A/42/427
English
Page 339
ANNEXE 1
SUMMARY OF PROPOSED LEGAL PRINCIPLES
FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
ADOPTED BY THE WCED EXPERTS GROUP ON ENVIRONMENTAL LAW[note 1]
I. GENERAL PRINCIPLES, RIGHTS, AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Fundamental Human Right
1. All human beings have the fundamental right to an environment adequate for their health and well being.
Inter-Generational Equity
2. States shall conserve and use the environment and natural resources for the benefit of present and future generations.
Conservation and Sustainable Use
3. States shall maintain ecosystems and ecological processes essential for the functioning of the biosphere, shall preserve biological diversity, and shall observe the principle of optimum sustainable yield in the use of living natural resources and ecosystems.
Environmental Standard and Monitoring
4. States hall establish adequate environmental protection standards and monitor changes in and publish relevant data on environmental quality and resource use.
Prior Evironmental Assessments
5. States shall make or require prior environmental assessments of proposed activities which may significantly affect the environment or use of a natural resource.
- ↑ This summary is based on the more detailed leg,l formulations in the report to the Commission by the international legal experts group. (See Annexe 2 for a list of group members.) This summary highlights only the main thrusts of the principles and Articles and is not a substitute for the full text is published in Legal Principles for Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development (Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Martinus Nijhoft Publishers, in press).
