natural science

1. PRINCIPLES AND LAW
OF ENVIRONMENT
GROUP - 5

2. What is Environmental Law?
• Environmental law is the law relating to environmental problems. A complex
and interlocking body of statutes, common law, treaties, conventions,
regulations and polies
• Strongly influenced by environmental legal principles, that focus on the
management of specific natural resources, such as forest, minerals, or
fisheries.
• Purpose of the reducing or minimizing the impacts of human activity, both on
the natural environment for its own sake, and on humanity itself

3. Areas of Concern
 Air quality and water quality
 Global climate change
 Agriculture
 Biodiversity and species protection
 Pesticides and hazardous chemicals,
 Waste management and remediation of
contaminated land
 Management of public lands and natural
resources

4. SEVEN ENVIRONMENTAL PRINCIPLES
These “seven lenses” are as follows:
Nature knows best.
 All forms of life are equally important.
Everything is connected to everything else.
Everything changes.
Everything must go somewhere.
 Ours is a finite Earth.
Nature is beautiful and we are stewards of God's creation.

5.  Nature Knows Best
• This principle is the most basic and in fact, encompasses all the others. Humans have to understand nature
and have to abide by the rules nature dictates. In essence, one must not go against the natural processes if
one would like to ensure a continuous and steady supply of resources.
• One natural process that needs serious attention is nutrient cycling. In nature, nutrients pass from the
environment to the organisms and back to the environment. Any disruption in the cycle can bring about
imbalance.
 All Forms of Life Are Important
• Each organism plays a fundamental role in nature. Since such occupational or functional position, otherwise
known as a niche, cannot be simultaneously occupied by more than one species, it is apparent that all living
things must be considered as invaluable in the maintenance of homeostasis in the ecosystem.
 Everything is connected to everything else
• This principle is best exemplified by the concept of the ecosystem. In an ecosystem, all biotic and amniotic
components interact with each other to ensure that the system is perpetuated. Any outside interference may
result in an imbalance and the deterioration of the system.

6.  Everything Changes
• It is said that the only permanent thing is change. As a general classification, change may be linear, cyclical, or
random.
• The environment is constantly changing. Organisms also evolve through time. However, man’s technology has
affected these natural changes often to a problematic extent. Although mutation is a natural change, pesticides
have induced insect mutations, which are not matched by natural checks and balances.
 Everything must go somewhere
• When a piece of paper is thrown away, it disappears from sight but it does not cease to exist. It ends up
elsewhere. Gases released in smokestacks may disperse but it will end up a component of the atmosphere or
brought down by rains. What a particular type of waste does to the earth's repository should be of concern to us.
It may be a pollutant or a resource depending on certain factors.
• Since wastes are not lost to oblivion, and even goes back to one's own backyard in some other forms, one
becomes aware of the different types of wastes – whether they are hazardous or not. Classification of wastes
facilitates their proper disposal and minimizes, if not prevents, the entry of toxic wastes in vital ecosystems and
ensures .

7.  Ours is a finite earth
• The earth’s resources can be classified as either renewable or non-renewable. Renewable resources are those
that can easily be replenished by natural cycles (e.g. water, air, plants, and animals) while non-renewable
resources are those that cannot be replenished through natural cycles (e.g. ores of various metals, oil, coal).
• Although renewable resources can be replenished, it is important to note that these are renewable only as long
as they are not overused nor destroyed from such factors such as pollution.
 Nature is beautiful and we are stewards of God's creation
• Among all creatures, humans are the only ones made in God's image and have been given the right to have
dominion over all His creations. Being the most intelligent and gifted with reason, humans are capable of
manipulating creation to their own advantage. Yet, creation exists not to be ravaged or abused but to be taken
care of. Humans cannot exist without nature. They are co-natural with the environment they live in.

8. PHILIPPINE
ENVIRONMENTAL
LAWS
It is interesting to note that natural resources had been stored virtually untouched in the
earth for millions of years. But since the start of industrial evolution vast amounts of these
resources had been exploited within a period of just a couple of hundreds of years at
unimaginable rates, with all the waste from this exploitation going straight in the environment
(air, land, water) and seriously damaging its natural processes.

9. PHILIPPINE ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS
1. R.A. 9003 – ECOLOGICAL SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT ACT OF 2000
• Ecological Solid Waste Management Act Of 2000 is an act providing for an ecological solid waste management
program, creating the necessary institutional mechanisms and incentives, declaring certain acts prohibited and
providing penalties, appropriating funds therefor, and for other purposes. This describes solid waste
management as a discipline associated with the control of generation, storage, collection, transfer and transport,
processing and disposal of solid wastes
 THE 6 Rs of SUSTAINABILITY
Rethink/Reinvent : consider and question consumption habits
Refuse: make the choice to not generate waste
Reduce: make decisions that decrease the amount of waste produced
Re-Use/Repair: expand the shelf-lives of products
Recycle: reclaim the raw materials
Replace/Rebuy: next time consider recycled and green content

10. MATERIAL RECOVERY FACILITITY
• According to ecomena.org, a Material Recovery Facility (MRF) is a building to receive, sort, process, and store
recyclable materials to be shipped and marketed to end-users. A materials recovery facility accepts materials,
whether source separated or mixed, and separates, processes, and stores them for later use as raw materials
for remanufacturing and reprocessing.
• The main function of the MRF is to maximize the quantity of recyclables processed while producing materials
that will generate the highest possible revenues in the market. MRFs can also function to process wastes into a
feedstock for biological conversion or into a fuel source for the production of energy.
2. R.A. 8794 – PHILIPPINE CLEAN AIR ACT OF 1999
• is an act providing for a comprehensive air pollution control policy and for other purposes. The Clean Air Act
provides that the state shall:
• Protect and advance the right of the people to a balanced and healthful ecology in accord with the rhythm
and harmony of nature;
• Promote and protect the global environment while recognizing the primary responsibility of local government
units to deal with environmental problems;
• Recognize that the responsibility of cleaning the habitat and environment is primarily area based;
• Recognize that “polluters must pay”;
• Recognize that a clean and healthy environment is for the good of all and should, therefore, be the concern
of all.

11. 3. R.A. 9275 – PHILIPPINE CLEAN WATER ACT OF 2004
• aims to protect the country’s water bodies from pollution from land-based sources (industries and commercial
establishments, agriculture, and community/household activities). It provides for a comprehensive and integrated
strategy to prevent and minimize pollution through a multi- sectoral and participatory approach involving all the
stakeholders.
• It is stated that the state shall pursue a policy of economic growth in a manner consistent with the protection,
preservation, and revival of the quality of our fresh, brackish, and marine waters. It shall be the state policy to
streamline processes and procedures in the prevention , control abatement of pollution of the country’s water
resources, promote environmental strategies, use of economic instruments and control mechanisms for the
protection of water resources, and provide for a comprehensive management program for water pollution
focusing on pollution prevention.
4. R.A. 6969 – TOXIC SUBSTANCES AND HAZARDOUS AND NUCLEAR WASTES CONTROL ACT
OF 1990
• This Act stated that it is the policy of the state to regulate, restrict or prohibit the importation, manufacture,
processing, sale, distribution, use, and disposal of chemical substances, and mixtures that present
unreasonable risk and/or injury to health or the environment. And to prohibit the entry, even in transit, of
hazardous and nuclear wastes and their disposal into the Philippine territorial limits for whatever purpose; and to
provide advancement and facilitate research and studies on toxic chemicals.

12. 5. R.A. 9147 – WILDLIFE RESOURCES CONSERVATION AND PROTECTION
• This law stated that it shall be the policy of the state to conserve the country’s wildlife resources and their habitats
for sustainability.
This act shall have the following objectives:
1. to conserve and protect wildlife species and their habitats to promote ecological balance and enhance
biodiversity
2. to regulate the collection and trade of wildlife, to pursue, with due regard to the national interest; and
3. to initiate or support scientific studies on the conservation of biological diversity

13. PHILIPPINE COMMITMENT TO CLIMATE ACTION
As one of the world’s most vulnerable nations, the Philippines is strongly committed to addressing the threat of
climate change. It is a party to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and a signatory to the
Kyoto Protocol, which set targets for the reduction of global greenhouse gas emissions.
To meet its national development goals and international commitments, the government established crucial legal
and institutional frameworks for climate mitigation and adaptation in the country. Guided by these laws and
strategies, climate change mitigation and disaster risk reduction measures have been included in the Philippine
Development Plan for 2017-2022.
Amidst of the number of environmental laws and initiatives we have in this country to protect the source of our living
or to protect the environment, at the end of the day, it is also our responsibility to do our action to save our
environment not just wait for the mandate of the government because our life depends on the state of the
environment.