Taking into account the results of a thorough search on the subject, we can affirm that, this is still controversial and novel, from this we intend to delve into other tributaries of the subject in question.
• Gender and Environmental Law.
• Relationship between women and men in environmental management
• Cuba regarding gender and Environmental Law
Introduction
Research on the gender relationship with environmental law does not have a long history in our country, it is a recent addition to the scientific debate, nor does it have a marked systematicity, therefore it is necessary that those promoted take into account the perspective or gender approach, understanding this as: “a way of observing and analyzing reality, which allows us to visualize and recognize the existence of hierarchical relationships and inequality between men and women, expressed in oppression, injustice, subordination and discrimination towards women in relation with men and vice versa ”1. (Álvarez, M. and others, 2004).
To make a complete and correct interpretation of history, it is necessary to assess the natural premises of social development. This is understood from an analysis of practice as a starting concept of Marxist theory on the interaction of society and nature.
Currently, gender issues and environmental law may constitute one of the fundamental issues that are debated in international events. What becomes a reality in the concern for the feminine condition and in the measures that must be adopted to eliminate inequalities, imbalances and rights to claim political, social and economic spaces, which have evolved along with the conceptions of development.
The majority of researchers have not yet become aware of the need to treat environmental law problems with a gender approach, as well as there has been no recognition of the mainstreaming of the topic, in this sense and from this point of view. perspective teach the population to preserve, care for and protect the conditions in which men and women operate, and the danger that this entails, so the aspects for their conservation must be known.
Although it is somewhat difficult to carry out an in-depth analysis in so few pages of the problem of gender and Environmental Law in our work, we try to make a simple reflection on the subject in question.
Development
"The gender approach is a way of observing and analyzing reality, which allows us to visualize and recognize the existence of hierarchical relationships and inequality between men and women, expressed in oppression, injustice, subordination and discrimination towards women in relation to men and vice versa ”1.
Men and women relate differently to the environment, so it is necessary to take into account the link between gender, the environment and environmental law as a result of assigning different roles. To write, interpret and apply effectively, the legal norm directed to the conservation of the environment, it is necessary to understand what Environmental Law is.
Law is the expression of a whole process of systematized reflections, which, based on its principles, categories, practices and legal norms, bring it closer to understanding reality that it intends to explain and regulate.
Environmental Law is characterized by being legal knowledge, which is based on solid multidisciplinary knowledge. The one who investigates on this subject, must assume the work of a goldsmith, not content with the general, must scrutinize and understand the details that make this branch of Law a different and unique result, especially when we link it to the man-woman relationship in a determined social context.
These relationships are what we call gender.
These relationships are of power and place all women in a position of inequality with respect to men, that is, subordination. This does not mean that each woman is subordinate to a specific man, but rather that the social organization of gender relations places all women in a position of inferiority with respect to all men. Women work in interaction with men, so we must talk about relationships between men and women in a given environmental context.
Since the 80s this problem has boomed, gender is not determined biologically, as a result of the sexual attributes of men and women, but is culturally modeled, it is a social category that helps to give an explanation of what is happening. in the relationships that are established between the different sexed beings and reveals the way in which men and women behave, as well as their relationships in a certain society.
Of the eight millennium goals, seven are related to concrete actions to achieve gender equality, as an essential way to achieve sustainable development.
Goal seven is specifically aimed at guaranteeing the sustainability of the environment, as well as the three goals to be achieved to achieve said goal. While the DELC Division of Environmental Legislation and Conventions in the Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean, it was proposed to support the members of the region in the development of integrated and coherent policies regarding environmental problems, and to strengthen Environmental Law, as well how to improve the observance and compliance of legal instruments related to the environment.
Since the establishment of UNEP in 1972, under Resolution 2997 (XXVII) of the United Nations General Assembly, environmental law has been one of the priority focus areas. This was emphasized under Resolution 3436 (XXX) of the United Nations General Assembly, which takes up the conviction that the development of an adequate Environmental Law is an essential support measure for the implementation of policies and strategies. To fulfill this, an entire branch of the Division has been dedicated to promoting the development and application of Environmental Law in the field of Law, based on the following strategic approach:
• The analysis, review and development of legislation and policies related to the environment, and the articulation of policy positions in response to emerging environmental events and issues.
• The development of new legal, economic and other policy instruments, and institutional frameworks to promote the effectiveness of environmental law and policies, in addition to strengthening existing ones.
• Improving the coordination of environmental law and policies and the exchange of information within and outside the United Nations System.
• The promotion of the participation of the private sector, NGOs, and majority groups in the development of Environmental Law and the dialogue of environmental policies. (Chapter 38 of Program 21).
• Promotion of the relationship between gender and the environment.
The conservation of resources, as well as social participation have become an essential element to achieve the objectives of sustainable development.
The success of sustainable development programs is possible only if women are taken into consideration in equal opportunities and decision-making with men, hence, the gender perspective aims to humanize the vision of development, since it is a stimulus based on gender equality.
Unequal gender relations have generated limited access for women to productive resources, and to income generation, leading to asymmetric power dynamics that place women at a disadvantage, which becomes an obstacle to promoting environmental practices However, it is important to recognize women as transmitters of cultural values to preserve the environment and to know the set of principles and legal norms that regulate individual and collective behavior with an impact on it.
On the other hand, gender inequalities have brought different conditions in terms of access, use and management of natural resources by men and women, as well as in the distribution of the benefits generated, since it has been found that men access more than women. women and it is they who exercise control.
The links between Gender and Environmental Law have tended to speak more about women than about gender. Within this perspective, it seeks to identify the specific roles that women play in environmental management.
Social actors, men and women, interact with both a natural and a built environment, however, they do not do so with the same resources, nor from the same roles. This difference in access, appropriation and use of resources generates a different experience and knowledge regarding them.
The debates about gender studies reveal a knowledge that has accumulated throughout history, which shows evidence that social life is made up of men and women, hence that society and culture they dictate a set of norms and prescriptions on feminine and masculine behavior.
Each culture establishes a set of practices, ideas, discourses and social representations that attribute specific characteristics to women and men. Through the process of gender construction, society develops the norms of what men and women should be, of what is supposed to "belong" to each sex.
Gender is thus constructed from duties and prohibitions. That is, it is a social construction that is carried out with each person, which goes to the roles and functions assigned to the masculine and feminine, in this way inequalities between the sexes are also being built and what has generated the division between the private sphere, which is identified with the feminine and the public sphere associated with the masculine world, considering women to be solely responsible for the education of children and domestic tasks, from this it is inferred that gender is a construction sociocultural and therefore can change the criteria that environment of it are interwoven.
The patriarchal culture has imposed an androcentrism favorable to men, which brings with it an absence of fairness towards women, which is why for decades gender studies were focused on research on the problem of women, while studies on gender and environment, lagged a bit further. These societies have also generated traditional conceptions and prejudices that currently prevail, where women have been stereotyped with the pattern of submission and weakness and men with that of strength and superiority, considering that the male figure is the main one.
Men and women have different living conditions and needs, all of which is determined by the cultural, political, economic, social and environmental context in which they operate, which has generated possibilities for differentiated action with a knowledge of environmental law. It would help to mitigate the differences that were generated with social development.
It is necessary to rethink development to achieve the well-being of future generations and not compromise their living conditions, Marx pointed out that it is essential to leave the land enriched for future generations and this idea today acquires extraordinary value.
Environmental Law defends the conservation of life, of biological diversity, but we must be dialectical. Life does not happen in an idyllic setting free of contradictions. All matter impacts the environment, but only man is aware of it, hence his responsibility to work so that its impacts are in accordance with the possibilities of existence of the rest of the creatures that accompany it.
The operator of the Law is man, the legal norm obliges man, socio-economic development is directed at man, but "trees should not prevent us from seeing the forest", biological diversity, in which it is immersed interdependently and without escape, under pain of becoming extinct as the species that it is today.
The problem of the deterioration of the environment constitutes for our days a challenge that humanity must face immediately in contemporary times, because the implications that all human activities have on the natural environment are multiple and complex.
We think that it is urgent and necessary that men and women know the fundamental bases of environmental law, that they become active agents in the important task of preserving the environment, providing them with adequate knowledge about their interaction with nature, without damage it or deteriorate it, but must become active agents of its conservation.
Women are important and play an essential role in all societies, around living conditions, environment and development.
The 1995 Beijing Conference notes that in the area of natural resources and the environment the fundamental objective is “to achieve the participation of women in decision-making related to the environment, to integrate the gender perspective in policies and programs in favor of sustainable development ”.
The Cuban social project, which is defined by its eminently humanistic character, outlined, from the first years, the elevation of the level and quality of life of our people, a principle on which the sustainability of development is argued, since environmental contamination It also affects the health of many people, as the number of diseases and pandemics in the world is increasing, which increases the diseases associated with environmental imbalances.
The essence of sustainable development lies in achieving economic growth and efficiency, guaranteeing social effectiveness and equity, by solving the basic needs of men and women on the basis of the stable operation and ecological efficiency of environmental systems.
Environmental sustainability would thus be the balance between various levels or type of sustainability: geo-ecological, social, economic and legal.
The problems that affect the environment today have been aggravated by the lack of awareness of environmental education, and a lack of awareness of environmental law because the population has not been prepared to learn to interact with them and raise their quality of life.
Environmental law can be understood as the sphere of the relationship between man, nature, its regulations and principles in productive social interaction, the natural and cultural environment that transform individuals and human groups.
For Cuba, it is important in this millennium to preserve the progress and achievements that we have achieved, in order to achieve a more dynamic, flexible and comprehensive environmental management. Cuba, unlike capitalist countries that constantly like the environment, struggles to preserve it and rationally use natural resources, which has been reflected in important documents such as the Constitution of the Republic and the Environmental Protection Law, but In addition, institutions have been created that have the same purposes.
The national environmental strategy constitutes the guiding document of the Cuban environmental policy whose main objective is to specify the best ways to preserve and develop the environmental achievements that have been achieved, overcome the errors and insufficiencies detected and identify the main environmental problems in the country, which they require greater attention in current conditions, laying the foundations for more effective environmental work.
The problem of knowledge of environmental law is a challenge for us today that must be faced immediately, because the implications that all human activities have on it are many and complex.
Environmental problems concern and occupy, not only because of their present effects, but also because of the consequences that they may bring for humanity in the future. That is why we must educate men and women in the preservation and conservation of the environment. Through a knowledge of environmental law that allows us to reflect at the present time on the need to achieve gender equity.
The Cuban social project, which is defined by its eminently humanistic character, the elevation of the level and quality of life of our people was traced from the first years, a principle on which the sustainability of development is argued, unlike in our country the Achilles heel of Environmental Law; it is the lack of a greater and deeper theoretical elaboration of this science, which allows for the enactment of effective and efficient legal norms; the lack of political will of the governments to dictate the norms and then execute the actions that ensure their compliance; the impossibility of peoples to internalize and incorporate in their daily practice the legal precepts set forth by Environmental Law, based on the existence of living conditions in accordance with the level of development achieved by the human species,translated into high levels of culture, education, food, health, employment, recreation, information, and citizen participation in government, which implies that this legal science must transcend anthropocentric pragmatism from other branches of law.
We need to teach environmental law from the simplest levels to properly solve environmental problems, as environmental quality.
It is currently the most important challenge facing human society. To face it, the contribution of education, teaching about the environment, as well as its vulnerability and the required knowledge, can carry out the education of students for the environment, helping them to acquire competence and knowledge to take action..
The society from its own emergence maintains close relationships with the environment, since from it it obtains the essential elements for its subsistence and to it all the waste products of its vital functions return, so it can be affirmed according to current knowledge, that both are interdependent, however, there are people who do not have an adequate knowledge of the elementary principles that govern human-nature interaction, hence the need for us to become aware of the importance of our educational work, and of forming correct habits in the protection of nature, and its defense from the knowledge of environmental law and its application, awakening in men and women love for it.
This means that the understanding of any problem requires the interaction of the natural, technological, social, and legal sciences, hence, the analysis of complex systems (gender_ environment) must be done from the perspectives of different sciences, which shows interdisciplinarity.
Decision makers and those responsible for developing environmental policies are not sensitized or trained from a gender perspective.
It is necessary to form a culture of promotion, awareness of equity for the respect that develops certain actions and strategies that allow the inclusion of women and men to play a shared role in society.
The environment deteriorates many of the causes of this deterioration are unknown by our population and causes them to assume negligent attitudes towards nature.
Men and women must contribute to the possible solution of environmental problems supported by knowledge of environmental law. We do not intend that they offer alternatives or solutions, but in this way contribute to avoiding the deterioration of the environment.
On the other hand, training on gender, sustainable development, the environment, health, quality of life, and human rights is needed, aimed at decision-makers, officials, and people who develop environmental and sustainable development policies.
It is important to take into account in the development projects that are planned, the participation of men and women, because this allows for a more in-depth reflection on the equity relations between men and women that are presented in this sense, as well as the discriminations that are generated.
On the other hand, it is necessary to take into account the future beneficiaries by sex, when it is developed or from the elaboration of projects, since in most of them this is not conceived, as well as a series of elements that must also be considered.
Conclusions
• It is necessary that the research that is carried out related to environmental law incorporates the gender perspective.
• The concepts of gender and environmental law are non-static categories that express historical relationships that are continually changing and that demonstrate power relationships.
• The gender focus or analysis must be cross-referenced to all the actions of the projects, where the existence of hierarchical relationships and inequality between men and women, as well as the necessary equity between them, are made visible and recognized in the analyzes.
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1. Álvarez, M. and others: Training in Gender and Human Development, p. twenty-one
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