The Meaning of ‘Environmental Law’

The Meaning of ‘Environmental Law’

Environmental Law in Nigeria is describes as a body of rules and regulations which there objective is for the protection of the environment from pollution and wasteful depletion of natural resources and ensures sustainable development.

Environmental laws serve as a tool use by the government for ensuring that the environment we are living is conducive and protected. It is argue that environmental law has its own conceptual apparatus, in the sense that there is a set of principles and concepts which can be said to exist across the range of subjects covered in the definition of environment.

Although there is a valid debate about the extent to which these principles have gained universal acceptance as principles with meaningful legal effect, the process of establishing environmental law as an identifiable discipline has begun. Clearly these principles provide a theoretical context in which to view the detail of environmental law and thus it is important to stress that an environmental lawyer needs to understand the law in practice as well as the detailed rules in order to possess the tools required to carry out the task of solving particular problems properly.

One of the major Characteristics of the law and policy of environmental protection is that it evolves, constantly reflecting the various values and priorities which we place upon different aspects of environmental issues. This means that in recent years as environmental issues have gained in importance, we have seen a period of unprecedented rapid change. In a subject such as this where activities have to be planned reasonably far in advance, it is always helpful to know what is likely to happen in the future as well as what will be the law at the time.