WHAT IS ENVIRONMENTAL LAW? | MARTINS LIBRARY

In essence, to accede or ratify an IEL, the acceding or ratifying nation must have municipally appreciated the treaty. This is why third word countries find it difficult to ratify the climate change treaty because the issue of depletion of stratospheric ozone layer is a creation of industrialized western world. Third world countries, on this issue, often insist on debt-for-nature swap (that is waving their debts in other to comply) and creation of world-atmospheric-fund (that is raising a separate purse for atmospheric matters  in order to comply with the treaty which they feel would stall their developing as the western world). ⁵⁸

Similarly, when Nigeria made the municipal law, FEPA 1988, nobody complained because there were state sanitation authorities doing similar jobs; but if National Assembly were to legislate that every day, every Nigerian would do ablution three times as environmental and or personal hygiene, majority of the southerners, especially Christians, would honour it in breach because the subject or issue is alien to them.

In essence, both international environmental and Nigerian environmental law mutually influence and affect the development of each other.

The third noticeable comparison is that both laws often start in wishy-washy forms before attaining full and accalaimable heights. For instance, none of the fishery treaties of pre1945 era had a near universal application. Even, after 1945, no IEL was of near universal application until Rio declaration. Similarly, before the first environmental law in Nigeria (the Harmful waste Decree) aspects of environmental related provisions were scattered in our laws, here and there; and their penalties and enforcement were scattered and laughable.

Then, according to Analysis:

            Prior to the establishment of (FEPA) Agency, the structure of the Federal protection of the environment was predicated on ministries and departments of government which were expected to deal with environmental problems related to their ministries functions. Thus, environmental protection was only an incidental protection function in the performance of the primary duties of these ministries and department. ⁵⁹

Abroad to be a crime within a legal system. The legislating state, cannot, however, exercise such powers of arrest and trial in the territory of a state other than its own without the consent of that state ⁶¹. this is where the ultimate cooperation of  state parties to international environmental laws is needed so that foreign nationales who run global corporations emitting pollutions in any country could be taloned by their state of origin and prosecuted in view of the fact that they always bribe the government of their state of operation to keep mute.

In the same way an International Criminal Court can issue arrest warrants on even a serving state president for genocide, it can be extended against even a serving president who blocks extradition of environmental law criminal. Thus, necessary new extradition treaty could be made and international environmental law tribunal could be set up because there are more than 1000 treaties in existence today; and no other area of law has generated such as large body of conventions on a specific topic.” ⁶².

Fifthly, the present ongoing Rio ⁺ 20 earth conference should be used to access real compliance with Rio declarations and to disseminate research findings in the area of environmental technology and especially as concerning air pollution because it appears to be the most hazardous aspect of the environmental degradation. The horror of air pollution is captured Dr. E.O. Akanki ⁶³ thus:

Human experience reveals that it is the drama of death by air pollution that stirs up society to control efforts. But air pollution is also a slow poison, a silent killer. When air contaminants are low, the effort on human health is not immediate but cumulative. Therefore, serious damage may be done health wise long before it is noticed. As in the case of the cadmium poisoning in Japan in 1950, the brewing damage may take years ‘before it rears its head in a severe disease and ultimately death in susceptible victims. The cumulative affect of air pollution in man may result in “birth defect”, “reproductive disfuntions”, “genetical mutations” and “ieurological disorders”.