The aim of this article is to present regulations connected with environmental protection on examples three constitutions: Kingdom of Spain, Republic of India and Republic of the South Africa. The aspect of this research is to analyze abovementioned regulations in the context of duties connecting with environmental protection. It is also significant aspect indicated the possibility of constitute the subjective rights to the use of environment and asserting rights directly from culprit pollution in horizontal activity. In this article, considering derives from editorial construction and taxonomy discussing provisions contained in above basic laws. Furthermore, on selected examples from judicature and doctrine had been presented a stance in order to define, which of these constitutional regulations are obliged to protect rights’ properly in cases of environmental protection.

The constitutional principle of free enterprise vs the constitutional regulation of environmental protection

Therein paper adressed the presentation of the constitutional principle of free enterprise vs. environmental protection. The issue of both questions considerate on the constitutional norms of legal system. The proportionality issue, which is based on admission in the limited of above matters, was displayed on the selected examples from judicature and doctrine. On one side, paper illustrates primacy effect of the free of enterprise. On the other, lack of the legislative norms or partial regulations concerning with environmental protection, indicate the inability of realization environmental tasks effectively. It concludes that in certain cases free of enterprise evinces a farreaching value than environmental protection.

Polish-Czech relations in the field of natural sciences – a query in archival resources

The paper provides an overview of basic archival sources on the cooperation between the Czech and Polish researchers in the area of natural sciences, nature conservation and organisation of the first national Parks.

This article deals with the important issue of environmental awareness amongst youth in times of climate crisis. Environmental awareness has been measured basing on the currently dominant division into anthropocentrism and biocentrism, the main two positions on the place of man in nature, the value of nature, including its moral significance and the assessment of human impact on environmental safety. The results come from surveys conducted in 2018 and 2019 in Poland (in the city of Bydgoszcz) on high school students (approximately 18 years old). The research presents young people’s opinions on environmental protection, the role of man in relation to nature (identified as biocentric or anthropocentric), and the threats associated with the climate crisis. We also analyse how environmental awareness is influenced by the content of media messages. Our results show that the surveyed students declare biocentric/anti-anthropocentric beliefs more often than anthropocentrism, and this tendency was reinforced by the growing presence of discussions surrounding climate change and related threats in public discourse.

Dynamic changes in the European climate policy are aimed at a drastic reduction of CO2 emissions. The Union’s policy has several social, economic, and political consequences. Therefore, it is subject to assessment from the perspective of the legal order, including the constitutional order of the Member States. Therefore, a question arises as to the compliance of the “Green Deal” policy with the Polish constitution. It can be very troublesome to answer them positively. The EU policy is not only implemented in the interest of the whole world, and its effectiveness is uncertain, if only due to the need for cooperation of the entire international community. An additional challenge may be the quite evident departure from the principle of sustainable development in favor of climate protection. Although the given questions are troublesome, they deserve attention and noticing an apparent collision.

Protection of the future generations in the context of the climate neutrality goals in the jurisprudence of the Federal Constitutional Court in Germany

In this paper the impact of the current legal provisions in Germany, dedicated to achieving the goal of climate neutrality till 2050, on the human rights and freedoms of next generations will be investigated. An assumption for this reaserch task is a judgement of the Federal Constitutional Tribunal from 24 March 2021, related to the obligaton for the public authorities to provide the inter-generational justice in the framework of environmental policy. The aim of this paper is also to examine if the climate neutrality can receive a status of new, constitutional value in the German legal order.

On March 24, 2021, the First Senate of The German Federal Constitutional Court issued that part of the Federal Climate Change Act of December 12, 2019 (Federal Law Gazette I, p. 2513) must be deemed contrary to Basic Law. The fundamental reason underlying his conclusion was the failure of the federal legislator and the Federal Government to take suitable and prospectively sufficient measures to decrease greenhouse gasses (predominantly CO2) emissions. The Tribunal interpreted Art. 20a of the Basic Law, in conformity with the principle of intergenerational equity. By anchoring his reasoning in that concept, the Tribunal turned into an unclear and controversial path. It may serve to enhance radical political changes. However, on the other hand, it may also undermine the green change.

Gloss to Judgement of the Supreme Court of 28 May 2021, file ref. no. III CZP 27/20

The glossed resolution has a significant impact on the catalogue of legal measures for environmental protection. Since the personal and collective dimensions of environmental protection are not in conflict, and the related private and public interests are based on a common value as the environment, seeking protection of individual rights threatened or violated as a result of environmental impact may constitute an important means of indirect legal protection of the environment and its resources, competitive to direct measures taken in the public interest. However, the reasoning of the Supreme Court indicated in the justification of the resolution raises certain doubts and may have significant consequences for the manner of interpretation of the provisions of the environmental protection law system.

The Constitutional Obligation Pursue Policies Ensuring the Ecological Security of Current and Future Generations

The subject of the analysis in the publication is Art. 74 sec. 1 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland. According to this article, public authorities are obliged to pursue a long-term environmental policy that not only meets current needs, but also recognizes the right of future generations to live in a healthy environment. The publication contains a general discussion of constitutional regulations relating to the environment, and then presents the views of doctrine and jurisprudence within the scope of understanding the term “ecological security” used in Art. 74 sec. 1. The consequences of the obligation to conduct a policy ensuring ecological security for present and future generations were discussed. Finally, reference was made to current problems and challenges resulting from concern for the condition of the environment in Poland.

The European Union’s policy in the field of environmental protection aims to achieve a high level of protection of natural enivironment. This text concerns the problems of the European Union’s environmental policy. The author analyzes the tasks of the European Union in the field of environmental protection such as promotion methods that reduce the burden on the global base of natural resources, promotion sustainable resource management at international level and to implementation the program on sustainable consumption and production. Particular attention was given to priority objectives with precise presentation of means and methods to achieve these goals, indicated in the Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council on the 7th EU Environment Action Program.

The European Union law and related regulations implement the conceptual framework of the sustainable development, that manifests itself as a compromise between the environmental protection and public space development, addressing the social and civilisational development. Amongst the regulations governing that issue, the ban on the advertising that encourages to act in the manner causing environmental protection hazards, is particularly interesting. The Polish law and related regulations ban to promote goods or services including the content that publicises the consumption model that is in contravention with the environmental protection policy and sustainable development policy, including but not limited to the advertising with the use of the wilderness for the purpose of promoting goods and service that have adverse impact upon the natural environment. Ecological organisations are entitled to lodge the petition to ban that kind of promotion within the framework of the civil law court procedure.

Selected Aspects of Environmental Protection in the Jurisprudence of Administrative Courts

The subject of the study is the analysis of selected rulings of administrative courts in environmental protection. The analysis of selected rulings of administrative courts justifies the inadequacies in the process of the application of environmental law by authorised public administration bodies due to the lack of the desired specialist knowledge of complex environmental processes. The issue of environmental protection is still important and topical both from the point of view of the state and individual entities. We can observe that the issues of environmental protection are the subject of research of various scientific disciplines, including natural, economic and social sciences. The aim of the conducted considerations is to show selected problems related to environmental protection in the perspective of the judicial activity of administrative courts in Poland.

Axiological, Constitutional and Electoral Determinants of the Climate Policy Debate in Poland in 2023

The article presents the dispute over climate policy in Poland. The analysis covers the election documents of the committees from 2023 parliamentary election and the constitutional norms related to climate policy. The analysis was conducted on three levels: axiological, legal and electoral. Hypothesis H1 was tested: Constitutional norms influence the climate policy in Poland and H2: Election committees in the field of climate policy formulate goals that are desired by their own voters. As a result of the study conducted, hypothesis H1 was confirmed (most committees proposed solutions in line with the provisions of the Constitution). Hypothesis H2 was partially confirmed, as the climate protection solutions proposed by PiS were not in line with the values supported by the voters of this committee.