The Study On Environmental Interests

The time we live in is called "Environmental Time", and we are facing a series ofunprecedented environmental problems in this time. Common and widespreadenvironmental problems spawned a new type of interests-environmental interests.Law is a means to achieve the interests, so environmental protection law should be themeans to achieve environmental interests. However, what are environmental interests,regardless of academic writings or legal documents have not given explanation that isgenerally accepted by academia or the legal profession.As the new interests of environmental time, environmental interests are differentwith personal interests, property interests, order interests which are protected by civillaw or criminal law. Even to the essence of general interests we are familiar with,there are different understandings in philosophy, economics, ethics or sociology, andin law we have benefit, need, the relationship between subject and object, resourcesand other theory. This paper argues that the interests are combined of the usefulness ofthe object and the profitability of the subject. Interests exist because people haveneeds, interests from the people's needs.The subject of environmental interests is also different from the previous interests.The subjects of previous interests are citizens, legal persons, groups and countries,and the subject of environmental interests is human being. The subject benefittingfrom environmental interests is not individuals, or groups of people but the humanbeing setting the time and space in one of a collection of concept.So do the environmental interests also come from people's needs like the generalinterests? Environmental interests are not created by human being, not decided byhuman's needs. They are provided and decided by nature. Only the environmentwhich meets the human's needs could bring environmental interests. The reason thatenvironment we live in is called "the environment" is that it has a certain status, andwe call it environmental quality. Environmental quality is an objective existence, notin people's sense of presence, but people can describe and evaluate the environmentalquality by both qualitative and quantitative methods. Environmental quality is anobjective essential attribute of the environment; it can meet the needs of people atdifferent levels. Environmental interests are available to meet people by fitting in thepeople's need by the environmental quality. For the general interests, the interests ofthe people can be achieved or not, depending on whether the actual conditionsconsistent with the needs of the people. The environmental interests are not from thepeople's needs. Specific environmental quality created human being; people getenvironmental interests only when environmental quality can meet the people's needs.That means only specific environmental quality can meet environmental interests ofpeople. Precisely the destruction of environmental quality leads to the environmental problems; environmental quality is object of environmental destruction.In previous studies of environmental interests, the environmental interests tend tobe confused with environment-related interests, it is this confusion, hindering thepeople correctly understand the environmental interests. In fact, theenvironment-related interests are only personal interests, property interests and othertraditional interests with environmental factors. In the study of the environmentalinterests, we must always guard against misleading of the environment-relatedinterests.The protection object of environmental protection law is not the environment itself?but the human environmental interests?When people discuss environmental interests,they used to set the environment right way to achieve environmental interests. Andthere are actually a variety of environmental rights defective and can not achieve thepurpose of protecting the interests of the environment. Facing environmentalproblems, when the rights are no longer valid, we should turn to other solutions. Theroot cause of conflict between man and nature is limited natural resources can notmeet unlimited human desires. People can "limit" approach allows limited resourcesto meet unlimited desires. From a legal point of view, the constraints and limitationsof human behavior, there are two ways: one is to give people legal rights, and theother one is to impose legal obligations on people. When the right path does not work,it requires that all subjects have to bear a general obligation to protect theenvironment, to achieve environmental interests.Specific the ways to achieve environmental interests should be through distributionof "common but differentiated responsibilities." in terms of international law. On thedomestic law, you need a clear position on the substantive law of environmentalinterests and build total control system, environmental interest system main functionalareas, nature reserves system, the ecological compensation system, environmentallitigation and other legal protection regime.