НUMAN AS A SUBJECT OF UKRAINIAN ECOLOGICAL SECURITY: THEORETICAL AND LEGAL ASPECT

Abstract

The scientific article is devoted to the theoretical and legal aspects of the status of a person as a subject of environmental security. The study yielded the following conclusions. The definition of an environmental security subject as an individualized participant in legal relations (for example, a person, society, state, or biosphere) who is endowed with environmental legal personality and the ability to act as a carrier of vital interests regarding the safe state of the environment and who demonstrates volitional activity to protect these interests from environmental threats was clarified. Additionally, it is substantiated that a person as a subject of environmental security is characterized by the following features: he is the bearer of subjective environmental rights and legal environmental obligations that form his legal status; the driving force of his activity is the presence of his own interest, which is realized through the desire to satisfy the objective need for a safe environment, which is a motive for action; he is determined through the category of «state of protection» of his interests, in contrast to the subjects of ensuring environmental security, which are determined through the category of «activity», «competence». The following criteria are distinguished between environmental security subjects and environmental security ensuring subjects, in particular: 1) by scale: the range of environmental security subjects is wider, as it includes “large-scale” categories, such as society and the biosphere, which are considered as objects of protection and participants in the global security situation. Environmental security ensuring subjects have a more specific list of participants; 2) by functional role: environmental security subjects are related to the category of «state» – these are those whose vital interests are protected (people, environment); environmental security subjects are related to the category of «process» – these are participants who carry out specific activities aimed at minimizing threats, forming guarantees and creating conditions for safe development (for example, state authorities, local governments); 3) by level of management: environmental security subjects are often identified with the management level, while any individual can be a subject of environmental security in the context of his right to a safe environment.