Research On The Swedish Environmental Law And Learning From Its Value

Environmental protection has long been an issue of importance in Sweden. It was one of the first countries in the world to realize the growing environmental problems and to include these on the country's political agenda. In 1972, Sweden hosted the UN Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm, which placed the environment on the international agenda and laid foundations for greater insight into environmental threats.For a long time, legislation has been the central tool with which principles of environmental policy have been transformed into practical measures. The principle of sustainable development has had an increasingly greater impact on both national and international environmental protection since the Brundtland Commission introduced it in 1987. At the UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio in 1992, the concept won recognition as a central point of departure for the future development of society. With the Amsterdam Treaty of 1997, the principle has been written into the EC constitution as one of the goals of the European Union.A succession of new and important instruments has been developed recently to drive environmental work in the right direction. Economic instruments, eco labeling, Agenda 21 and environmental management systems are just a few examples.For the concept of sustainable development to progress from being a general policy statement to a principle that can form the foundation ofconcrete demands for action, regulation in the form of legislation and its application is necessary. The previous environmental legislation was insufficient to tackle some of the environmental problems that have been pointed out in the vision of sustainable development. Primarily this is a question of pure economizing - the efficient use of both energy and other natural resources.One of the main ideas behind the environmental code reform has been to modernize and update environmental legislation. Gathering the central environmental laws into a code and effecting substantial systematic and juridical changes to them are just part of the reform. The fact that working with the code has encouraged a well-needed broadening and tightening of central legislation is probably of greater significance.Sweden' s ultimate vision in environmental work is the establishment of a sustainable society. Looking back on decades of achievements within major environmental problem areas - such as waste management, urban water and wastewater treatment, industrial pollution control, environmentally improved energy systems and the phasing out of ozone-depleting substances - Swedes are continually striving to get closer to that goal.Sweden has introduced an environmental code, following up on the effective environmental legislations developed over the years. With this, it becomes one of the first countries to consolidate environment regulations into a national policy statement. The Swedish Environmental Code was adopted in 1998 and entered into force 1 January 1999. The rules contained within 15 acts have been amalgamated in the Code. As many similar rules in previous statutes have been replaced with common rules, the number of provisions has been reduced. The Environmental Code is nonetheless a major piece of legislation. The Code contains 33 chapters comprising almost 456 sections. However, it is only the fundamental environmental rules that are included in the Environmental Code. Moredetailed provisions are laid down in ordinances made by the Government.The objective of the law was to protect the health of humans, environment and biodiversity. It aims at managing natural resources from an ecological, social, cultural and socio-economic viewpoint, and encourages recycling and reuse of materials.The Environmental law contains a number of general rules of application that assert, for example, the precautionary principle, polluter pays principle, product choice principle and principles regarding resource management, the ecocycle and suitable localization of activities and measures. Legislation acts as a preventive tool because it places binding demands on someone running a business or operation or is taking action to gain knowledge on the environmental effects of such activities and applies the principle that the risks of environmental impact should be borne by the polluter and not by the environment.It covers legislations to protect natural resources, flora and fauna, environment, people' s health and water. It also encompasses legislations for agricultural land management, genetically modified organisms, chemical products, pesticides, fuel quality, environmental damage and dumping of waste in water bodies.An important part of the Swedish environmental law concerns supervision and the duty of operators to self-control the environmental effects of their activities. Supervisory and licensing authorities have the power to base their decisions on these general rules of consideration concerning injunctions, bans, permit conditions etc. As a result, the content of these rules becomes much more concrete through regulations or decisions in each individual case.If an operation causes disturbance to the environment resulting in personal injury, property damage or financial loss, the operator is under a duty to pay compensation. However, compensation for simple financialloss (one not due to any offence) is only paid if the damage is significant. The Code provides new and strict regulation concerning the operators liability, requiring repair of polluted areas. Those who currently carry out an operation which causes pollution on land or water are liable for the repair of any environmental damage caused by the operation.The Swedish Environmental law greatly increases the risks run by those who harm the environment. It expands the concept of environmental crime. Environmental sanction charges can be levied directly by a government agency in charge of oversight, in cases where it notes an infringement. Fines or imprisonment may also be imposed.Under the Code, five new regional environmental courts have been established. The environmental courts grant operation permits for larger industrial installations and for activities in water (including groundwater). They also decide on environmental damages (property damage, personal injury and economic loss) caused by environmental pollution.In environmental protection practice, western developed countries like Sweden etc. set up the model for us and strengthen our confidence. Their successful experience is a human common wealth. The Swedish environmental law will give us the good research value and promote our country environment law system perfect.