Justice and Accountability as a Basis for Sustainable Development – the Case of International Environmental Law

The right to environment is one of the fundamental rights of the individual and collective rights. Hence, the legal environmental protection also requires ethical and economic elements that are derived from the precautionary principle. Its assessment should always be interpreted in the context of the cultural changes taking place to promote new aims and values. Because of that, nowadays legal environment protection is combined with the principle of sustainable development, which requires foresight in anticipating the possible consequences of human activities. Given the intensive development of technologies based on the use of living biological systems, the issues of intergenerational justice are complicated. Sustainable development policy, solving problems of resource use and taking into account the integrity of the nature’s various elements, requires education and development of environmental ethics which should be understood as restrictive ethics, i.e. the choice and willingness not to abuse available resources. This ethics consists of accountability and respect for future generations which also have the right to inherit the environment that fits for life and that provides opportunities for development.