Enacting and developing international environmental law - Introduction to International Environmental Law - page 51

Traditional ecological knowledge
Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) of indigenous peoples has gained
ground in Western science and environmental decision-making. TEK refers
to knowledge drawn from centuries of continuous interaction with the envi-
ronment, generally handed down orally through generations. The knowledge
of indigenous peoples is practical as it is based on continuous observation of
the environment in practising a traditional livelihood, and this knowledge has
afforded them the ability to preserve game stocks for thousands of years. The
belief systems of indigenous peoples are also often central to sustainable develop-
ment, emphasizing the status of humans as part of the natural system instead of
human supremacy over nature.
Soft and hard law
A special characteristic of international environmental law is that many environ-
mental problems (such as land-based marine pollution, which is the greatest
cause of marine environmental problems) are regulated by non-binding soft-law
instruments which allow for quicker responses to international environmental
problems. Governments tend, for various reasons, to avoid legally binding treaty
regulation but they are often more willing to accept a written plan of action or
declaration, at least expressing a political will to solve a problem.
When making international agreements, the different constitutional require-
ments of multiple countries must be met: for example, the way in which the
national parliament will accept and implement a treaty. Such issues need not
be considered when using soft-law instruments. In many cases, governments
use soft-law instruments to test how they should relate to a new environmen-
tal problem or how a new environmental policy should be promoted before
proceeding to treaty negotiations.
The following example is a case in point. Under the auspices of the UN
Economic Commission for Europe, the various state actors considered how the
access of citizens and environmental organizations to decision-making related
to environmental matters could be promoted. In the Environment for Europe
Meeting in 1995, the ministers accepted the Sofi a Guidelines which paved the
way for the Aarhus 1998 Convention regarding access to information, public
participation and the right to appeal against environmental decisions.
In roughly the same way, a legally binding agreement was made on access to
genetic material and the fair distribution of the gains from it; ('genetic material'
refers to genetic material that is or can be valuable 8 ). Article 15 of the 1992
Biodiversity Convention outlined the general principles of the conditions for
exploiting genetic material in the country of origin and distributing the gains. The
sixth meeting of the parties of the biodiversity regime accepted the Bonn
Guidelines, which defi ned more specifi cally how Article 15 should function. They