ENVIRONMENTAL COVENANT UPDATE

In a previous communication, Rodríguez Molnar & Asociados reported that our Senior Partner, Mr. Héctor Rodríguez Molnar, in his capacity as Secretary to the Board of Trustees of the Spanish Foundation for Environmental Law and Policy would be responsible for coordinating, organizing and overseeing, - in cooperation with the International Council of Environmental Law (ICEL) with seat at Bonn -  the meetings of the Committee for the Updating of the Draft International Covenant on the Environment and Development of the UN Commission on the Environment (the Covenant) that would be taking place in Madrid in the first semester of 2015 under the Presidency of Dr. Wolfgang  K. L. Burhenne. 

We are pleased to report that the First round of Meetings of the Committee of Experts entrusted with the task of updating the Covenant took place in Madrid on early March 2015. Committee members included recognized environmental experts such as Prof. Nicholas Robinson (Pace Law School and former member of the Legal Advisory Committee of the US President’s Council on Environmental Quality) and Dr. Ludwig Kramer (former EC Directorate General for the Environment).

The lengthy and fruitful sessions ended up with updates to a number of articles and, most important, with the addition of three significant articles dealing with (i) Non Regression of Substantive and Procedural Rules for Environmental Conservation, (ii) Air Quality and, (iii) Noise.

It was a great satisfaction for us to see that the Committee welcomed our Partner’s suggestion to add the article on Noise, a pollution factor that is going relatively unnoticed in the Spanish cultural environment, where noise is currently a hazardous but relatively tolerated part of our daily life.

The amendments will be followed by different additions to the Commentaries that go along with the Covenant as a way to facilitate the understanding as to the origin of the articles, their impact and the way in which they must normally be interpreted. The Committee will subsequently review the Commentaries and prepare the updated draft for a subsequent round of updates.

The Draft Covenant is a blueprint for an international framework (or umbrella) agreement consolidating and developing existing legal principles related to environment and development. Since the publication of the second edition in 2000, there have been important developments in the field of international environmental law. This revised edition takes account of these changes, following a review of important new treaties and soft law documents, including the Johannesburg Declaration and Plan of Implementation.

This publication serves as an authoritative reference and checklist for legislators, civil servants and other stakeholders worldwide when drafting new, or updating, existing policies and law.

The Draft Covenant was launched at the United Nations Congress on Public International Law, New York, 13-17 March 1995. Revised text presented on the occasion of the closing of the UN Decade of International Law, 54th session of the UN General Assembly, 17 November 1999. 3rd ed. presented on the occasion of the 59th Session of the UN General Assembly. Fourth edition was conveyed to the UN Member States on occasion of the High Level Event on Biodiversity on 22 September 2010 during the 65th UN General Assembly.