Anita Boros, Gyula Koi (eds): Sustainability and Law

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3. Legal and administrative theoretical foundations of sustainability and environmental protection (László Vértesy)

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Boros Anita–Koi Gyula (eds) (2025): Sustainability and Law. : Akadémiai Kiadó. https://doi.org/10.1556/9789636641788Letöltve: https://mersz.hu/hivatkozas/m1353sal_800/#m1353sal_800 (2026. 01. 16.)

Chicago

Boros Anita, Koi Gyula, eds. 2025. Sustainability and Law. : Akadémiai Kiadó. https://doi.org/10.1556/9789636641788 (Letöltve: 2026. 01. 16.https://mersz.hu/hivatkozas/m1353sal_800/#m1353sal_800)

APA

Boros A., Koi G. (eds) (2025). Sustainability and Law. Akadémiai Kiadó. https://doi.org/10.1556/9789636641788. (Letöltve: 2026. 01. 16.https://mersz.hu/hivatkozas/m1353sal_800/#m1353sal_800)

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Over the last fifty years, sustainability has become progressively significant in global messaging—not only in the natural sciences but also in the social sciences, law, and public administration. With the world facing more severe environmental dilemmas, deepening social inequality, and a reframing of traditional economic growth, which also manifests in a drastic transformation of societal systems, it is time to alter how we envision the building of systems. The endpoints are clear: to establish ways of living and governing that meet the needs of people today without compromising the needs of future generations. Achieving this is a complex task in which legal regulation plays a key role.

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Boros A., Koi G. (eds) (2025). Sustainability and Law. Akadémiai Kiadó. https://doi.org/10.1556/9789636641788. (Letöltve: 2026. 01. 16.https://mersz.hu/hivatkozas/m1353sal_801/#m1353sal_801)

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The concept of sustainability is not new; Hans Carl von Carlowitz (1645-1714) introduced the term in 1713 in connection with modern forestry. As the chief mining administrator in Saxony, he approached forestry with concerns about a potential shortage of wood needed for the mining industry. In the book Sylvicultura oeconomica, he coined the term ‘Nachhaltigkeit,’ now translated as ‘sustainable,’ referring to the use of forests. He is considered the father of sustainable yield forestry.1 However, its application to the economy as a whole only appeared in the second half of the 20th century.

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Boros A., Koi G. (eds) (2025). Sustainability and Law. Akadémiai Kiadó. https://doi.org/10.1556/9789636641788. (Letöltve: 2026. 01. 16.https://mersz.hu/hivatkozas/m1353sal_805/#m1353sal_805)

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Gro Harlem Brundtland in Our Common Future (Brundtland report, 1987) defines sustainable development as “a development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the future ability of generations to meet their own needs. It contains within it two key concepts: (1) the concept of needs, in particular the essential needs of the world’s poor, to which overriding priority should be given; and (2) the idea of limitations imposed by the state of technology and social organisation on the environment’s ability to meet present and future needs.”2 So, sustainability is a state in which environmental, social, and economic processes can sustain themselves in the long term. The concept emphasises development by considering future generations’ needs so that current needs are met without reducing future opportunities. Although it has become one of the most frequently used concepts – alongside eco, green, bio, and smart – its meaning and applicability vary in different contexts.

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Boros A., Koi G. (eds) (2025). Sustainability and Law. Akadémiai Kiadó. https://doi.org/10.1556/9789636641788. (Letöltve: 2026. 01. 16.https://mersz.hu/hivatkozas/m1353sal_809/#m1353sal_809)

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Based on the definition above, three main dimensions of sustainability are also commonly mentioned. (1) The environmental dimension includes the sustainable and responsible use of natural resources, the protection of ecosystems, the conservation of biodiversity, the reduction of pollution and the fight against climate change. (2) The social dimension aims at equality, justice, cohesion, the distribution or access to resources, social cohesion, and human rights.3 (3) The economic dimension refers to the long-term viability and stability of economic systems while taking into account environmental constraints and issues of social equality, job creation, and poverty reduction. Another option is the thematic approach, see Pieraccini and Novitz’s locations by trade and companies;4 or Mauerhofer, Rupo, Tarquinio’s governance challenges, overconsumption, limits to growth, corporate responsibility, production, human rights, NGOs, biodiversity, biofuels, invasive species, seas, climate and energy, agriculture, food.5

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Boros A., Koi G. (eds) (2025). Sustainability and Law. Akadémiai Kiadó. https://doi.org/10.1556/9789636641788. (Letöltve: 2026. 01. 16.https://mersz.hu/hivatkozas/m1353sal_813/#m1353sal_813)

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These dimensions and issues are increasingly intertwined with legal regulation. In order to achieve sustainability goals, it is essential to transform the regulatory framework, which is provided by legal instruments. One of these is norm-setting, norm/law-making: in other words, regulation. Legal norms determine the framework within which economic and social activities take place. Many areas of public and/or administrative law, such as environmental law, nature conservation law, labour law, and consumer protection law, are all areas of law that directly or indirectly serve sustainability. In the framework of administrative law enforcement, authorities are responsible for granting permits (ex-ante control) and, during inspections, examining compliance with laws and sanctioning violations (ex-post control). Legal instruments can also be used to specify economic incentives that support environmentally friendly and socially responsible behaviour. These include tax breaks, subsidies, recently increasingly popular green loans, and ESG investments.6 Finally, various litigation procedures provide legal avenues for redressing environmental damage and social injustices.

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Boros A., Koi G. (eds) (2025). Sustainability and Law. Akadémiai Kiadó. https://doi.org/10.1556/9789636641788. (Letöltve: 2026. 01. 16.https://mersz.hu/hivatkozas/m1353sal_816/#m1353sal_816)

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Legal regulation and administration are indispensable tools for achieving sustainable development. The concept means much more than environmental protection; social and economic areas have also embraced it, as seen in sustainable development goals, sustainability certificates, sustainable use, utilisation, sustainable management, sustainable competition, sustainable energy management, sustainable budget, sustainable balance of payments, sustainable price stability, sustainable products and services or the sustainability graduation exam. Furthermore, sustainability is a dynamic phenomenon that poses constantly changing challenges to the legislator and administrator. This is supported by several recent phenomena, developments, the increasing frequency and intensity of climate change events, increasingly frequent and damaging, violent tornadoes, tsunamis, rains, floods, hot droughts. These require legal frameworks which are flexible to adapt to our ever-changing environments at the local and international levels. Coordinating global and regional legal regulations is also important, since sustainability issues concern cross-cutting problems, which cannot be resolved solely at the national level. For instance, to use the potential of the rapid development of information technology, using blockchain to document resource use, emission quota trading, and enhancing supply chains,7 legal frameworks must adapt to solve potential issues revolving around issues of data security and data governance. When examining the theoretical relationship between sustainability and law, several practical questions also arise. In the administration: application and enforcement of law, it is observed that achieving sustainability goals often conflicts with economic interests and short-term political goals. Last but not least, the important, active (or passive, abstaining) role of the subjects of law, citizens, private individuals, companies, and other legal entities is extremely emphasised, if not the most important.

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Boros A., Koi G. (eds) (2025). Sustainability and Law. Akadémiai Kiadó. https://doi.org/10.1556/9789636641788. (Letöltve: 2026. 01. 16.https://mersz.hu/hivatkozas/m1353sal_819/#m1353sal_819)

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Several theoretical frameworks are available for examining the relationship between sustainability and law. For this chapter, (i) natural law, (ii) legal positivism, and (iii) moral philosophy play an important role in understanding the legal dimension of sustainability. Despite the theoretical and practical challenges, law plays a central role in promoting sustainable development, allowing future generations to create a liveable and healthy environment. In St. Thomas Aquinas’ formulation, law (Lat. ius) is the moral power to possess something that is justly due to us, or to demand, do, or refrain from doing, and to stand up for someone or something, free from the interference of others. Law, act (Lat. lex) is the order of reason aimed at the common good, some kind of rule or measure of actions that prompts a person to act or restrains him from acting.8

1	“Wird derhalben die gröste Kunst/Wissenschaft/Fleiß/ und Einrichtung hiesiger Lande darinnen beruhen / wie eine sothane Conservation und Anbau des Holtzes anzustellen/daß es eine continuirliche beständige und nachhaltende Nutzung gebe / weiln es eine unentberliche Sache ist/ohne welche das Land in seinem Esse [im Sinne von Wesen, Dasein, d. Verf.] nicht bleiben mag.” “Therefore, the greatest art, knowledge, diligence, and organization of these lands will consist in how to establish such conservation and cultivation of timber that there is a continuous, steady, and sustainable use, because it is an indispensable thing without which the land cannot remain in its essence [in the sense of being, existence, ed.].” Carlowitz, H. C. (1713). Sylvicultura Oeconomica, oder haußwirthliche Nachricht und Naturmäßige Anweisung zur wilden Baumzucht. [Sylvicultura Oeconomica, or domestic information and natural instruction for wild tree cultivation]. (Leipzig:Johann Friedrich Baum). 105-106. ISBN no. (16), 414. [i.e./recte 430, 24.].
2	Harlem Brundtland, G., Khalid, M. (1987). Our common future. (Oxford:Oxford University Press). 383. ISBN 9780192820808 Chapter 2: Towards Sustainable Development. Gro Harlem Brundtland (1939 -), former Prime Minister of Norway, president of the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/5987our-common-future.pdf Caradonna, J. L. (2022). Sustainability: A history. Oxford University Press. 352. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780197625026.001.0001 Print ISBN: 9780197625026 Online ISBN: 9780197625064
3	Ekardt, F. (2024). ‘Ethics and Law of Sustainability - Especially of Freedom, Human Rights, Democracy, and Balancing in a Reinterpreted Perspective.’ In: Ekardt, F., Sustainability. Transformation, Governance, Ethics, Law (Cham:Springer). 113-230. ISBN 978-3-031-62713-2 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-62711-8; Ekardt, F. (2019). Sustainability: transformation, governance, ethics, law. (Cham:Springer). 317. ISBN: 3030192776 (ISBN10) ISBN: 9783030192778 (ISBN13)
4	Pieraccini, M., Novitz, T. (ed.) (2020). Legal perspectives on Sustainability. (Bristol: Policy Press). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1332/policypress/9781529201000.001.0001 Print ISBN: 9781529201000 Online ISBN: 9781529201048
5	Mauerhofer, V., Rupo, D., Tarquinio, L. (eds.) (2020). Sustainability and Law. General and Specific Aspects. (Cham:Springer International Publishing). xi, 773. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42630-9 Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-42629-3 Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-42632-3 e-Book ISBN: 978-3-030-42630-9
6	Boros A., Nagy V., Tőzsér D. (2023). Perspectives by green financial instruments – a case study in the Hungarian banking sector during COVID-19. Banks and Bank Systems, 18(1) 116-126. URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.21511/bbs.18(1).2023.10 (accessed: 28 October 2024).
7	Parmentola, A. et al. (2022). ‘Also blockchain able to enhance environmental sustainability? A systematic review and research agenda from the perspective of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).’ Business Strategy and the Environment, 31(1)194-217. URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.2882; (accessed: 28 October 2024). Stuit, A., Brockington, D., Corbera, E. (2022). ‘Smart, commodified and encoded: Blockchain technology for environmental sustainability and nature conservation.’ Conservation & Society, 20(1) 12-23. URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/27100578 (accessed: 28 October 2024)
8	St. Thomas Aquinas (1274) [1911]. Summa Theologiæ. (Cincinatti (OH): RCL Benzinger). URL:http://www.logicmuseum.com/wiki/Authors/Thomas_Aquinas/Summa_Theologiae/Part_IIa/Q95 (accessed: 28 October 2024). I-II. Q. 90. a. 1. and Iª- IIae q. 95 a. 2 co. “Unde omnis lex humanitus posita intantum habet de ratione legis, inquantum a lege naturae derivatur. Si vero in aliquo, a lege naturali discordet, iam non erit lex sed legis corruptio.” [“Consequently every human law has just so much of the nature of law, as it is derived from the law of nature. But if in any point it deflects from the law of nature, it is no longer a law but a perversion of law.”].