong interest in the question of global climate change, but real negotiations on CFC emissions have not begun. The first international legal step to deal with acid rain involved the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (1979). The United Kingdom participated in negotiations that led to the adoption of this convention and also played a role in negotiating an international sulfur dioxide protocol in 1985. Waste dumping at sea has been regulated at the international level in the North Sea and North Atlantic Ocean since 1972 by the Convention for the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping from Ships and Aircraft. The United Kingdom ratified this convention in 1975 and implemented it by means of the Dumping at Sea Act of 1974 which was subsequently replaced by the Food and Environmental Protection Act of 1985. The United Kingdom's record of compliance with the Berne Convention on wildlife conservation is reasonably good, although there are some deficiencies. In general, the United Kingdom has accepted international environmental obligations by the country's record in implementing them needs improvement. 41 notes and references