311 results
East West Street: Then and Now: Lionel Cohen Lecture 2019, Jerusalem, 6 May 2019
- Philippe Sands, QC
-
- Journal:
- Israel Law Review / Volume 52 / Issue 3 / November 2019
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 21 October 2019, pp. 413-426
- Print publication:
- November 2019
-
- Article
- Export citation
-
It is a great happiness to be with you today, and I am deeply honoured to be delivering the Lionel Cohen Lecture. That we should come together at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, which I have had the great pleasure to visit on several occasions, stretching back many years, adds to the sense of personal significance.
12 - Shabtai Rosenne
- from Part 6 - Shabtai Rosenne
- Edited by James Loeffler, University of Virginia, Moria Paz, Stanford University, California
-
- Book:
- The Law of Strangers
- Published online:
- 01 July 2019
- Print publication:
- 18 July 2019, pp 249-254
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
-
Summary
Shabtai Rosenne was among the early figures who came into my life at the formative period of being a young student of international law, in the early 1980s. I first met him in Cambridge, as he was a friend of one of my teachers, Eli Lauterpacht, whose father Hersch he regularly cited as one of his mentors. Our teachers spoke of him as a scholar of renown, not least for his encyclopedic knowledge of the minutiae of the practice and procedure of the International Court of Justice, and for his role as a legal adviser to the Israeli government. Those were the labels he wore, or at least the ones we allowed ourselves to see. Of Rosenne’s past, so elegantly evoked by Rotem Giladi in his fine-tuned and thoughtful portrait-essay, we students knew little. Back in those days we did not seek to better inform ourselves of the personal history now described by Giladi, one that tends not, upon a closer reflection, to follow Giladi’s idea that Rosenne’s personal and professional engagements somehow moved along distinct lines.
15 - Environmental Information and Technology Transfer
- from Part III - Techniques For Implementing International Principles And Rules
- Philippe Sands, University College London, Jacqueline Peel, University of Melbourne
- With Adriana Fabra, Universitat de Barcelona, Ruth MacKenzie, University of Westminster
-
- Book:
- Principles of International Environmental Law
- Published online:
- 07 August 2018
- Print publication:
- 01 March 2018, pp 682-734
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
-
Summary
INTRODUCTION
Improving the dissemination of scientific and technological knowledge, whether in the form of information on the environment or technical know-how on the best ways to deal with environmental problems, is a well-established objective of international environmental law. Information, including scientific expertise, is widely recognised as a prerequisite to effective national and international environmental management, protection and cooperation. The availability of, and access to, information allows preventative and mitigation measures to be taken, ensures the participation of citizens in national decision-making processes, and can influence individual, consumer and corporate behaviour. Information also allows the international community to determine whether states are complying with their legal obligations. Technical assistance, provided especially to developing countries, and wider dissemination of state-of-the-art technologies, including ‘clean technologies’, are likewise seen as central to international environmental law implementation efforts.
This chapter considers international rules regarding the dissemination of environmental information and clean technologies. The period since the first edition of this book has seen many significant developments in both areas, reflecting the increasing emphasis on effective implementation of international environmental obligations. In the field of environmental information these include the 1998 Aarhus Convention, which establishes a Europe-wide regime for access to environmental information, public participation, and access to justice in environmental cases; the Aarhus Convention's 2003 Protocol on Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers; and several other agreements such as the 1998 Chemicals Convention, the 2000 Biosafety Protocol, the 2001 POPs Convention, the 2010 Nagoya Protocol and the 2015 Paris Agreement, which include prominent commitments to ensuring appropriate flows of information and the dissemination of scientific information and expertise. Arbitral tribunals, including those in the trade field, have also demonstrated an increasing acceptance of the importance of transparency and the public availability of information, with a trend to greater transparency for proceedings concerning international environmental matters.
Over the same period, provisions regarding technical assistance and technology transfer have also become a standard feature of international environmental agreements, with growing acceptance of the linkage – first articulated in treaties such as the 1992 Biodiversity and Climate Change Conventions – between the implementation by developing country parties of their treaty commitments and the transfer of technology and know-how from developed country parties in fulfilment of their treaty obligations.
2 - History
- from Part I - The Legal And Institutional Framework
- Philippe Sands, University College London, Jacqueline Peel, University of Melbourne
- With Adriana Fabra, Universitat de Barcelona, Ruth MacKenzie, University of Westminster
-
- Book:
- Principles of International Environmental Law
- Published online:
- 07 August 2018
- Print publication:
- 01 March 2018, pp 21-51
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
-
Summary
INTRODUCTION
Modern international environmental law can be traced directly to international legal developments that took place in the second half of the nineteenth century. Thus, although the current form and structure of the subject emerged in the mid 1980s, a proper understanding of modern principles and rules requires a historic sense of earlier scientific, political and legal developments. International environmental law has evolved over four distinct periods, reflecting developments in scientific knowledge, the application of new technologies and an understanding of their impacts, changes in political consciousness and the changing structure of the international legal order and institutions.
A first period began with bilateral fisheries treaties in the nineteenth century, and concluded with the creation of the new international organisations in 1945. During this period, peoples and nations began to understand that the process of industrialisation and development required limitations on the exploitation of certain natural resources (flora and fauna) and the adoption of appropriate legal instruments. The second period commenced with the creation of the UN and culminated with the UN Conference on the Human Environment, held in Stockholm in June 1972. Over this period, a range of international organisations with competence in environmental matters was created, and legal instruments were adopted, at both the regional and the global levels, which addressed particular sources of pollution and the conservation of general and particular environmental resources, such as oil pollution, nuclear testing, wetlands, the marine environment and its living resources, the quality of freshwaters and the dumping of waste at sea. The third period ran from the 1972 Stockholm Conference and concluded with the UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in June 1992. During this period, the UN tried to put in place a system for coordinating responses to international environmental issues, regional and global conventions were adopted, and for the first time the production, consumption and international trade in certain products were banned at the global level. The fourth period was set in motion by UNCED, and may be characterised as a period of integration: when environmental concerns should, as a matter of international law and policy, be integrated into all activities and into the broader development agenda concerned with poverty eradication and improving human health.
6 - General Principles and Rules
- from Part II - Principles And Rules Establishing Standards
- Philippe Sands, University College London, Jacqueline Peel, University of Melbourne
- With Adriana Fabra, Universitat de Barcelona, Ruth MacKenzie, University of Westminster
-
- Book:
- Principles of International Environmental Law
- Published online:
- 07 August 2018
- Print publication:
- 01 March 2018, pp 197-251
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
-
Summary
INTRODUCTION
This chapter describes the general principles and rules of international environmental law as reflected in treaties, binding acts of international organisations, state practice, judicial decisions and soft law commitments. The existence and applicability of ‘principles of international environmental law’ were confirmed by the arbitral tribunal in the Iron Rhine case. Such principles are general in the sense that they are potentially applicable to all members of the international community across the range of activities that they carry out or authorise and in respect of the protection of all aspects of the environment. From the large body of international agreements and other acts it is possible to discern general rules and principles that have broad, if not necessarily universal, support and are frequently endorsed in practice. These are:
the obligation reflected in Principle 21 of the Stockholm Declaration and Principle 2 of the Rio Declaration, namely that states have sovereignty over their natural resources and the responsibility not to cause transboundary environmental damage;
the principle of preventive action;
the principle of cooperation;
the principle of sustainable development;
the precautionary principle;
the polluter pays principle; and
the principle of common but differentiated responsibility.
In the absence of clear judicial authority, and in view of the conflicting interpretations under state practice, it is frequently difficult to establish the parameters or the precise international legal status of each general principle or rule. The application of each principle in relation to a particular activity or incident, and its consequences, must be considered on the facts and circumstances of each case, having regard to several factors, including: the source of the principle; its textual content and language; the particular activity at issue; the environmental and other consequences of the activity; and the circumstances in which it occurs (including the actors and the geographical region). Some general principles or rules reflect customary law, others may reflect emerging legal obligations, and yet others might have a less developed legal status. In each case, however, the principle or rule has broad support and is reflected in extensive state practice through repetitive use or reference in an international legal context.
3 - Governance: States, International Organisations and Non-State Actors
- from Part I - The Legal And Institutional Framework
- Philippe Sands, University College London, Jacqueline Peel, University of Melbourne
- With Adriana Fabra, Universitat de Barcelona, Ruth MacKenzie, University of Westminster
-
- Book:
- Principles of International Environmental Law
- Published online:
- 07 August 2018
- Print publication:
- 01 March 2018, pp 52-100
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
-
Summary
INTRODUCTION
A wide range of actors participate in those aspects of the international legal order which address environmental issues, including the negotiation, implementation and enforcement of international environmental agreements. Apart from the state delegations that play a central role, a visitor to climate change or other negotiations would find international organisations and non-state actors actively involved. International environmental law is characterised by this phenomenon that, with the possible exception of the human rights field, renders it unique. Various reasons explain this state of affairs. States are involved because they are still the pre-eminent international legal persons. International organisations participate because they have been created by states to address particular environmental or related issues. Of the various non-state participants, the scientific community is involved because, to a great extent, international environmental law is driven by scientific considerations; the corporate sector is involved because of the significant implications which decisions taken at the global level have even for individual companies; and environmental non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are involved because they advocate for concerns often not pursued by states and see the need for active participation at the international level as the lines dividing local, national and global issues disintegrate. The participation of non-state actors in international environmental law has an established history, and is widely accepted.
The various actors have different roles and functions, both as subjects and as objects of international environmental law, including: participating in the lawmaking process; monitoring implementation, including reporting; and ensuring implementation and enforcement of obligations. The role of each actor turns upon its international legal personality and upon the rights and obligations granted to it by general international law and the rules established by particular treaties and other rules. The Rio Declaration and Agenda 21, as well as an increasing number of international environmental agreements, confirm the central role of international organisations and non-state actors in all aspects of the international legal process.
Preface and Acknowledgements to the Second Edition
-
- By Philippe Sands, Faculty of Laws University College London Bentham House London WC1H 0EG
- Philippe Sands, University College London, Jacqueline Peel, University of Melbourne
- With Adriana Fabra, Universitat de Barcelona, Ruth MacKenzie, University of Westminster
-
- Book:
- Principles of International Environmental Law
- Published online:
- 07 August 2018
- Print publication:
- 01 March 2018, pp xxix-xxx
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
-
Summary
The second edition of Principles of International Environmental Law indicates that the legal aspects of international environmental issues are of growing intellectual and political interest, and that they have moved beyond the situation I described nearly ten years ago as reflecting ‘an early phase of development’. It is apparent from the new material which this edition treats – new conventions, new secondary instruments, new (or newly recognised) norms of customary law, and a raft of new judicial decisions – that international environmental law is now well established and is a central part of the international legal order. It is also clear that international environmental law has reached new levels of complexity, in particular as it has become increasingly integrated into other social objectives and subject areas, particularly in the economic field. The burgeoning case law, and the increased involvement of practitioners, suggests that it can no longer be said that international environmental law is, as a branch of general public international law, at an early stage of practical development.
Like the first edition, this edition (together with the accompanying volume of international documents for students) is intended to provide a comprehensive overview of those rules of public international law which have as their object the protection of the environment. Those rules have become more numerous and complex, but also more accessible: the advent of the Internet often means that material which was previously difficult to track down – for example, information as to the status, signature and ratification of treaties, and acts and decisions of Conferences of the Parties and subsidiary bodies – is now relatively easy to obtain. But the Internet also increases the danger of becoming overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of material that is now available, a risk which is exacerbated by the very extensive (and growing) secondary literature which is produced every year, only a small proportion of which may really be said to indicate real insights into new developments. This background necessarily means that what is gained on breadth may be lost – at least in some areas – on depth. This comprehensive account cannot address all of the details that now dominate specific areas – trade, fisheries and climate change spring immediately to mind – and the reader will need to refer to more detailed accounts of particular sectors, and the websites of various conventions, to obtain many of the details.
Table of Treaties and Other International Instruments
- Philippe Sands, University College London, Jacqueline Peel, University of Melbourne
- With Adriana Fabra, Universitat de Barcelona, Ruth MacKenzie, University of Westminster
-
- Book:
- Principles of International Environmental Law
- Published online:
- 07 August 2018
- Print publication:
- 01 March 2018, pp xxxix-lxiv
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
Preface and Acknowledgements to the Fourth Edition
-
- By Philippe Sands, University College London, Jacqueline Peel, Melbourne Law School
- Philippe Sands, University College London, Jacqueline Peel, University of Melbourne
- With Adriana Fabra, Universitat de Barcelona, Ruth MacKenzie, University of Westminster
-
- Book:
- Principles of International Environmental Law
- Published online:
- 07 August 2018
- Print publication:
- 01 March 2018, pp xxv-xxvi
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
-
Summary
In its fourth edition, Principles of International Environmental Law affirms the consolidation of international environmental law as a central part of the international legal order. Major treaty regimes cover virtually all environmental issues, with new treaties now in place for mercury pollution (2013 Minamata Mercury Convention) and climate change (2015 Paris Agreement). Case law on environmental and natural resource issues continues to grow, and there is considerable evidence that practitioners and judges are engaging more fully with questions regarding science and expert evidence in factually complex and technical disputes. In the period since the third edition, linkages between international environmental law and other areas of international law have deepened and broadened. This is also reflected in policy instruments, such as the 2015 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, which bring together issues of development, poverty eradication and disaster management with environmental protection in an international sustainable development agenda for the period up to 2030. However, as we noted in the third edition preface, extensive legal development in the field has not satisfactorily addressed the most pressing environmental problems. With the exception of the ozone treaty regime – hailed as a success for its role in reversing ozone depletion – international environmental law has not provided a solution in the key areas of climate change, marine pollution and biodiversity loss. More than ever, the subject of international environmental law is approaching a critical point: can it deliver real protections, or will its impact be merely marginal or cosmetic?
Like the previous editions, this edition is intended to provide a comprehensive overview of those rules of public international law that have as their object the protection of the environment. We have sought to state the law as of March 2017. Necessarily, given the vast breadth of the subject and the level of detail now available on some specific topics (climate change, oceans, trade, biodiversity are leading examples here), the book's account of the subject area cannot be exhaustive. In this edition, we have sought to improve the book's coverage of important areas such as climate change (with a new chapter which incorporates the latest developments under the Paris Agreement), oceans and fisheries, and biodiversity.
Index
- Philippe Sands, University College London, Jacqueline Peel, University of Melbourne
- With Adriana Fabra, Universitat de Barcelona, Ruth MacKenzie, University of Westminster
-
- Book:
- Principles of International Environmental Law
- Published online:
- 07 August 2018
- Print publication:
- 01 March 2018, pp 941-968
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
13 - The Polar Regions: Antarctica and the Arctic
- from Part II - Principles And Rules Establishing Standards
- Philippe Sands, University College London, Jacqueline Peel, University of Melbourne
- With Adriana Fabra, Universitat de Barcelona, Ruth MacKenzie, University of Westminster
-
- Book:
- Principles of International Environmental Law
- Published online:
- 07 August 2018
- Print publication:
- 01 March 2018, pp 632-654
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
-
Summary
INTRODUCTION
The Antarctic and the Arctic polar regions are subject to special regional rules of environmental protection, which are discussed in this chapter. These rules reflect the unique physical conditions of these areas and the important role they play in maintaining regional and global environmental conditions. They also provide useful models for the development of international environmental law in other regions and globally. For the Antarctic, the environmental rules have developed in the context of complex legal issues arising from claims made by some states to sovereign rights over Antarctic territory, and the opposing view of most other states that the Antarctic is part of the global commons and not subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of any state. These differences have not prevented the adoption of innovative and potentially far-reaching rules for the protection of the Antarctic environment and its ecosystem. The Arctic region, on the other hand, is subject to the undisputed jurisdiction of certain states, and for the most part environmental protection in that area is based on national environment laws, although these may implement international environmental obligations. In 1991, Arctic states recognised the need for international cooperation to address threats to the Arctic environment and its ecosystem in the knowledge that it too plays an important role in maintaining the global environmental balance. In 1996, they established the Arctic Council, a high-level intergovernmental forum designed to provide a mechanism to address the common concerns and challenges faced by the Arctic governments and the peoples of the Arctic. During the past twenty years, the Arctic Council has focused much of its work on sustainable development and environmental protection, and has provided the forum for the negotiation of two binding agreements among the eight Arctic states on search-and-rescue (2011) and oil pollution preparedness (2013).
The Antarctic
The Antarctic continental region extends over 14 million square kilometres and comprises 26 per cent of the world's wilderness area, representing 90 per cent of all terrestrial ice and 70 per cent of planetary freshwater. The Antarctic also extends to a further 36 million square kilometres of ocean. It has a limited terrestrial life and a highly productive marine ecosystem, comprising a few plants (e.g. microscopic algae, fungi and lichen), marine mammals, fish and hordes of birds adapted to the harsh conditions, as well as the krill, which is central to the marine food chain and upon which other animals are dependent.
Preface and Acknowledgements to the First Edition
-
- By Philippe Sands, London
- Philippe Sands, University College London, Jacqueline Peel, University of Melbourne
- With Adriana Fabra, Universitat de Barcelona, Ruth MacKenzie, University of Westminster
-
- Book:
- Principles of International Environmental Law
- Published online:
- 07 August 2018
- Print publication:
- 01 March 2018, pp xxxi-xxxiv
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
-
Summary
Principles of International Environmental Law marks the culmination of that aspect of my professional activities which was triggered by the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, on 26 April 1986. At that time I was a research fellow at the Research Centre for International Law at Cambridge University, working on international legal aspects of contracts between states and non-state actors, and not involved in environmental issues. With the active support of the Research Centre's Director, Eli Lauterpacht, I began to examine the international legal implications of the Chernobyl accident, which indicated that the legal aspects of international environmental issues were of intellectual and political interest, and still in an early phase of development. This led to several research papers, a book and various matters involving the provision of legal advice on international environmental issues. My interest having been aroused, the implications of environmental issues for public international law provided a rich seam which has sustained me for several years, and resulted in my founding, with James Cameron, what is now the Foundation for International Environmental Law and Development (FIELD). That, in turn, has provided me with the fortunate opportunity to participate in a number of international negotiations, most notably those preparatory to UNCED and the Climate Change Convention, and to develop an international legal practice which is varied, unpredictable, entertaining, often challenging and occasionally frustrating.
This book, together with the accompanying volumes of international documents (Volumes IIA and IIB) and EC documents (Volume III), is intended to provide a comprehensive overview of those rules of public international law which have as their object the protection of the environment. I hope that it will be of some use to lawyer and non-lawyer alike, whether working for government, international organisations, non-governmental organisations and the private sector, or having an academic or other perspective. Its structure and approach reflect my belief that international environmental efforts will remain marginal unless they are addressed in an integrated manner with those international economic endeavours which retain a primary role in international lawmaking and institutional arrangements, and unless the range of actors participating in the development and application of international environmental law continues to expand.
17 - Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law
- from Part IV - Linkage Of International Environmental Law And Other Areas Of International Law
- Philippe Sands, University College London, Jacqueline Peel, University of Melbourne
- With Adriana Fabra, Universitat de Barcelona, Ruth MacKenzie, University of Westminster
-
- Book:
- Principles of International Environmental Law
- Published online:
- 07 August 2018
- Print publication:
- 01 March 2018, pp 811-840
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
-
Summary
INTRODUCTION
With the advent of sustainable development as a key principle of international law, no area of international law operates in ‘clinical isolation’ from any other. This is particularly the case for international environmental law as issues of environmental protection are strongly interconnected with questions around social and economic development. This chapter considers the interrelationship of the environment with international human rights law and the laws governing war and armed conflict (international humanitarian law). The linkage of the environment with human rights and international humanitarian law has been an issue for international environmental law since the earliest stages of its development in the 1960s and 1970s, but has achieved greater prominence with increasing recognition of the close relationship between environmental protection and the realisation of human rights and the achievement of human security, particularly in the face of climate change threats. Acknowledging these trends, the 2015 Paris Agreement included – for the first time in a climate treaty – language on human rights and the concept of ‘climate justice’.
The development of international human rights and international humanitarian law pre-dates international environmental law and provides a rich source of comparative experience. International environmental law equally raises many issues that will be familiar to human rights and international humanitarian lawyers. In the environmental context, questions related to minimum international standards and the role of individuals and other non-governmental organisations in the international legal process have raised analogous issues to those arising in international human rights and humanitarian law. The international legal issues are closely related, as is now reflected in the activities of human rights bodies. As UNCED highlighted, a key question at the interface of human rights and humanitarian law with the environment concerns the extent to which international environmental law should adopt an anthropocentric approach, based on the view that environmental protection is primarily justified as a means of protecting humans, rather than as an end in itself. The Rio Declaration endorses an anthropocentric approach, with Principle 1 stating that: ‘Human beings are at the centre of concerns for sustainable development. They are entitled to a healthy and productive life in harmony with nature.’ Legal developments in other fora and contexts, however, reflect a greater environmental consciousness and suggest that the protection of the environment is often recognised on its own terms, and not simply a means of protecting humans.
Part IV - Linkage Of International Environmental Law And Other Areas Of International Law
- Philippe Sands, University College London, Jacqueline Peel, University of Melbourne
- With Adriana Fabra, Universitat de Barcelona, Ruth MacKenzie, University of Westminster
-
- Book:
- Principles of International Environmental Law
- Published online:
- 07 August 2018
- Print publication:
- 01 March 2018, pp 809-810
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
Principles of International Environmental Law
- 4th edition
- Philippe Sands, Jacqueline Peel
- With Adriana Fabra, Ruth MacKenzie
-
- Published online:
- 07 August 2018
- Print publication:
- 01 March 2018
-
- Textbook
- Export citation
-
This new and fully updated edition of Principles of International Environmental Law offers a comprehensive and critical account of one of the fastest growing areas of international law: the principles and rules relating to environmental protection. Introducing the reader to the key foundational principles, governance structures and regulatory techniques, Principles of International Environmental Law explores each of the major areas of international environmental regulation through substantive chapters, including climate change, atmospheric protection, oceans and freshwater, biodiversity, chemicals and waste regulation. The ever-increasing overlap with other areas of international law is also explored through examination of the inter-linkages between international environmental law and other areas of international regulation, such as trade, human rights, humanitarian law and investment law. Incorporating the latest developments in treaty and case law for key areas of environmental regulation, this text is an essential reference and textbook for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students, academics and practitioners of international environmental law.
5 - Compliance: Implementation, Enforcement, Dispute Settlement
- from Part I - The Legal And Institutional Framework
- Philippe Sands, University College London, Jacqueline Peel, University of Melbourne
- With Adriana Fabra, Universitat de Barcelona, Ruth MacKenzie, University of Westminster
-
- Book:
- Principles of International Environmental Law
- Published online:
- 07 August 2018
- Print publication:
- 01 March 2018, pp 144-194
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
-
Summary
INTRODUCTION
Ensuring compliance by members of the international community with their international environmental obligations continues to be a matter of serious concern. This is reflected in the attention the issue received at UNCED, in the negotiation and implementation of environmental agreements, and in the growing number of environmental disputes brought before international judicial bodies. The relevance of environmental concerns to international peace and security was affirmed by the UN Security Council in January 1992, when its members declared that ‘nonmilitary sources of instability in the … ecological fields have become threats to international peace and security’. The response to those concerns has included the development of existing mechanisms for implementation, enforcement and dispute settlement (such as the specialised rules for arbitrating environmental disputes promulgated by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2001), as well as novel approaches such as the non-compliance mechanisms established under a number of environmental agreements, and the role given to the UN Compensation Commission over environmental claims.
Of the reasons proffered for renewed efforts, at least three are especially relevant. First, it is apparent that states are taking on ever more international environmental commitments, of increasing stringency. Second, the growing demands on access to finite natural resources, such as freshwater and fish, provide fertile conditions for conflicts over the use of natural resources. And, third, as international environmental obligations increasingly intersect with economic interests, states that do not comply with their environmental obligations are perceived to gain unfair competitive advantage from non-compliance. Non-compliance is seen to be important because it limits the effectiveness of legal commitments, undermines the international legal process, and can lead to conflict and instability in the international order. It occurs for different reasons, and it is widely recognised that the underlying causes require further attention so that existing and new international legal obligations are crafted to ensure their effective implementation. At UNCED, attention was focused on mechanisms to prevent disputes and to resolve them peacefully when they arise. Subsequent efforts have reflected a desire to address enforcement and dispute settlement in a non-contentious and non-adversarial manner.
18 - International Economic Law: Trade, Investment and Intellectual Property
- from Part IV - Linkage Of International Environmental Law And Other Areas Of International Law
- Philippe Sands, University College London, Jacqueline Peel, University of Melbourne
- With Adriana Fabra, Universitat de Barcelona, Ruth MacKenzie, University of Westminster
-
- Book:
- Principles of International Environmental Law
- Published online:
- 07 August 2018
- Print publication:
- 01 March 2018, pp 841-929
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
-
Summary
INTRODUCTION
The integration of economic and environmental aspects of international law has been an important aspect of international environmental law particularly since UNCED. Such integration was prompted in part by considerations of the relationship between differing environmental standards and economic competitiveness. Principle 4 of the Rio Declaration reflects this interdependence, providing that ‘in order to achieve sustainable development environmental protection shall constitute an integral part of the development process and cannot be considered in isolation from it’. The theme of integration was central to the preparations for UNCED. Agenda 21 recognised that the international economy should provide a ‘supportive international climate for achieving environment and development goals’, and identified the following as objectives for the international community:
• making trade and the environment mutually supportive;
• encouraging macroeconomic policies conducive to environment and development; and
• providing adequate financial resources to developing countries and dealing with international debt.
This chapter considers the international legal aspects of these issues. It is divided into three sections. The first discusses the relationship between international trade and environmental protection, and the application of international rules of competition law to environmental issues. The second examines the relationship between protection of the environment and rules of international law for the promotion of foreign investments found in investment treaties – bilateral and multilateral – which seek to protect foreign investments against certain governmental acts, in particular, expropriation and unfair treatment. The final section concerns intellectual property rights and the extent to which they govern the development of technologies which may be considered harmful to the environment. It also canvasses the intersection between intellectual property rights and indigenous traditional knowledge in the context of biodiversity conservation.
One of the consequences of an emphasis on greater integration of economics and the environment has been to bring together two very different groups of international legal practitioners who have traditionally had very little to do with one another. International economic law in the past had been seen as a separate, self-contained field, dominated by the principles and ideology of free trade and economic development. Over time, environmentalists and others have challenged the dominance of such ideals and particularly their utility to achieve other international goals such as environmental protection.
8 - Climate Change
- from Part II - Principles And Rules Establishing Standards
- Philippe Sands, University College London, Jacqueline Peel, University of Melbourne
- With Adriana Fabra, Universitat de Barcelona, Ruth MacKenzie, University of Westminster
-
- Book:
- Principles of International Environmental Law
- Published online:
- 07 August 2018
- Print publication:
- 01 March 2018, pp 295-336
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
-
Summary
INTRODUCTION
In the first three editions of this book, the problem of climate change and the international legal arrangements developed to address it, were included in the chapter on atmospheric protection. Today, however, international law on climate change constitutes a vast field in its own right. It incorporates not only regulation of atmospheric pollution resulting from the release of greenhouse gases from human activities, but also a range of other issues, including impacts and adaptation, loss and damage, finance, deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+), carbon markets, and linkages with other areas of international law, such as human rights and trade. Moreover, with the conclusion and entry into force of the 2015 Paris Agreement, the structures and processes of rules relating to climate change differ significantly from certain other areas of international environmental law. The Paris Agreement signals a tectonic shift, away from a top-down international standard-setting approach (as in the ozone regime), to a bottom-up regulatory model by which states determine their national contributions to the global response to climate change.
This chapter provides an introduction to the field of international climate change law, with a focus on the requirements of the Paris Agreement. It begins with a discussion of the climate change problem, summarising the latest scientific findings and highlighting some of the complexities of the issue that have precipitated a substantially different international legal response to that seen in other environmental areas. A brief overview is then provided of the two treaty instruments that preceded, and underpin, the 2015 Paris Agreement: the 1992 Framework Convention on Climate Change and the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. While important in putting climate change on the international agenda, and effecting a shift in consciousness, these treaties failed to slow emissions growth sufficiently or bring about the substantial reorientation in states’ economic policies concerned with energy production, industrial activity, transportation and forestry, necessary to achieve a sustainable climate future.
10 - Biological Diversity
- from Part II - Principles And Rules Establishing Standards
- Philippe Sands, University College London, Jacqueline Peel, University of Melbourne
- With Adriana Fabra, Universitat de Barcelona, Ruth MacKenzie, University of Westminster
-
- Book:
- Principles of International Environmental Law
- Published online:
- 07 August 2018
- Print publication:
- 01 March 2018, pp 384-454
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
-
Summary
INTRODUCTION
The terms ‘biological diversity’ or ‘biodiversity’ are of relatively recent usage in international law. Until the 1980s, international instruments tended to address ‘wildlife’ or ‘wild fauna and flora’, and focused on species and habitats. ‘Biodiversity’ is a more inclusive term and can be considered in relation to three hierarchical categories which describe different aspects of living systems measured in different ways: genetic diversity; species diversity; and ecosystem diversity.
However measured, there is a scientific consensus that biodiversity is being lost. The 2015 Global Forest Resources Assessment indicated that 129 million hectares of forest have been lost since 1990, although the net rate of global deforestation slowed in that period. The 2010 third Global Biodiversity Assessment (GBO 3) recorded that more than 95 per cent of North American grasslands have been lost, and that savannah and grassland have suffered severe declines elsewhere. The GBO 3 also noted that terrestrial habitats have become highly fragmented, threatening the viability of many species and ecosystem services. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment reported that about 20 per cent of the world's coral reefs have been destroyed and another 20 per cent degraded. In relation to species populations, the GBO 3 suggested that the population of wild vertebrate species fell by an average of 31 per cent globally between 1970 and 2006, with particularly severe declines in the tropics and in freshwater ecosystems. Much remains unknown about biodiversity – only a fraction of the species thought to exist have been described, and, as the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment acknowledged, ‘the extent of extinctions of undescribed taxa is unknown, the status of many described species is poorly known, it is difficult to document the final disappearance of very rare species, and there are time lags between the impact of a threatening process and the resulting extinction’.
Reasons for conserving nature and biodiversity are essentially threefold. First, biodiversity provides an actual and potential source of biological resources including, for example, for use as food and feed, as well as for pharmaceutical, industrial and other applications. Second, biodiversity contributes to the maintenance of the biosphere in a condition that supports human and other life. This concept of ‘ecosystem services’ provided by biodiversity has become central to contemporary policy debates on the issue. Third, biodiversity conservation may be based on ethical, intrinsic, aesthetic and cultural considerations.
Part II - Principles And Rules Establishing Standards
- Philippe Sands, University College London, Jacqueline Peel, University of Melbourne
- With Adriana Fabra, Universitat de Barcelona, Ruth MacKenzie, University of Westminster
-
- Book:
- Principles of International Environmental Law
- Published online:
- 07 August 2018
- Print publication:
- 01 March 2018, pp 195-196
-
- Chapter
- Export citation