Direito em Movimento - Volume 19 - Número 1 - 1º semestre - 2021

85 Direito em Movimento, Rio de Janeiro, v. 19 - n. 1, p. 81-107, 1º sem. 2021 ARTIGOS entitled ‘Sustainable Development’, which provides that ‘[t]he Confedera- tion and the Cantons shall endeavor to achieve a balanced and sustainable relationship between nature and its capacity to renew itself and the demands placed on it by the population.’ 7 Albania’s constitution proclaims that the state ‘aims to supplement private initiative and responsibility with: Rational exploitation of forests, waters, pastures and other natural resources on the basis of the principle of sustainable development.’ 8 Colombia’s constitution requires policy-makers to ‘plan the handling and use of natural resources in order to guarantee their sustainable development…’ 9 These constitutional provisions help bridge the gap left by international and domestic laws, even given the array of sustainability provisions already in existence. That is not to say, however, that sustainable development has been im- plemented as a governing legal principle. For instance, while South Afri- ca’s constitution was among the first to embrace sustainable development in 1996, the provision has had little practical effect. (KOTZÉ, 2012-2013) Likewise, while Section 225 of the Brazilian constitution requires that gover- nmental policies promote ecologically sustainable development, apex courts there rarely enforce this provision. 10 On the other hand, sustainability has earned a foothold with some international tribunals. (HIGGINS, 1999, p. 87-111). Nonetheless, even though the vast majority of these provisions do not create judicially enforceable rights, they affirm national values of environ- mental sustainability to which policy-makers and courts may advert. The most significant international expression of sustainable develop- ment is the United Nations’ 2015 Sustainable Development Goals, which are the culmination of four decades of multidisciplinary and legal thinking about what sustainable development means, and grasping that, how to ef- fectuate it. The SDGs are 17 ‘Goals’ to achieve by 2030, including protec- ting biodiversity; ensuring clean water, air, land and food; ending poverty, have constitutionally entrenched environmental policies as governing principles, some including sustainability). 7 Constitution of Switzerland, Ch. II, § 4, Art. 73. 8 Constitution of Albania, Part II, Ch. 5, art. 59(1)(dh). 9 Constitution of Colombia, Title II, Ch. 3, Art. 80. 10 For instance, Associação Nacional do Transporte de Cargas e Logística v. Governador do Estado de São Paulo, S.T.F., ADPF 234 MC/DF, DJe 06.02.12 (Rel. Min. Marco Aurélio) (Braz.) (case brought by asbestos trans- porters against a state law on constitutional grounds).