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An introduction to international environmental law ‘Food for thought’ lecture, Friday 15 January 2016. Prof. Dr. Henri de Waele. Outline. The development of international environmental law over time The leading treaties and declarations that have been adopted
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An introduction to international environmental law‘Food for thought’ lecture, Friday 15 January 2016 • Prof. Dr. Henri de Waele
Outline • The development of international environmental law over time • The leading treaties and declarations that have been adopted • The core principles of international enviromental law • Going to court to ensure a vital, green and healthy society
The development of international environmental law over time • Emerged as a separate field of international law in the 1970s • Landmark conferences: Stockholm (1972), Johannesburg (2002), Rio de Janeiro (1992 and 2012), Paris (2015) • A specialised international organisation concerned with global environmental protection has never been created (compare for example the WTO, WHO and ILO)
The leading treaties and declarations that have been adopted • Rio Declarationon Environment and Development • UN FrameworkConventiononClimateChange • Kyoto Protocol • The Treaty of Paris • Treatiesonspecific topics such as CITES and the Montréal Protocol • Regionaltreatiessuch as the OSPAR- and the Espoo-convention
The core principles of international environmental law • Prohibition for states to cause environmental damage to / in other states(‘No harm principle’) • Principle of sustainable development • Precautionary principle (‘Prevention is better than the cure’) • Polluter pays principle
Going to court to ensure a vital, green and healthy society • Litigation at the International Court of Justice (famous examples: the Pulp Mills and theGabcíkovo-Nagymaroscases) • Litigation at the European Court of Human Rights (famous examples: . Hatton v. United Kingdom and Oneryildiz v. Turkey) • Litigation at national courts? • - UNFCCC and Kyoto-Protocol: no ‘self-executing’ provisions • - Other international treaties: some provisions considered self-executing • - Rules of EU environmental law: generally ‘directly effective’ • - National rules of international environmental law: most easily invocable