The "throwaway society" and the resulting effect on the environment combined with the
exploitation of natural resources have resulted in a global environmental crisis. As a
response to this crisis a concept developed that is known as sustainable development
(SD). The concept of SD that is accepted world-wide is guided by a set of principles
(Agenda 21) that had been officially launched at the United Nations Conference on
Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. After the 1994 political
transition in South Africa the government implemented widespread environmental policy
and law reforms as a response to the global environmental crisis and the global trend
towards SD.
This study was undertaken to assess the existing environmental management (EM)
principles within environmental policy and law in South Africa. EM in South Africa
operates within the framework of Integrated Environmental Management (IEM) but it
was discovered during the study that there are not only one set of EM principles but a
few within South African environmental policy and law. This study attempted to identify
and sort these different sets of principles and then to measure it against the
international standard of Agenda 21. It was concluded that EM in South Africa within
the framework of IEM is an adequate response to the world-wide trend towards SD.
Unfortunately the outcome that was hoped for in South Africa was slower than
anticipated. It didn't seem as if the environmental law and policy reforms had an impact
at grassroots level. Two possible scenarios were presented (1) it's failure to be
effectively implemented at grassroots level or (2) that the principles of SD in itself are
unsound and therefore ineffective. It was concluded that some of the normative
assumptions of SD are unsound and contribute to the environmental crisis. The
approach of Christian stewardship was presented as a possible alternative. / Thesis (M. Environmental Science)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2004.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:NWUBOLOKA1/oai:dspace.nwu.ac.za:10394/344 |
| Date | January 2003 |
| Creators | Lindeque, Roelof Cornelius |
| Publisher | North-West University |
| Source Sets | North-West University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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