Contemporary Environmental Legal Perspectives Under the Traditional Contractual Freedom

Abstract

The worries concerning the environment are due to the current scenario and events of the planet, arising from an individualistic point of view and based primarily on economical profits which are not concerned with environmental values. It is also important to emphasize that with the New Civil Code in force, the contractual relations began to be undertaken from a new point of view, considering the fact that contracts should take into account the community welfare, highlighting the importance of contracting by reason and within the limits of the social function of the contract, including the social and environmental aspects of agreements. Because of these new approaches raised during this century, the notions of sustainability and sustainable management arose, being both of them essential and bounded in order to achieve a balance between environmental and economic values, accomplishing a coherent economic policy with ethical and sustainable values, that does not ignore the need for a policy of natural resource protection rather than just financial profit. Keywords: environment- sustainability- social function- contracts.