Affiliations: [a] Partner at Bredin Prat, Director General of the Global Pact Coalition, Paris, France
| [b] Special Advisor, Global Pact Coalition, Paris, France
Abstract: The environmental crisis compels humanity to redefine its relationship with nature. This calls for the principles that would guide the new pathway to be outlined and enshrined into a global treaty. An environmental charter for the future would serve the purpose of a social contract and define the norms which would allow humanity to coexist with its natural environment. In this context, this article argues that faith in the international system could be restored by a global agreement on the basic principles which are to guide the new system for international environmental governance. It will thus first focus on (i) exposing the merits of principles in a legal system, (ii) tackling the purely technical vision that weakens both the creation and implementation of international environmental law and (iii) finally, it will make the case for a global environmental charter that would enshrine fundamental principles and rejuvenate the values that founded the international system.
Keywords: Environmental crisis, environmental charter, global pact for the environment, international environmental governance, environmental justice, international environmental law
