Principles on International Environmental Law

Lesson 11

International Environmental Law is a branch of public international law consisting of those

substantive, procedural, and institutional rules which have as their primary objective the
protection of the environment. The term “environment” is understood as encompassing both
creatures and products of the natural world and those of human civilization

ESSENTIAL ENVIRONMENTAL PRINCIPLES

Principle of Good Neighborliness

The principle of good neighborliness denotes the duty of states in view of not damaging
the environment. The principle of international cooperation means that there should be an
obligation where one cannot perform any such activities which are contrary to other states’ rights
or which might harm their environment. This principle of international cooperation is believed to
be based on this legal maxim sic utere tuo et alienum non laedas; meaning one should use their
property in such a manner that they do not cause any harm to another.

Precautionary Approach/Principle
The precautionary principle requires that, if there is a strong suspicion that a certain
activity may have environmentally harmful consequences, it is better to control that activity
now rather than to wait for incontrovertible scientific evidence. This principle is expressed in
the Rio Declaration, which stipulates that, where there are “threats of serious or irreversible
damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective
measures to prevent environmental degradation.”

Polluter Pays Principle

This principle is that those who commence the act of pollution shall bear the cost of its
management and prevention so that it does not harm the environment and human beings.
The 1992 Rio Declaration has recognised the polluter pays principle. The primary arena of this
principle is land, air, and water. We all know how much greenhouse gases have affected our
environment. This principle can be applied to greenhouse gases. The principle can be
implemented through a carbon price. The carbon price is a small charge which is paid by
greenhouse gas emitters equivalent to the corresponding potential cost caused through future
climate change, thus forcing emitters to internalize the cost of pollution. The carbon price can be
paid in two ways:

● In the form of the carbon tax (direct method).

● In the form of quota, here a certain limit is set and beyond it, the price has to be paid.
Principle of Sustainable Development
Sustainable development is an approach to economic planning that attempts to foster
economic growth while preserving the quality of the environment for future generations.
Despite its enormous popularity in the last two decades of the 20th century, the concept of
sustainable development proved difficult to apply in many cases, primarily because the results of
long-term sustainability analyses depend on the particular resources

One of the most important areas of the law of sustainable development is ecotourism.
Although tourism poses the threat of environmental harm from pollution and the overuse of
natural resources, it also can create economic incentives for the preservation of the environment
in developing countries and increase awareness of unique and fragile ecosystems throughout the
world.

Environment Impact Assessment Principle

Environmental impact assessment (EIA) is a process having the ultimate objective of

providing decision-makers with an indication of the likely consequences of their actions. It
is applied internationally as a preventive environmental management tool to ensure that proposed
actions are economically viable, socially equitable, and environmentally sustainable.An First, it
should provide decision-makers with information on the environmental consequences of
proposed activities and, in some cases, programmes and policies, and their alternatives. Second, it
requires decisions to be influenced by that information. And, third, it provides a mechanism for
ensuring the participation of potentially affected persons in the decision-making process.

Principle of Intergenerational Equity

Intergenerational equity describes fairness in access to and use of planetary resources
across time. It is founded on two types of relationships: the relationship between each generation
and all other generations—past, present, and future—as part of a community with equal rights to
natural resources and the relationship between the human community and the natural system, of
which humans are a part. All generations must agree on a method for allocating resources
before they know when in time they will exist. Each generation wants to enjoy at least as much
benefit as the others and requires certain minimum standards to ensure the quality of life of its
members.
The resulting system therefore needs to satisfy two requirements: equity among
generations and the ability of each generation to meet its own needs. These correspond to the
linked principles of intergenerational equity and sustainable development. A third requirement—
the fair allocation of resources within each generation—corresponds to the principle of
intergenerational equity, which is functionally inseparable from the other two. Intergenerational
equity does not imply absolute equality in allocation of resources but
necessitates balancing present and future needs and providing flexibility for future generations to
achieve their own goals. This is realized through three components:
1. Conservation of options by maintaining the diversity of natural resources so future
generations can make choices to meet their needs;
2. Conservation of quality of ecological systems comparable to those enjoyed by
 previous generations, avoiding excessive degradation and pollution
3. Conservation of access to planetary resources so that members of present and
future generations have opportunities to use and benefit from natural resources.

Principle of Common but Dif erentiated Responsibility

The common but differentiated responsibility is that the common aim of all states
should be protecting the environment, but having said that, certain states owing to their
different ecological systems, physical appearances, geographical features might have to take
more responsibility than other states. The basic idea of this principle is that all states should
follow and obey international laws on the basis of equity and in accordance with their common
but differentiated responsibilities and respective capacities. Two major principles of this principle
are:
● Common Responsibility signifies that all the states must aim to conserve the
environment together. They should not disregard their responsibility at any cost.
They should not take advantage of their fellow states and not perform their own
duty
● Differentiated responsibility States composed of heavy industries, factories have
to bear more precautionary measures or perform actions compared to a state which
is filled with flaura and fauna. But each state has to keep in mind that while
performing their differentiated responsibility, they cannot perform or form any
such policies which are harmful or derogatory to their own state or other states.

Principle of Non-Discrimination
Strong economic ties among nations would support global stability, peace, and
prosperity. And they believed that adherence to a common set of disciplines on government
behavior as it relates to trade would reap benefits for the members of their respective societies
while enabling nations to rebuild their economies. Today they are joined by a total of 164
Members (as of July 2016) in the WTO, the institution under which the GATT was subsumed on
January 1, 1995.
● National treatment applies to internal measures like taxation and regulation and
requires that governments not afford an advantage to domestic producers relative
to foreign producers. The obligation applies to all traded goods as well as traded
services and service suppliers, whether the discrimination occurs as a matter of
law or has a discriminatory effect – once the product, service, or service supplier
has entered the market.The overarching goal is to avoid protectionism and offer
everyone an expectation of equal competitive conditions.
● MFN (Most Favored Nation) treatment basically requires that governments not
discriminate between importing countries by treating the products of Country A
better or worse than those from Country B. The obligation is embedded in a
variety of multilateral trade agreements and applies to border measures as well as
internal measures.
STANDARD OF CONDUCT

Strict Liability Theory

The adverse consequences of their lawful activities are relatively well developed at a
general level, and are also reflected in the Articles on State Responsibility adopted by the
International Law Commission (ILC) in 2001. In relation to environmental damage, however, the
liability rules are still evolving and are in need of further development. Environmental damage
refers here to damage to the environment, which has generally been defined in treaties and other
international acts to include four possible elements: fauna, flora, soil, water and climatic factors;
material assets (including archaeological and cultural heritage); the landscape and environmental
amenity; and the interrelationship between the above factors. Most legal definitions of
environment do not, therefore, include people and their property, although this is changing as a
result of the increasing intersection of international environmental law with the area of human
rights protection.

Test of Due Diligence

Due diligence in the field of environmental protection. It provides a fine-grained analysis
of the main legal bases for the determination of due diligence in this field. It shows that the
progressive recognition of this duty has evolved hand in hand with the recognition of the need to
protect the environment per se, and not as a private (whether state or individual) interest that
would be protected in a horizontal (tort-like) form. Argues that the consolidation of due diligence
thus reflects the deeper transformation of international law from a horizontal inter-state body of
norms to an increasingly vertical one, where duties do not merely arise from the interests of other
subjects.

Long-range Trans-boundary Air Pollution

The Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution is a unique example of a

cooperative venture that brings together countries, regions and continents to implement effective
action for cleaner air. Recognizing that air pollution crosses boundaries, oceans and continents,
the Convention involves countries from Europe, Central Asia and North America. They work
together under the Convention, but also cooperate sub-regionally to address their own concerns.
The Parties to the Convention meet at least once a year to review progress in complying
with emission reductions, to discuss further measures to reduce the effects of air pollution, to
identify emerging issues and to discuss opportunities to work together and cooperate for the
future. On entry into force, the protocols also undergo review to consider their effectiveness, and
if further measures are needed.