A normative approach to environmental governance: sustainability at the apex of environmental law

Abstract

Environmental law has become an amalgam of norms, principles and rules that affect the legal system in general. A central issue here concerns the relationship between these norms, principles and rules and the extent to which sustainability as a norm not only underpins the legal system but also functions as a rule. This chapter seeks to answer these questions. It does so by locating sustainability in the context of its history, contemporary environmental law and the concept of sustainable development, by defining the core idea of sustainability and by examining its legal nature and general importance for environmental law and the legal system in general.