Laws and conventions

Various conventions, laws and regulations operate at international and national level for environmental management and sustainable use.

Under the Ministry of Environment, state institutions — the Central Environmental Authority, the Department of Forest Conservation, the Marine Environment Protection Authority, the Geological Survey and Mines Bureau, the State Timber Corporation, and the National Gem and Jewellery Authority — put into effect the laws and regulations on managing the environment.

Why the environment needs agreements between countries

Air and sea have no borders. CFCs released in one country thin the ozone above another, and carbon dioxide from any chimney warms the whole planet. No country can solve these problems alone, and none wants to carry the cost while others do nothing — so countries agree together. The Montreal Protocol is the great success story: CFC production almost stopped, and the ozone layer is recovering. Inside the country, laws and institutions control what factories may release, which forests are protected, and how gems, timber and minerals are taken without destroying the land.