The Canadian approach to international environmental law can be stated simply and briefly. First, this law is inadequate both in scope and substance; it is incomplete, inconsistent, fragmentary, and largely inchoate. Second, it must be developed on the basis of the principle that states have a duty to preserve the environment and must accept responsibility for any damage they cause to the environment of another state or to the environment beyond any state’s jurisdiction. Third, both substantive and adjectival law must be developed to enable effective application of this principle, either through existing institutions or through new ones established for the purpose of resolving environmental disputes.