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Using Sustainability Criteria in Law

Received: 26 September 2013     Published: 10 November 2013
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Abstract

The purpose of the article is to raise interest for using sustainability criteria as a means to promote and safeguard sustainability for traded products and their production. The focus is put on how sustainability criteria can be efficiently used in legal constructions. Practical examples from the biofuel sector are provided.

Published in International Journal of Environmental Protection and Policy (Volume 1, Issue 4)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijepp.20130104.15
Page(s) 76-78
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2013. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Sustainability Criteria, Biofuels, Environmental Law

References
[1] The increase in consumers’ environmental awareness and their concerns about the environmental impact of the products they purchase have resulted in many companies realizing the potential of sustainable product development [Du Toit, B.- J. (2011), The effects of eco-labelling on consumer behaviour in the non-foods fast-moving consumer goods category: A study of South African consumers, p. 1, a thesis, Stellenbosch University.
[2] The aim of eco-labels can be described as to differentiate products on the basis of their environmental and social impacts, which enables consumers to make informed purchasing decisions. Eco-labels are intended to incentivize better practices by industry [Kirby, D., S., Visser, C., Hanich, Q., Assessment of eco-labelling schemes for Pacific tuna fisheries (2013), p. 1, in Marine Policy, accepted 13 May 2013, pp. 1 – 11].
[3] According to the definition suggested by Lewandowski, I. and Faaij, A. (2006), environmentally friendly standards, or sustainability standards, can be described as sets of criteria and indicators that describe the requirements a sustainable product or process has to fulfil [Lewandowski, I., Faaij, A. (2006), Steps towards the development of a certification system for sustainable bio-energy trade, p. 90, in Biomass and Bioenergy, 30 (2006), pp. 83–104].
[4] In comparison to traditional technical criteria that can be used to identify and specify the quality of a product, basing on the set of its physical parameters, sustainability standards provide detailed specifications, setting environmental and social characteristics for the production process itself, with clear reference to the main pillars of sustainable development [Daviron, B., Vagneron, I., From Commoditisation to De-commoditisation and Back Again: Discussing the Role of Sustainability Standards for Agricultural Products (2011), p. 91, in Development Policy Review, January 2011, vol. 29, issue 1, pp. 91-113].
[5] Directive 2009/28/EC on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources and amending and subsequently repealing Directives 2001/77/EC and Directive 2009/30/EC (on the quality of transport fuels) amending Directive 98/70/EC as regards the specification of petrol, diesel and gas-oil and introducing a mechanism to monitor and reduce greenhouse gas emissions and amending Council Directive 1999/32/EC as regards the specification of fuel used by inland waterway vessels and repealing Directive 93/12/EEC.
[6] This has been also called the carrying capacity of the biosphere, which must not be exceeded [Wackernagel, M., Schulz, N., B., Deumling, D., Linares, A., C., Jenkins, M., Kapos, V., Monfreda, C., Loh, J., Myers, N., Norgaard, R., Randers, J., Tracking the ecological overshoot of the human economy (2002), p. 9266, in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, July 2002 vol. 99, no. 14, pp. 9266–9271; Haberl, H., Fischer-Kowalski, M., Krausmann, F., Weisz, H., Winiwarter, V., Progress towards sustainability? What the conceptual framework of material and energy flow accounting (MEFA) can offer (2004), p. 200, in Land Use Policy 2004, vol. 21, issue 3, pp. 199–213; Kitzes, J., Wackernagel, M., Loh, J., Peller, A., Goldfinger, S., Cheng, D., Tea, K., Shrink and share: humanity’s present and future Ecological Footprint (2008), p. 467, in Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B, February 2008 vol. 363 no. 1491, pp. 467 – 475; Cairns, J., Threats to the Biosphere: Eight Interactive Global Crises (2010), p. 1911, in Journal of Cosmology, June 2010, vol. 8, pp. 1906 – 1915, Department of Biological Sciences, Virginia Polytechnic Institute].
[7] Lewandowski, I., & Faaij, A. (2004). Steps towards the development of a certification system for sustainable biomass trade-analysis of existing approaches. Utrecht University. Utrecht, the Netherlands; Smeets, E. M. W., Faaij, A. P. C., & Lewandowski, I. M. (2005). The impact sustainability criteria on the costs and potentials of bioenergy production. An exploration of the impact of the implementation of sustainability criteria on the costs and potential of bioenergy production applied for case studies in Brazil and Ukraine, p. 7.
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  • APA Style

    Evgenia Pavlovskaia. (2013). Using Sustainability Criteria in Law. International Journal of Environmental Protection and Policy, 1(4), 76-78. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijepp.20130104.15

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    ACS Style

    Evgenia Pavlovskaia. Using Sustainability Criteria in Law. Int. J. Environ. Prot. Policy 2013, 1(4), 76-78. doi: 10.11648/j.ijepp.20130104.15

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    AMA Style

    Evgenia Pavlovskaia. Using Sustainability Criteria in Law. Int J Environ Prot Policy. 2013;1(4):76-78. doi: 10.11648/j.ijepp.20130104.15

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijepp.20130104.15,
      author = {Evgenia Pavlovskaia},
      title = {Using Sustainability Criteria in Law},
      journal = {International Journal of Environmental Protection and Policy},
      volume = {1},
      number = {4},
      pages = {76-78},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijepp.20130104.15},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijepp.20130104.15},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijepp.20130104.15},
      abstract = {The purpose of the article is to raise interest for using sustainability criteria as a means to promote and safeguard sustainability for traded products and their production. The focus is put on how sustainability criteria can be efficiently used in legal constructions. Practical examples from the biofuel sector are provided.},
     year = {2013}
    }
    

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    T2  - International Journal of Environmental Protection and Policy
    JF  - International Journal of Environmental Protection and Policy
    JO  - International Journal of Environmental Protection and Policy
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    PB  - Science Publishing Group
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    VL  - 1
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    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Law Faculty, Lund University, Sweden

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