The Position of the Sustainable Development Principle in the Legal Order of the Czech Republic and in the Framework of the Vietnam Act on Environmental Protection

Abstract

The principle of sustainable development, expressed, inter alia, in the “Earth Charter” and “Agenda 21”, approved at the UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro in June 1992, has become a motto and a basis for many countries in planning and defining their development policies. Sustainable development can be interpreted as a way of developing human society that reconciles economic growth and social progress with the preservation of the environment in order to meet the needs of future generations. Environmental protection is part of this principle and cannot be separated from it. Our paper examines the position of the principle of sustainable development within the legal order of the Czech Republic and in terms of the Vietnam Environmental Protection Law; at the same time, it analyses, compares and evaluates approaches to the implementation of the principle of sustainable development in the above-mentioned legal systems.