Global Pact Negotiations: Building a Normative Framework for Ecological Sustainability in the Anthropocene1

Abstract

This paper examines the ongoing process towards a Global Pact for the Environment (GPE), launched by the UN General Assembly on 10 May 2018, and the extent to which it still could be instrumental in strengthening the normative and governance system of response to the challenges posed by environmental degradation in the context of sustainable development. The paper reviews the origins, evolution and current status of the process for a GPE, noting a setback to the process, which occurred in Nairobi on May 2019. Arguments stressing the value of a normative approach to the governance of the Earth system are weighed against States' preference for political action to ensure better implementation of existing norms. In its conclusive section, the paper makes the case for an integrative approach of policy and law in a global pact for the environment expressing the State's firm commitments to protect and restore the integrity of the Earth system.

The Legal Protection of Forests: Ethiopian Green Legacy vs. International Environmental Regimes

“…Likewise, efforts of UNEP to ease the fragmentation of forest provisions and lack of coherence or integration of approach among laws relating to water, forests, soils, and the marine environment through its institutions and sponsored programs, such as Program for the Development and Periodic Review of Environmental Law (the Montevideo Program), hasn't become fruitful due to its limited legal status and lack of political influence (UNEP, 2015). A similar trend continued on the international environmental pact debates leaving aside the intended convention and inclining to policy documents (Ruiz, 2020).…”