THE ROLE OF ENVIRONMENTAL LAW IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

Environmental law, as a developing branch of legal science, has been gaining in importance recently. As such, its primary task is to examine, define and clearly determine a number of terms in the field of environmental protection. Parallel to this, environmental law has another, seemingly even more important task at this point, which is to offer adequate legal solutions to prevent and stop further environmental degradation, as it is a burning issue in the present time. Sustainable development and environmental law are inseparably associated. Legal acts shall regulate the rules of conduct, among other things, in the field of environmental protection and sustainable development. There is a large number of international and national regulations which deal with the issue of sustainable development. As people obey legal regulations, either from their own beliefs about the correctness of behavior that a legal act requires, or out of fear of sanctions that can follow, it is clear that the regulations in the field of sustainable development represent a very important means which can act as a powerful corrective to undesirable behavior towards the environment. Key words: environmental law, sustainable development, legislation, environmental protection.