SUSTAINABILITY LAW

In the coming decades, more than ever before, society must make a transition to a low-carbon, circular economy with sustainable water management and the preservation and improvement of biodiversity. Law plays an important role in this transition process. After all, the UN agreements were also given legal frameworks in Article 11 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) in order to actually achieve the agreed objectives. According to this article, environmental protection requirements must be integrated into the definition and implementation of Union policies and activities, in particular with a view to promoting sustainable development. At the national level, following the UN Declaration of Rio de Janeiro, the Dutch government linked the theme of sustainable development to the theme of the environment. In accordance with Article 4.3 paragraph 1 of the Environmental Management Act, the government therefore adopts a national environmental policy plan every four years, which according to paragraph 2 of the same article ‘is aimed at a development that meets the needs of the current generation, without endanger future generations ‘ability to meet their needs.’