INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL LAW (IEL)

The nature and scope of International Environmental Law

Nation states and the global commons

There are, in general, three areas in which environmental degradation may occur: within a state, affecting the environment only of that state, as in the case of contamination of land; between states, be they neighbouring or otherwise, as in the case of transboundary air pollution; and in the global commons, which pertains to all natural resources beyond the territory of any individual state, including the atmosphere, the ozone layer and the high seas. It is important to note that this is different to the concept of common heritage, a principle based on the equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of natural resources.

Sources of international law generally:

Article 38(1) of the Statute of the International Court of Justice lists the general sources of international law: 1. international conventions (or treaties); 2. international custom, as evidence of a general practice accepted as law; 3. general principles of law as recognised by civilised nations; and 4. judicial decisions and the writings of the most highly qualified publicists.

Primary sources
The primary sources of international environmental law are conventions and customary law (Glazewski 33). Soft law is an important ancillary to these standard sources of international environmental law. Soft law is not a formal source of law, but increased use has been made of it, especially in respect of environmental and economic matters.

Sources of international law generally: Soft law includes declarations; principles; recommendations; and standards.

DEVELOPMENT OF INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL LAW:

MILESTONES IN INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL LAW

Milestones:
Among the milestones in the history of international environmental law are the Behring Fur Seals Arbitration (1898); the 1941 Trail Smelter arbitration (United States v Canada 3 RIAA (1941) 1905; the 1945 establishment of the United Nations, and subsequently specialised agencies of the UN, like the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

Milestones:
The 1972 Conference on the Human Environment, convened by the UN Conference on the Human Environment (UNCHE) in Stockholm, represents another milestone. Its outcome was the Stockholm Declaration & Action Plan, comprising 26 landmark principles and an Action Plan of 109 recommendations. Principle 21 reads as follows: States have, in accordance with the charter of the United Nations and principles of international law, the sovereign right to exploit their own resources pursuant to their own environmental policies, and the responsibility to ensure that activities within their jurisdiction or control do not cause damage.

Subsequent milestones include the 1973 Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES); the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea; the 1985 Vienna Convention; the 1987 Montreal Protocol on Ozone Depletion; the 1992 Biodiversity Convention; and the 1983 World Commission on Environment and Development, which released the Brundtland Report, also known as Our Common Future, in 1987.

Milestones

Milestones
The World Commission on Environment and Development was an international commission which proposed strategies for sustainable development. Its report is commonly viewed as the point at which sustainable development became a broad global policy objective (Sands 10). It triggered a range of actions worldwide.