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SCIENCE AND LAW IN SUSTAINABILITY
Citation:
CLAGETT, M. SCIENCE AND LAW IN SUSTAINABILITY. Presented at Trans-Atlantic Research and Development Interchange on Sustainability, Estes Park, CO, September 10 - 13, 2006.
Impact/Purpose:
To inform the public
Description:
Understanding sustainability depends in large part on research in science and technology, subjects that provide basic knowledge about humankind's interaction with the natural environment and how much impact and development the environment can sustain without suffering irreparable damage. They also provide knowledge necessary for proposing policies designed to combat such damage and help create sustainable development. However, the emphasis on researching science and technology sometimes leads researchers to forget one of the foremost barriers to implementing policies of sustainable development - the law. Researchers studying sustainability must learn how to work within the legal environment and its accompanying constraints. That environment can include anything from a nation's constitution, its judiciary branch of government, or statutory laws passed by a legislative body. Legal institutions rarely acknowledge sustainability as a basis for laws or legal analysis, and often hinder acts useful to advance sustainable policies. Only by understanding how those legal institutions operate can researchers hope to further the study of sustainability within nations under the rule of law. This presentation will address basic differences in viewing sustainability from both the scientific and legal professions, and then will discuss several examples why sustainable policies have met with resistance from laws and legal institutions.