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chapter 2 Transboundary Environmental of in the

Louis J. Kotzé

1 Introduction

Today’s Earth scientists believe that we might have crossed over from the Holocene epoch into what they term the “Anthropocene” epoch. While it still has to be formally classified as a new geological epoch,1 the term Anthropocene informally denotes a new time in geo-ecological history where people, through the introduction of biophysical factors into the , are changing the parameters that determine the functioning of all Earth sys- tem processes.2 Essentially, the argument is that we have left the Holocene interglacial phase,3 a “stable” epoch that was characterized by extraordinarily good living conditions that enabled the development of modern societies in a world of 7 billion people.4 The recently perceived Holocene-Anthropocene boundary thus separates a more harmonious Holocene epoch from the current

* Parts of this chapter are based on Louis J Kotzé, Global Environmental Governance: Law and Regulation for the 21st Century (Edward Elgar, 2012). 1 In terms of the geological time scale, the Anthropocene unofficially signals a new epoch that follows the Holocene and it might be officially adopted in future among others by the International Commission on Stratigraphy as part of the geological time scale. It will then join the Cambrian, Jurassic, Pleistocene and Holocene as an official unit of the geological time scale. See further Jan Zalasiewicz and others, ‘The New World of the Anthropocene’ (2010) 44 and Technology 2228–2231. 2 Simon Dalby, ‘Ecology, Security, and Change in the Anthropocene’ (2007) XIII(2) The Brown Journal of World Affairs 155–164, at 157. 3 The Holocene started approximately 12 000 years ago and was characterized by stable and temperate climatic and environmental conditions which have (mostly) allowed human beings to develop and flourish. Erik Swyngedouw, ‘Whose Environment? The End of Nature, Change and the Process of Post-Politicization’ (2011) XIV(2) Ambiente & Sociedade Campinas 69–87, 69. 4 UNEP, ‘GEO5-Global Environment Outlook: Environment for the Future We Want’ (2012) 195 accessed 7 April 2014.

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ���4 | doi ��.��63/978900427389_�03 governance of biodiversity in the anthropocene 13 human-dominated and as a result unstable Anthropocene, which is much less conducive to sustaining life on Earth. One of the challenges of the Antropocene is that it requires of people to develop resilience to finite-planet vulnerabilities,5 and through their institu- tions of law and governance, among other social interventions, to adequately respond to anthropogenic ecological changes that will severely affect all life on Earth or, as some predict, possibly even lead to a mass extinction event.6 To avoid “critical tipping points”7 in the Earth system that might lead to rapid and irreversible change, the Anthropocene goes to the heart of issues of survival and the continuation of life by means of preventive, mitigation, and adapta- tion strategies through our broader social structures including economics, pol- itics, culture, religion, and more specifically, our legal structures. It is an urgent call for unprecedented regulatory intervention, simply because people cannot remain oblivious to the risk of human-induced ecological disasters ranging from continental to planetary scales.8 The precipitously increasing human imprint on the environment, as sug- gested by the notion of the Anthropocene, is particularly visible in our accelerating growth, increased , rapidly declining non-renewable resources such as coal and oil, , increased emis- sions of sulphur, nitrogen and greenhouse gasses; the transformation and disruption of vast land surfaces; changing cycles; wide-spread spe- cies extinction; and importantly, for present purposes, .9 Biodiversity is essential to sustain human and non-human life on Earth, to maintain ecosystem integrity and health, and to ensure the stability and resili­ ence of other Earth systems. This is particularly evident from the text of the Convention on Biological Diversity 1992 (CBD), which states in its preamble that biodiversity is crucial for evolution and for maintaining life-sustaining sys- tems of the biosphere; that biodiversity has intrinsic ecological, genetic, social,

5 Michael R Raupach and Josep G Canadell, ‘Carbon and the Anthropocene’ (2010) 2 Current Opinion in Environmental 210–218, 216. 6 Zalasiewicz and others (n 1) 2229. 7 Frank Biermann and others, ‘Navigating the Anthropocene: Improving ’ (2012) 335 Science 1306–1307, 1306. 8 Johan Rockström and others, ‘: Exploring the Safe operating Space for Humanity’ (2009) 14(2) Ecology and Society 1–33, 2. 9 Ola Uhrqvist and Eva Lövbrand, ‘Seeing and Knowing the Earth as a System: Tracing the History of the Earth System Science Partnership’ accessed 7 April 2014.