INTERNATIONAL LAW AND

ENVIRONMENT
UNIT 4
 STOCKHOLM DECLARATION
• In 1972 in Stockholm, Sweden, the United Nations hosted its first Conference on the
Human Environment, the official declaration of which is commonly called the
Stockholm Declaration of 1972.

• The 26 principles within the declaration broadly recognize human impact on the
environment, signifying for the first time in history that environmental issues have
been addressed publicly and on a global scale.

• The declaration emphasizes the need for nations to design integrative development
plans that combine science and technology in order to lessen air, land, and water
pollution and human impact on the environment.

• It urges each nation to create regulations for protecting wildlife and conserving the
natural resources that are available within that country, and suggests creating national
population policies, since overpopulation exacerbates the strain on natural resources.
 PRINCIPLES
Human-centric (Principles 1 and 15)
• Principle 1: Rights and Responsibilities for protecting the
environment – Humans have the right to use and enjoy nature. The
right to enjoy nature is not unfettered, it is coextensive with the duty
to protect it. Art. 21 of the constitution also safeguards the
fundamental right of a healthy environment. This principle also
explicitly bars discriminatory laws.

• Principle 15: Human settlement and Urbanization – Planned

settlements and urbanization are required. They reduce the adverse
effects on the environment. The goal is to secure maximum benefits
for all through planning. All discriminatory plans are also barred.
 CONTN…
Sustainable development (Principles 2, 3, 4, 5, 13 and 14)
• Principle 2: Duty to protect natural resources – Natural resources are limited. We must use
natural resources carefully. Preservation of resources depends on effective planning and
management.
• Principle 3: Duty to preserve renewable resources – Although renewable resources are not
depletable, their preservation is necessary for their quality.
• Principle 4: Wildlife Conservation – A combination of factors is responsible for endangering
wildlife. Humans have a special responsibility for protecting wildlife. The inclusion of
conservation of wildlife in economic planning leads to sustainable development.
• Principle 5: Duty to preserve non-renewable resources – Non-renewable resources are
exhaustible. They are valuable resources. Exercising care and caution is necessary to prevent
them from depletion
• Principle 13: Rational Management of Resources – States should adopt rational methods to
manage the resources and to improve the environment. An integrated and coordinated
approach is preferable.
• Principle 14: Rational Planning – Conflicts between development and conservation are
reconciled with rational planning. Development and conservation must go hand in hand.
 CONTN….
Reflection on customary international law position
(Principle 21)

• States have the absolute authority to use natural resources

according to their policies. However, their policies
shouldn’t violate the principles of international law and
cause damage to other states outside its jurisdiction.
 CONTN….
Preventive actions (Principles 6,7,8 and 18)

• Principle 6: Management of pollution – Pollution is harmful to the environment. Discharging

toxins and other substances in large quantities are harmful to the ecosystem. Both the citizens
and the states should play an active role in reducing the dumping of harmful substances.

• Principle 7: Management of sea pollution – The states should reduce sea pollution by taking
necessary steps to prevent substances hazardous to human health, marine life, and the
legitimate uses of seas.

• Principle 8: Social and Economic development – The improvement of social and economic
conditions is necessary for a better living and working environment. Improvements shouldn’t
affect the environment in any way.

• Principle 18: Application of science – Science and technology are indispensable in today’s life.
They are used in almost every industry. Science and technology are also applicable to the
conservation of the environment. It is useful for identifying and controlling environmental risks.
They are useful for finding solutions for environmental issues.
 CONTN…
• Compensation to Victims (Principle 22)
• The States should join to further the scope of international law for prescribing liability for
those harming the environment. States should also come together to compensate victims
of environmental pollution or damage.

• Cooperation (Principles 24 and 25)

• Principle 24: Cooperation with nations – Although each state has exclusive jurisdiction to
legislate on internal matters, international cooperation is necessary for the holistic
improvement of the environment. States must recognize that environmental problems
affect all the states equally. By multilateral and bilateral agreements states can control,
prevent, and reduce environmental risks.

• Principle 25: Coordination with nations – Coordination between states is crucial for
alleviating the existing conditions. The states can jointly coordinate actions and plans for
improving existing environmental conditions.
 CONTN…
Other principles
• Principle 11: Environmental Policy – The environmental policy of every nation should be progressive. The policies of
every state must enhance and complement each other. The policies shouldn’t restrict or adversely affect developing
countries. National and international organizations should strive for better living conditions for all without affecting the
environment.

• Principle 19: Education in environmental matters – Education is one of the tools to spread awareness about the pathetic
state of the environment. The underprivileged, poor, illiterate should have access to education. Education broadens the
mind. Awareness about the existing conditions is necessary so that people can jointly tackle environmental matters.

• Principle 20: Expanding scientific research – Researching and developing methods nationally and internationally is
important to tackle environmental problems. There must exist a system where information and research can flow easily
across nations. Countries must also control their spending on scientific research without burdening the economy.

• Principle 9: Environmental Deficiencies – Natural disasters and underdevelopment lead to deficiencies. Navigating
through such deficiencies is difficult. Requesting technological and financial assistance to supplement the local efforts
leads to a quicker and effective remedy.

• Principle 10: Stability of prices and incomes – Stability in the prices of essential commodities and stability of income is
essential for the environmental management of developing countries. Economic factors are also part of the
environmental process.
 CONTN…
• Principle 12: Education on environmental protection – Environmental protection is the need of the hour.
Every citizen should understand the importance of environmental protection. Adoption of a suitable
medium like social media, print media, etc. is crucial to spread awareness about environmental protection.

• Principle 16: Population Control – In areas where the population is excessive and is likely to affect the
environment, the states can implement policies to control the growth of the population. These policies
shouldn’t violate basic human rights. In today’s world overpopulation is one of the major reasons for the
depletion of natural resources.

• Principle 17: Setting up of national institutions – States should establish national bodies for the control and
management of environmental resources within the state.

• Principle 23: Implementing a national agenda – The states may find that certain procedures and rules may
not align the value system of the country. In that case, the states need not follow such a procedure. The
states are also exempted if such procedures cause unwarranted social costs.

• Principle 26: Ban on nuclear weapons – Nuclear weapons are the most destructive weapons. They cause
more damage to the environment than any other weapon. All the nations should come together to ban
nuclear weapons.
 BRUNDTLAND COMMISSION REPORT
• World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED)
• The Brundtland Commission was created by the United Nations
in 1983 to reflect about ways to save the human environment and
natural resources and prevent deterioration of economic and
social development.
• “Sustainable development is development that meets the needs
of the present without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs.”
• The three main pillars of sustainable development include
economic growth, environmental protection, and social equality.
 CONTN….
• The mission of the Commission was to formulate a "global agenda for change"; specifically it was to
propose long-term environmental strategies for achieving sustainable development; to translate
environmental concern into achieving common, and mutually supportive objectives; to consider how
the international community can deal more effectively with environmental concerns; and to define
the perceptions, goals and agenda for action needed to successfully protect and enhance the
environment.

• The Brundtland Commission gave a new definition of sustainable development as a concept that
integrates the importance of development with the cause of environmental protection. Since the
Commission's report, the importance of sustainable development has been realized all over the
world.

• We can better understand the environment in relation to development and we can better understand
development in relation to the environment, because they cannot and should not be distinguished as
separate entities). Brundtland argues:

• "...the "environment" is where we live; and "development" is what we all do in attempting to improve
our lot within that abode. The two are inseparable."
 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
• There has been a growing realization in national governments
and multilateral institutions that it is impossible to separate
economic development issues from environment issues; many
forms of development erode the environmental resources upon
which they must be based, and environmental degradation can
undermine economic development.

• Poverty is a major cause and effect of global environmental

problems. It is therefore futile to attempt to deal with
environmental problems without a broader perspective that
encompasses the factors underlying world poverty and
international inequality.
 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
• Humanity has the ability to make development sustainable to ensure that it
meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs. The concept of sustainable development
does imply limits - not absolute limits but limitations imposed by the present
state of technology and social organization on environmental resources and by
the ability of the biosphere to absorb the effects of human activities.

• But technology and social organization can be both managed and improved to
make way for a new era of economic growth. The Commission believes that
widespread poverty is no longer inevitable. Poverty is not only an evil in itself,
but sustainable development requires meeting the basic needs of all and
extending to all the opportunity to fulfil their aspirations for a better life. A
world in which poverty is endemic will always be prone to ecological and other
catastrophes.
 POLICY INITIATIVES AND POPULATION
• The ability to anticipate and prevent environmental damage
requires that the ecological dimensions of policy be considered at
the same time as the economic, trade, energy, agricultural, and
other dimensions. They should be considered on the same
agendas and in the same national and international institutions.

• The Commission has focused its attention in the areas of

population, food security, the loss of species and genetic
resources, energy, industry, and human settlements - realizing
that all of these are connected and cannot be treated in isolation
one from another. This section contains only a few of the
Commission's many recommendations.
 CONSERVATION OF SPECIES AND ENERGY
• The planet's species are under stress. There is a growing scientific
consensus that species are disappearing at rates never before witnessed
on the planet, although there is also controversy over those rates and the
risks they entail. Yet there is still time to halt this process.

• A safe and sustainable energy pathway is crucial to sustainable

development; we have not yet found it. Rates of increase in energy use
have been declining. However, the industrialization, agricultural
development, and rapidly growing populations of developing nations will
need much more energy. Today, the average person in an industrial
market economy uses more than 80 times as much energy as someone in
sub-Saharan Africa. Thus any realistic global energy scenario must provide
for substantially increased primary energy use by developing countries.
 AGRICULTURE AND FOREST
• Forests are crucial for maintaining and improving the productivity of agricultural land. Yet
agricultural expansion, a growing world timber trade, and wood fuel demand have destroyed
much forest cover. Although this destruction has occurred worldwide, today the greatest
challenge is in developing countries, particularly in tropical forests.

• Growing populations and the decreasing availability of arable land lead poor farmers in these
countries to seek new land in forests to grow more food. Some government policies encourage
the conversion of forests to pastures and others encourage large resettlement schemes in
forests. There is nothing inherently wrong with clearing forests for farming, provided that the
land is the best there is for new farming, can support the numbers encouraged to settle upon it,
and is not already serving a more useful function, such as watershed protection. But often
forests are cleared without forethought or planning.

• Food security requires more than good conservation programmes, which can be - and usually
are - overridden and undermined by inappropriate agricultural, economic, and trade policies.
Nor is it just a matter of adding an environmental component to programmes. Food strategies
must take into account all the policies that bear upon the threefold challenge of shifting
production to where it is most needed, of securing the livelihoods of the rural poor, and of
conserving resources.
 CONTN…
• Undisturbed forests protect watersheds, reduce erosion. offer habitats for
wild species, and play key roles in climatic systems. They are also an
economic resource providing timber, fuelwood, and other products. The
crucial task is to balance the need to exploit forests against the need to
preserve them.

• Sound forest policies can be based only on an analysis of the capacity of

the forests and the land under them to perform various functions. Such an
analysis might lead to some forests being cleared for intensive cultivation,
others for livestock; some forestland might be managed for increased
timber production or agroforestry use and some left intact for watershed
protection, recreation, or species conservation. The extension of
agriculture into forest areas must be based on scientific classification of
land capacities.
 RIO DECLARATION 1992
• Otherwise called as Earth Summit. Rio Declaration on Environment
and Development
• It established link between environment and development in
defining the concept of Sustainable Development.
MAJOR OBJECTIVES
• To establish new and equitable global partnership through the
creation of new levels of cooperation among the states, key sectors
of the society, and people.
• To work towards international agreements to respect the interest of
all and protect the integrity of the global environment and
developmental system.
• To recognize the integral and interdependent nature of our earth.
 PRINCIPLES
• Principle 1
Human beings are at the centre of concerns for sustainable development. They are
entitled to a healthy and productive life in harmony with nature.
• Principle 4
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.
• Principle 5
All States and all people shall cooperate in the essential task of eradicating poverty as an
indispensable requirement for sustainable development, in order to decrease the
disparities in standards of living and better meet the needs of the majority of the people
of the world.
• Principle 8
To achieve sustainable development and a higher quality of life for all people, States
should reduce and eliminate unsustainable patterns of production and consumption and
promote appropriate demographic policies.
 Contn….
• Principle 7
States shall cooperate in a spirit of global partnership to conserve, protect and restore the health
and integrity of the Earth's ecosystem. In view of the different contributions to global
environmental degradation, States have common but differentiated responsibilities. The
developed countries acknowledge the responsibility that they bear in the international pursuit of
sustainable development in view of the pressures their societies place on the global environment
and of the technologies and financial resources they command.

• Principle 8
To achieve sustainable development and a higher quality of life for all people, States should
reduce and eliminate unsustainable patterns of production and consumption and promote
appropriate demographic policies.

• Principle 9
States should cooperate to strengthen endogenous capacity-building for sustainable development
by improving scientific understanding through exchanges of scientific and technological
knowledge, and by enhancing the development, adaptation, diffusion and transfer of
technologies, including new and innovative technologies.
 Contn….
• Principle 20
Women have a vital role in environmental management and development. Their full
participation is therefore essential to achieve sustainable development.

• Principle 21
The creativity, ideals and courage of the youth of the world should be mobilized to
forge a global partnership in order to achieve sustainable development and ensure a
better future for all.

• Principle 22
Indigenous people and their communities and other local communities have a vital role
in environmental management and development because of their knowledge and
traditional practices. States should recognize and duly support their identity, culture
and interests and enable their effective participation in the achievement of sustainable
development.
 Contn…
• Principle 24
Warfare is inherently destructive of sustainable development.
States shall therefore respect international law providing
protection for the environment in times of armed conflict and
cooperate in its further development, as necessary.

• Principle 27
States and people shall cooperate in good faith and in a spirit
of partnership in the fulfilment of the principles embodied in
this Declaration and in the further development of
international law in the field of sustainable development.
 contn…
• Principle 2
States have, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and the principles of
international law, the sovereign right to exploit their own resources pursuant to their
own environmental and developmental policies, and the responsibility to ensure that
activities within their jurisdiction or control do not cause damage to the environment of
other States or of areas beyond the limits of national jurisdiction.

• Principle 3
The right to development must be fulfilled so as to equitably meet developmental and
environmental needs of present and future generations.

• Principle 6
The special situation and needs of developing countries, particularly the least developed
and those most environmentally vulnerable, shall be given special priority. International
actions in the field of environment and development should also address the interests
and needs of all countries.
 Contn…
• Principle 10
Environmental issues are best handled with the participation of all concerned citizens, at the
relevant level. At the national level, each individual shall have appropriate access to information
concerning the environment that is held by public authorities, including information on hazardous
materials and activities in their communities, and the opportunity to participate in decision-
making processes. States shall facilitate and encourage public awareness and participation by
making information widely available. Effective access to judicial and administrative proceedings,
including redress and remedy, shall be provided.

• Principle 11
States shall enact effective environmental legislation. Environmental standards, management
objectives and priorities should reflect the environmental and developmental context to which
they apply. Standards applied by some countries may be inappropriate and of unwarranted
economic and social cost to other countries, in particular developing countries.

• Principle 13
States shall develop national law regarding liability and compensation for the victims of pollution
and other environmental damage. States shall also cooperate in an expeditious and more
determined manner to develop further international law regarding liability and compensation for
adverse effects of environmental damage caused by activities within their jurisdiction or control
to areas beyond their jurisdiction.
 Contn…
• Principle 14
States should effectively cooperate to discourage or prevent the relocation and transfer to other
States of any activities and substances that cause severe environmental degradation or are found
to be harmful to human health.

• Principle 15
In order to protect the environment, the precautionary approach shall be widely applied by States
according to their capabilities. 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.

• Principle 16
National authorities should endeavour to promote the internalization of environmental costs and
the use of economic instruments, taking into account the approach that the polluter should, in
principle, bear the cost of pollution, with due regard to the public interest and without distorting
international trade and investment.
 Contn…
• Principle 17
Environmental impact assessment, as a national instrument, shall be undertaken for
proposed activities that are likely to have a significant adverse impact on the
environment and are subject to a decision of a competent national authority.

• Principle 18
States shall immediately notify other States of any natural disasters or other
emergencies that are likely to produce sudden harmful effects on the environment of
those States. Every effort shall be made by the international community to help
States so afflicted.

• Principle 19
States shall provide prior and timely notification and relevant information to
potentially affected States on activities that may have a significant adverse
transboundary environmental effect and shall consult with those States at an early
stage and in good faith.
 Contn…
• Principle 23
The environment and natural resources of people under oppression,
domination and occupation shall be protected.

• Principle 25
Peace, development and environmental protection are
interdependent and indivisible.

• Principle 26
States shall resolve all their environmental disputes peacefully and by
appropriate means in accordance with the Charter of the United
Nations.
 KYOTO PROTOCOL
• The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is
an international environmental treaty addressing climate change, negotiated and
signed by 154 states at the United Nations Conference on Environment and
Development (UNCED), informally known as the Earth Summit, held in Rio de
Janeiro from 3 to 14 June 1992. It established a Secretariat headquartered
in Bonn and entered into force on 21 March 1994. 

• The Kyoto Protocol, which was signed in 1997 and which entered into force in 2005,
was the first implementation of measures under the UNFCCC until 31 December
2020. The protocol was superseded by the Paris Agreement, which entered into
force in 2016. As of 2020, the UNFCCC has 197 signatory parties.

• The Kyoto Protocol operationalizes the United Nations Framework Convention on

Climate Change by committing industrialized countries and economies in transition
to limit and reduce greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions in accordance with agreed
individual targets.
 CONTN…
• The Kyoto Protocol is based on the principles and provisions of the
Convention and follows its annex-based structure. It only binds
developed countries, and places a heavier burden on them under the
principle of “common but differentiated responsibility and respective
capabilities”, because it recognizes that they are largely responsible
for the current high levels of GHG emissions in the atmosphere.

• The Kyoto Protocol mandated that 37 industrialized nations plus the

EU cut their GHG emissions. Developing nations were asked to
comply voluntarily, and more than 100 developing countries,
including China and India, were exempted from the Kyoto agreement
altogether.
 CONTN….
• The protocol separated countries into two groups: Annex I contained developed
nations, and Non-Annex I referred to developing countries. The protocol placed
emission limitations on Annex I countries only. Non-Annex I nations participated
by investing in projects designed to lower emissions in their countries.

• For these projects, developing countries earned carbon credits, which they could
trade or sell to developed countries, allowing the developed nations a higher
level of maximum carbon emissions for that period. In effect, this function
helped the developed countries to continue emitting GHG vigorously.

• The United States, which had ratified the original Kyoto agreement, dropped out
of the protocol in 2001. The U.S. believed that the agreement was unfair
because it called for industrialized nations only to limit emissions reductions, and
it felt that doing so would hurt the U.S. economy
 CONTN…
• In December 2012, after the first commitment period of the Protocol ended, parties to the
Kyoto Protocol met in Doha, Qatar, to adopt an amendment to the original Kyoto agreement.
This so-called Doha Amendment added new emission-reduction targets for the second
commitment period, 2012–2020, for participating countries.

• The Doha Amendment had a short life. In 2015, at the sustainable development summit held
in Paris, all UNFCCC participants signed yet another pact, the Paris Climate Agreement, which
effectively replaced the Kyoto Protocol.

• The Paris Climate Agreement is a landmark environmental pact that was adopted by nearly
every nation in 2015 to address climate change and its negative effects. The agreement
includes commitments from all major GHG-emitting countries to cut their climate-altering
pollution and to strengthen those commitments over time.

• A major directive of the deal calls for reducing global GHG emissions so as to limit the earth's
temperature increase in this century to 2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels while
taking steps to limit the increase to 1.5 degrees. The Paris Agreement also provides a way for
developed nations to assist developing nations in their efforts to adapt climate control and it
creates a framework for monitoring and reporting countries’ climate goals transparently.