Abstract
The international community is concerned about food security as a global issue. Economic, social, cultural, and environmental factors contribute to food security. The linkages between food security and environmental sustainability are inextricably linked. Sustainable food security requires a balanced environment. In contrast, efforts to achieve food security need to be environmentally friendly. Food security is regulated by several international environmental laws. In order to achieve sustainable food security, international environmental law needs to be implemented.
TopIntroduction
At the start of the 21st century, there were many parts of the world that suffered from poverty and were affected by the degradation of the environment as well as the depletion of natural resources. By the end of the decade, the world will have fallen into a far worse state than it is today. If something becomes less valuable or damaged as a result of degradation, it is said to be degraded. There are many ways in which the environment can be degraded. It is well known that habitat destruction, biodiversity loss, and depletion of natural resources are damaging to the environment. Degradation of the environment occurs both naturally and as a result of human activity. As of right now, the greatest problems are the loss of rain forests, air pollution, smog, ozone depletion, and damage to the marine environment. There is a widespread problem of pollution across the globe that has affected marine as well. Even remote areas have been affected by the degradation of marine life. The presence of hazardous waste in some of these locations has been reported. It has also been reported that oil spills caused environmental damage in other locations(Bullock et al., 2017).
Degradation of the environment will lead to aggravation of human beings and insecurity. changed over the past few decades. In the past, external threats have always been the main source of concern. The state security policy has therefore always been focused on protecting the nation. In the last decades of the 20th century, the concept of human security was transformed into one of “internal threats” by globalization. Security has increasingly become a global concern, and it has become more important to concentrate on individuals rather than states. Humanity is faced with a number of threats, such as the degradation of the environment, poverty, hunger, and endemic diseases such as the HIV/AIDS epidemic. such as the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Human security and quality of life can only be achieved when the basic needs of humans are met while enhancing the quality of the environment as a whole. The degradation of the environment is the result of a dynamic interest play between social, economic, institutional, and technological activities. As a result, the environment can be affected by a number of factors, including economic growth, population growth, urbanization, intensification of agriculture, and increased energy use. Poverty is linked to several environmental problems(Johnson & Walters, 2014).
The international community is still struggling with finding an effective solution to the problem of global food security. Preventing future food crises is paramount. A global solution is almost universally acknowledged. There are disagreements, however, about the specifics of these international solutions, and tensions continue to make it difficult for effective action to take place. Tensions between governments, international institutions, and scholars are evident in the competing policy prescriptions. In terms of the measures necessary to promote food security, states themselves act inconsistently and disagree. A number of overlapping branches of international law further exacerbate this dissonance by imperfectly promoting food security throughout the world. Norms relating to human security, refugee law, natural disaster law, international environmental law, and human rights all have something to say about the global food system. Agrarian reform, property tenure, agricultural patents, resource management, freedom of trade and investment, and population control are just some of the rules that are governed by these regimes. Nevertheless, nothing is a perfect fit (Nevitt, 2020).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Polluter Pays Principle: The polluter pays principle stands for the idea that “the environmental costs of economic activities, including the cost of preventing potential harm, should be internalized rather than imposed upon society at large.” All issues related to responsibility for environmental remediation costs and compliance with pollution control regulations involve this principle.
Equity: Defined by UNEP to include intergenerational equity - “the right of future generations to enjoy a fair level of the common patrimony” - and intragenerational equity - “the right of all people within the current generation to fair access to the current generation’s entitlement to the Earth’s natural resources” - environmental equity considers the present generation under an obligation to account for long-term impacts of activities and to act to sustain the global environment and resource base for future generations. Pollution control and resource management laws may be assessed against this principle.
Precautionary Principle: One of the most commonly encountered and controversial principles of environmental law, the Rio Declaration formulated the precautionary principle: To protect the environment, the precautionary approach shall be widely applied by States according to their capabilities. Where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of complete scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent environmental degradation. The principle may play a role in any debate over the need for environmental regulation.
Prevention: The concept of prevention can perhaps better be considered an overarching aim that gives rise to a multitude of legal mechanisms, including prior assessment of environmental harm, licensing or authorization that set out the conditions for operation and the consequences for violation of the conditions, as well as the adoption of strategies and policies. Emission limits and other product or process standards, the use of best available techniques, and similar techniques can all be seen as applications of the concept of prevention.
Public Participation and Transparency: Identified as necessary conditions for “accountable governments...industrial concerns,” and organizations generally, public participation and transparency are presented by UNEP as requiring “effective protection of the human right to hold and express opinions and to seek, receive and impart ideas...a right of access to appropriate, comprehensible and timely information held by governments and industrial concerns on economic and social policies regarding the sustainable use of natural resources and the protection of the environment, without imposing undue financial burdens upon the applicants and with adequate protection of privacy and business confidentiality,” and “effective judicial and administrative proceedings.” These principles are present in environmental impact assessment, laws requiring publication and access to relevant environmental data, and administrative procedures.
Transboundary Responsibility: Defined in the international law context as an obligation to protect one’s environment and prevent damage to neighboring environments, UNEP considers transboundary responsibility at the international level as a potential limitation on the sovereign state’s rights. Laws that limit externalities imposed upon human health and the environment may be assessed against this principle.