Lecturas sobre derecho del medio ambiente. Tomo XVI

Environmental Law is a branch of law in constant evolution whose changes are driven by multiple factors such as scientific advances, greater awareness of the relationship of belonging and dependence of man with nature, serious environmental damage, the forces that require progress towards more effective environmental protection, certainty about the risks generated by the use of certain elements or the development of some projects, the desire to maintain human integrity and the recognition of the unavoidable task of continuing to advance in protection. of the natural environment.

This permanent change requires from the academy an analysis not only of the new regulatory content but also of the reaction of the courts and society to the new legal realities, a task that has been assumed uninterruptedly since 1999 by the Law Research Group. of the Environment of the Externado University of Colombia, and which is reflected in the collection "Readings on Environmental Law" in which a variety of articles are presented resulting from the research carried out by the members of the group and by guests who have wanted to participate in this collective work.

Volume XVI of this collection presents new perspectives on environmental legal study. The work begins with the article by Professor Álvaro Hernando Cardona "An ecological Encyclical: Laudato Si"', who, based on the description of the religious text, analyzes the way in which its content could be reflected in Colombian regulations and in some scenarios and instruments. legal matters on an international scale.