Dossier on Environmental Public Policy in Portugal – Editorial

Editorial

Abstract

Environmental protection is a relatively new objective in the long history of the planet—and of the law. It is only since the 1970s that environmental policy has gained ground and prominence in the actions of states, both at national and international level. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) was established in 1972, following the Stockholm Conference organised by the United Nations, and since then its work in coordinating environmental protection initiatives worldwide has become increasingly prominent — though not with the desired effectiveness. In 1988, together with the World Meteorological Organisation, it proposed to the UN General Assembly the creation of the International Panel on Climate Change, with a view to producing an in-depth report on global climate change, studying the social and economic impacts of such changes, and drafting the text of an International Convention dedicated to the subject. That Convention came into being in 1992 (in force since 1993) and today forms the cornerstone of international policy instruments for climate change management, notably the Paris Agreement (2014, in force since 2016), which is omnipresent in all national and international policies relating to environmental protection and epitomises the great civilisational challenge of the 21st century.