History of

Environmental Law

History: Four Periods

International environmental law has evolved over at
least four distinct periods, reflecting developments in
scientific knowledge, the application of new, changes
in political consciousness and the changing structure
of the international legal order and institutions:
From early fisheries conventions to the creation of
the United Nations: 1867--1945
From the creation of the United Nations to
Stockholm: 19451972
From Stockholm to Rio: 19721992
Post Rio: > 1992

From early fisheries conventions

to the creation of the United
Nations
Started from bilateral fisheries treaties in the nineteenth
century, and concluded with the creation of the new
international organizations in 1945
Early attempts to develop international environmental
rules focused on the conservation of wildlife (fisheries,
birds and seals) and, to a limited extent, on the protection
of rivers and seas
During this period, peoples and nations began to
understand that the process of industrialization and
development required limitations on the exploitation of
certain natural resources (flora and fauna) and the
adoption of appropriate legal instruments
The adoption of treaties was sporadic and limited in scope

From the creation of the

United Nations to Stockholm:
19451972

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 organizations
with competence in environmental matters was
created, and legal instruments were adopted, at both
the regional and global level, 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

From Stockholm to Rio: 1972

1992
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 was banned at the
global level
5

Post Rio (>1992)

The fourth period was set in motion by UNCED,
and may be characterized as the period of
integration: when environmental concerns should,
as a matter of international law and policy, be
integrated into all activities. This has also been
the period in which increased attention has been
paid to compliance with international
environmental obligations, with the result that
there has been a marked increase in international
law.

History of the
International law
1867, Convention Between France and
Great Britain Relative to Fisheries (Paris)
1900, Convention Between the River
Rhine States Respecting Regulations
Governing the Transport of Corrosive and
Poisonous Substances
1902, Convention for the Protection of
Birds Useful to Agriculture (Paris).
1907, Convention Concerning the Laws
and Customs of War on Land (The Hague)
7

History of the
International law
1949, Geneva Convention IV for the
Protection of War Victims, Concerning
Protection of Civilians in Time of War.

History of the
International law
1949 United Nations Conference on the
Conservation and Utilization of
Resources (UNCCUR).
1954, the General Assembly convened
a major Conference on the
Conservation of the Living Resources of
the Sea, which led to the conservation
rules adopted in the 1958 Geneva
Conventions.
9

History of the
International law
1954, the International Maritime
Organization (IMO), the first global
convention for the prevention of oil
pollution was adopted
1955, the General Assembly adopted
the first of a number of resolutions on
the use of atomic energy and the effects
of atomic radiation. International Court
of Justice (ICJ) calling on France to stop
all atmospheric nuclear tests
10

History of the
International law
1958 Convention on the High Seas
which committed contracting parties
to preventing oil pollution and the
dumping of radioactive wastes
1971 Ramsar Convention was the
first environment treaty to establish
rules addressing the conservation of
a particular type of ecosystem
11

History of the
International law
1972, shortly before the Stockholm
Conference, the Oslo Dumping
Convention became the first treaty to
prohibit the dumping of a wide range of
hazardous substances at sea.

12

History of the
International law

1972 UN Conference on the Human

Environment, held in Stockholm attended by
114 states
Establishing UNEP
The Conference considered the impact of human
activities on the biosphere, including the effects of
air and water pollution, overgrazing, deforestation
and the drainage of wetlands,
a Declaration containing twenty six Principles, and
an Action Plan containing 109 recommendations.
13

History of the
International law

Principle 21 of the Stockholm Declaration

Remains the cornerstone of international
environmental law
The rules of international environmental law
have developed within the context of two
fundamental objectives pulling in opposing
directions:
states have sovereign rights over their natural
resources; and
states must not cause damage to the environment

14

History of the
International law
1980 World Conservation Strategy was
prepared by IUCN, UNEP, WWF,
UNESCO and FAO.
1982 World Charter for Nature Ten
years after the Stockholm Conference,
the UN General Assembly adopted the
World Charter for Nature, which set
forth principles of conservation by
which all human conduct affecting
nature is to be guided and judged
15

History of the
International
law
1987 The Brundtland Report and the Report of the
Legal Experts Group the World Commission on
Environment and Development (WCED), chaired by
Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland,
was established in 1983 by the UN General
Assembly, and its report (the Brundtland Report)
was published in 1987.
The commission was created to address growing
concern "about the accelerating deterioration of the
human environment and natural resources and the
consequences of that deterioration for economic
and social development

16

History of the
International law
1991, the World Bank, UNEP and the
UNDP established the Global
Environmental Fund to provide
financial resources to support
Environmental projects.

17

History of the
International law
1992 Conference on Environment and
Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro- Brazil
attended by 176 states.
The Rio Declaration on Environment and
Development.
Agenda 21:
action plan of the United Nations (UN) related to
sustainable development

Framework Convention on Climate Change

(INC/FCCC)
The Rio Declaration develops general principles of
the international law of sustainable development.
18

Agenda 21
2. International cooperation to accelerate sustainable
development in developing countries and related domestic
policies
3. Combating poverty
4. Changing consumption patterns
5. Demographic dynamics and sustainability
6. Protecting and promoting human health conditions
7. Promoting sustainable human settlement development
8. Integrating environment and development in decisionmaking
9. Protection of the atmosphere
14. Promoting sustainable agriculture and rural development
15. Conservation of biological diversity

19

History of the
International law
2002 (Rio +10) World Summit on
Sustainable Development (WSSD)
was held in Johannesburg

20

) 1954(.
) 1954(
).(1971
) 1965(.

)1967(.
)1969(.
)
1971(.
) ( ) 1972(.
)1972(.
)1972( .
)1973(.
)1973( 1978 ) -
( MARPOL73/78
) .(1979
) 1982(.
)1985(.

) 1986(.
) 1987(.
) 1989(.
) 1989(.
) 1990( )1987(.
1994) xi( ) 1982(.
) 1992( ) 1987(.
) 1992(.
)1992( .
) 1993(.
) 1994(.
) 1998(
) 1982(.
) 1997( ) 1992(.

)1998( .

)1999(
)2001(