South African environmental law

South African environmental law describes the legal rules in South Africa relating to the social, economic, philosophical and jurisprudential issues raised by attempts to protect and conserve the environment in South Africa. South African environmental law encompasses natural resource conservation and utilization, as well as land-use planning and development. Issues of enforcement are also considered, together with the international dimension, which has shaped much of the direction of environmental law in South Africa. The role of the country's Constitution, crucial to any understanding of the application of environmental law, also is examined. The National Environmental Management Act (NEMA) provides the underlying framework for environmental law.

The National Environmental Management Act (NEMA) defines "environment" as the surroundings within which humans exist. These are made up of:

In addition, the Environment Conservation Act defines the environment as "the aggregate of surrounding objects, conditions and influences that influence the life and habits of man or any other organism or collection of organisms."

Jan Glazewski claims environmental law encompasses the following three "distinct but inter-related areas of general concern." They are:

"Not every legal norm relating to the environment," observes Rabie, "is regarded as constituting environmental law. Environmental law presupposes that the norm in question is aimed at or is used for environmental conservation."

"Environmental conservation" describes the conservation of natural resources and control of environmental pollution. This is done through a process known as "environmental management." Environmental-law norms relate to the management of the environment.

A few of the emerging international norms and concepts in environmental law are noted below, together in some cases with a discussion of their application in South Africa.

Sustainable development seeks to combat the idea that, while moving away from traditional sources of energy, civilisation would be forced to sacrifice growth, innovation, and progress. The 1983 World Commission on Environment and Development, convened by UN General Assembly, provided the most-cited definition of the concept: "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." This aspiration contains within it two key concepts:

The concept encompasses more than merely the environment, so for present purposes the focus should be on environmental sustainability: the goal of utilising the environment in a way which both meets human needs and ensures the environment's indefinite preservation.

NEMA defines "sustainable development" as "the integration of social, economic and environmental factors into planning, implementation and decision-making so as to ensure that development serves present and future generations." NEMA provides further that "sustainable development requires the consideration of all relevant factors including:

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