This article is a description of the general principles and rules of international environmental law that have emerged from International treaties, agreements, and customs.
The significance of the generality of these principles is that they can be applied to the international community for the protection of the environment.
Environmental Law under traditional views derives from one of four sources:
- International Conventions;
- International Customs;
- General Principles of Law recognized by civilized nations;
- and judicial decisions.
You might have already been referringto some of these principles unknowingly.
Sovereignty And Responsibility
International environmental law has developed between two contradicting principles.
First, states have sovereign rights over their natural resources.
Second, states should not cause damage to the environment.
Although the concept of a state’s sovereignty over its natural resources is rooted in the old principle of territorial sovereignty, the United Nations General Assembly has further encouraged it declaring, inter alia, that the right of peoples and nations to permanent sovereignty over their natural resources and wealth must be exercised in the interest of their national development, and of the well-being of the people of the state.
This environmental law recognizes that the State is a trustee of all natural resources, the enjoyment of which is subject to a measure of control necessary to protect the legitimate interest of all sections and stakeholders in the larger framework of strategic national interests.
The Duty To Compensate For Harm
States are responsible to ensure that activities within their jurisdiction or control do not cause damage to the environment of other states or areas beyond the limits of their national jurisdiction. Injuries result from violations of this generally accepted rule.
Any state responsible for a violation of international law has to stop the wrongful conduct and re-establish the condition that existed prior to the wrongful
conduct. If it is impossible to re-establish the pre-existing condition, the state should provide compensation.
This environmental law requires that where for exceptional reasons of overriding public interest, the general obligation to protect threatened or endangered species and natural systems that are of special importance to sustaining life, providing livelihoods, or general well-being cannot be provided, such cost-effective offsetting measures must be undertaken by the proponents of an activity to restore as nearly as may be feasible the lost environmental services to the community.
The User Pays Principle
This principle directs that the cost of a resource to a user must include all the environmental costs associated with its extraction, transformation and use (including the costs of alternative or future uses forgone).
The Precautionary Principle
This principle holds that where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, the lack of full scientific knowledge shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective means to prevent environmental degradation.
This rule, although still evolving, is reflected in principle fifteen of the Rio Declaration, which states that where there are warnings 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
The Subsidiarity Principle
This reflects the preference for making decisions at the lowest level of Government or social organization where the issue can be effectively managed – decisions made at the local level are often viewed as more likely to take account of local environmental conditions and the opinions of the local people who often bear the highest environmental costs of development.
Principle of Common But Differentiated Responsibility
The protection of the environment is a common challenge to all countries. Due to different development paths and the need to share in the responsibility for ecological degradation, some countries may be asked to carry more of the burden of conservation.
The idea is that states should comply with international obligations for the conservation of the environment on the basis of equity and in accordance with their common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capacities. This principle was acknowledged in the Rio Declaration at principles four and seven.
The Principle of Sustainable Development
The principle of sustainable development was defined by the 1987 Brundtland Report’ as a development that meets the needs (in particular the essential needs of the world’s poor) of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It imposes the idea of limitations on the environment’s capacity to meet present and futures needs.”
Sustainable development, as reflected in international agreements, encompasses at least three elements: Intergenerational Equity; Sustainable Use of Natural Resources and Integration of environment and development.
The Principle of Participation
This environmental law requires that decisions should, as much as possible, be made by the people or on their behalf by representatives chosen by them.
This require the country to domesticate Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) and Regional instruments and implement them cooperatively for better environmental management of shared resources.
In this regard, the country will take cognizance of all relevant International agreement on the environment and mainstream them in the protection of the environment;
Good Environmental Governance
This requires that the rule of law, effective institutions, transparency and accountability, respect for human rights and the meaningful participation of citizens will be integrated in environmental management
Integrated Ecosystem Approach
In conserving Environmental Resources this approach is adopted and enhanced to ensure that all the country’s ecosystems are managed for sustainable development and benefits of the people.
The Best Practicable Environmental Option (BPEO)
The Best Practicable Environmental Option (BPEO) is a set of procedures adopted by Great Britain with the goal of managing waste and other environmental concerns.
According to the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution, BPEO emphasizes the protection and conservation of the environment across land, air and water.
The BPEO procedure establishes for a given set of objectives, the option that provides the most benefits or the least damage to the environment.
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)
In the field of waste management, extended producer responsibility (EPR) is a strategy designed to promote the integration of environmental costs associated with goods throughout their life cycles into the market price of the products.
Extended producer responsibility legislation is a driving force behind the adoption of remanufacturing initiatives as it “focuses on the end-of-use treatment of consumer products and has the primary aim to increase the amount and degree of product recovery and to minimize the environmental impact of waste materials”
The goals of take-back laws are to
- Encourage companies to design products for reuse, recyclability, and materials reduction;
- Correcting market signals to the consumer by incorporating waste management costs into the product’s price;
- promoting innovation in recycling technology.
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The legal meaning and consequences of the above stated principles remain open. Some have evolved over a short period of time and sometimes in different contexts.
The influence of international litigation should not be underestimated