DEALING WITH THE EMERGING TRIPLE PLANETARY CRISES: THE IMPERATIVE OF EFFECTIVE LEGAL RESPONSE

Abstract

The triple planetary crises of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution have emerged as significant threats to the global environment. Their interconnected challenges pose grave and unprecedented danger to the ecological balance, global stability and the whole gamut of human rights, necessitating immediate and comprehensive action. Addressing these intertwined crises requires, among others, effective and coordinated legal intervention at international, domestic and corporate levels. Available legal frameworks relating to environmental protection are rather inadequate, often fragmented and inefficiently enforced. Current international treaties, national regulations, and their implementation mechanisms have not been able to catch up with the speed and rate of environmental degradation driven by anthropogenic activities across the globe. The emerging triple planetary crises are beyond the contemplation of the existing legal instruments which now lack the necessary integration and enforcement to effectively mitigate them. This paper therefore, seeks to identify, and understand how law can evolve and be restructured to provide more robust solutions. It analyses major international treaties and agreements like the New Paris Agreement and Convention on Biodiversity, national and local legislations regarding environmental protection. It further explores the imperative of corporate environmental responsibility, stressing the exigency of stringent legal standards and enforcement procedures. The paper concludes that a holistic and cohesive legal response is crucial to navigate the complexities of the triple planetary crises. It recommends enhanced international cooperation, stronger corporate accountability, careful integration of scientific insights into legal processes, and adoption of right-based strategies, to drive transformative change in the campaign for healthy and sustainable environment.