Browsing by Subject "environmental law"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    Regulating contaminated land in order to identify, manage and cause the rehabilitation of contaminated land: a review of the legislative adequacy of South Africa's contaminated land regime
    (2020) Muller, Heinrich; Rumble, Olivia
    Land contamination remains a chronic threat to environmental integrity and human health, warranting scrutiny on the effectiveness of the domestic legal regime. South Africa has still to understand the full extent to which it will undermine the country's sustainable development goals and well-being of its population. Contaminated land impacts not only the environment, but it causes socio-economic impacts. In 2009, the National Environmental Management: Waste Act, 2008 (Act No. 59 of 2008) was enacted with a dedicated contaminated land regime (Part 8 of that Act). Given the importance of regulating contaminated land, a valuable analysis would be to determine whether Part 8 is legislatively adequately to enable the identification, management and rehabilitation of contaminated land. There is, however, a serious lack of information about the extent of land contamination in South Africa. This is evident from its the government's official reporting. There is also little information about the enforcement of the contaminated land regime itself and it is therefore difficult to measure its success. International studies have identified certain legislative best-practice elements for contaminated land regimes. These elements present a good yardstick against which to measure Part 8 of the Waste Act for purposes of determining whether it will enable the identification, management and rehabilitation of contaminated land. This study finds that while Part 8 contains some of the legislative best practices, it mostly falls short and various reforms are recommended.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Open Access
    Towards a workable renewable energy framework in South Africa
    (2010) Jooste, Dustin; Paterson, Alexander
    This dissertation aims to determine whether a workable legal framework for renewable energy (RE) exists in South Africa by comparing the country‘s existing policy and legislative frameworks in order to highlight strengths and weaknesses, and juxtaposing this overall position against contemporary foreign legislation from the United States in an effort to discern relevant and viable best practices. Key issues that are considered include: the Government‘s commitment to RE and energy efficiency; environmental protection and RE as drivers for social development; job creation and sustainable economic growth; the governance of and relevant institutions in the energy sector; public participation, education and access to information in terms of RE; and, finally, the use of market-based instruments for the support of RE in South Africa. The research found that South Africa‘s legal framework is largely on par with international best practice in terms of the above issues. Rather than a lack of substantive content in the legal framework, implementation and political commitment (buy-in) appears to be inadequate. However, issues on which South Africa‘s legal framework is found to be wanting include: a lack of binding RE targets and full costing in the energy sector; the Government‘s reluctance to enter public–private partnerships despite its current lack of capacity; and an almost unfettered executive discretion in terms of RE development and deployment. This dissertation concludes that the Government has failed to take a long term view of the energy sector, choosing, instead, to accomplish interim social upliftment through short-term utilization of coal power at the expense of the environment and future generations. This points to inadequate transparency and institutional accountability in the sector. Vague legislative mandates and a seeming lack of political will and insight in South Africa necessitates a comprehensive legislative review before RE can play a part in the future development of the country.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Open Access
    Using law to protect the earth: from Environmental Law to the rights of nature
    (2013) Cullinan, Cormac; Daniels, Gregory
    Since the adoption of the environmental right in section 24 of the Constitution and a range of subsequent environmental laws, many South Africans have faith that, if all else fails, the courts will protect the environment. The reality is more sobering. The City of Cape Town recently had an important Constitutional Court victory in the MaccSands case, but the Residents’ Association of Hout Bay unsuccessfully attempted to prevent the construction of a toll building in the Table Mountain National Park. The first lecture of this two-lecture course will explore both the possibilities and the inherent limitations of environmental law and litigation. For law students and conservationists interested in legal issues regarding the rights of nature.