In the system of social justices, five basic relations can be distinguished: (i) legal justice (Lat. iustitia legalis), (ii) contributive justice (Lat. iustitia contributiva), (iii) distributive justice (Lat. iustitia distributiva), (iv) commutative justice (Lat. iustitia commutativa), and (v) corrective justice (Lat. iustitia correctiva). For a comprehensive approach, we can add temporal justice, and spatial or territorial justice. These dimensions can be easily applied to sustainability, especially to intra- and intergenerational equity, fundamental morality, and responsibility for the long-term well-being of human society; they aim at the long-term sustainability of social, economic and environmental development. For the legislator, these can be transformed into sustainable legal standards like (i) long-term consequences, (ii) the protection of natural resources and the prevention of environmental damage, (iii) the reduction of inequalities and the provision of equal opportunities, (iv) the development of economic systems, and (v) the solution of global challenges and cooperation at the international level.

 

 

One of the core documents of environmental justice is the Rio Convention, formally known as the Convention on Biological Diversity, which was adopted in 1992 in the context of the United Nations.1 It recognises the right to development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs: this is a principle of intergenerational equity which may be the essential framework within which we can develop a legal understanding of sustainability. The objectives of the Convention, to be pursued in accordance with its relevant provisions, are the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources, including by appropriate access to genetic resources and by appropriate transfer of relevant technologies, taking into account all rights over those resources and to technologies, and by appropriate funding (Article 1). Each Contracting Party shall take (i) legislative, administrative or policy measures, as appropriate, to provide for the effective participation in biotechnological research activities, and (ii) all practicable measures to promote and advance priority access on a fair and equitable basis by Contracting Parties, especially developing countries, to the results and benefits arising from biotechnologies based upon genetic resources provided by those Contracting Parties. Such access shall be on mutually agreed terms (Article 19).