Environmental Policy and Law - Volume 52, issue 3-4

Authors: Desai, Bharat H.

Article Type: Editorial

DOI: 10.3233/EPL-219042

Citation: Environmental Policy and Law, vol. 52, no. 3-4, pp. 171-172, 2022

Authors: Singh, Karan

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: The United Nations Conference on the Human Environment (UNCHE) was held in Stockholm during 5–16 June 1972. The Indian Delegation was personally led by the late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. As a Cabinet Minister this author was a member of it. Hence, this contribution is a personal reflection of the author. India has been an active participant in all the major global environmental conferences to protect the global environment. The 1992 Rio Conference is considered the landmark for the starting point of international environmental law-making. Still, it is the 1972 Stockholm Conference that should be considered as the pillar for …the codification of international environmental law and governance. In view of this, the Stockholm +50 (2-3 June 2022) Conference was a good occasion to review the successes and failures over the last half a century and reiterate the call for all nations to co-operate fully to meet their commitments under multilateral environmental agreements including 2015 Paris Agreement. This recollection provides a glimpse, through Indira Gandhi’s vision, into the international environmental processes and the prospects for the Stockholm+50 and beyond. Show more

Keywords: Stockholm conference, Indira Gandhi, UNEP, international environmental conferences, global environmental authority, Stockholm+50

DOI: 10.3233/EPL-219037

Citation: Environmental Policy and Law, vol. 52, no. 3-4, pp. 173-177, 2022

Authors: Dowdeswell, Elizabeth

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Drawing upon personal notes and memories, this article reflects on selected moments during the journey of global environmental awareness during the past 50 years. Through its convening power the United Nations, it’s myriad programs and associated organizations, has been the foundational institution. The emergence of the concept of sustainability and the existential crisis of climate change have dramatically altered the landscape during the period. Challenging questions about the governance of global interconnectedness and an agenda of peace and security that considers social inclusion, economic prosperity and environmental stewardship holistically remain a work in progress at Stockholm+50 and beyond.

Keywords: United Nations, Stockholm Conference, global environmental awareness, UNEP, sustainable development

DOI: 10.3233/EPL-219038

Citation: Environmental Policy and Law, vol. 52, no. 3-4, pp. 179-186, 2022

Authors: Sundström, Anna

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: The year 2022 marks the 40th anniversary of Olof Palme’s Independent Commission on Disarmament and Security Issues. The Commission presented its report in 1982, at the height of the Cold War. It developed the concept of common security – the idea that nations and peoples can only feel safe when their counterparts feel safe. By taking the concept of common security as its starting point, the Common Security 2022 initiative has analysed the world we live in and some of the great challenges facing humanity on the planet earth. At the time of 50th anniversary …of the 1972 Stockholm Conference (Stockholm+50), the Common Security 2022 recommendations are indications, or steps forward for our shared future that would include addressing the climate change, a process of removing the threat of nuclear annihilation and turning around the ‘super tanker’ of war. Show more

Keywords: Common security, human security, conflict prevention, climate-related security risks, nuclear disarmament, demilitarization, new military technologies, global architecture for peace, new peace dividend, multilateralism, development

DOI: 10.3233/EPL-219033

Citation: Environmental Policy and Law, vol. 52, no. 3-4, pp. 187-200, 2022

Authors: Hunter, David

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: This article argues that our overly state-centric approach to international environmental law limits the law’s effectiveness in addressing the complex environmental challenges of the Anthropocene. The sources of international environmental law are designed for State-to-State disputes, even though such disputes are rare and do not reflect the nature of most global environmental challenges. The focus of international environmental law has been State responsibility, even though the primary actors of environmental deterioration are not States. Nor has international environmental law focused on individual rights, even though individuals and local communities disproportionately bear the burden of environmental decisions and have the strongest …motivation to ensure action is taken. In the future, we should embrace a less State-centric approach to international environmental law— one that incorporates more directly the diversity of actors, contexts and legal norms that are currently involved in protecting the world’s environment. Such a reorientation could enable a rights-based approach that better reflects the realities of ecological limits and holds non-state beneficiaries of pollution and resource exploitation more directly accountable in a wider range of contexts. Show more

Keywords: Environmental challenges, state-centrism, ICJ Statute, contextual accountability, limits of statecraft, obligation to humanity (common concern), obligation to individuals (human rights)

DOI: 10.3233/EPL-219031

Citation: Environmental Policy and Law, vol. 52, no. 3-4, pp. 201-212, 2022

Authors: Bosselmann, Klaus

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: In one way or other, the Earth as an ecological system, has been the core concern of modern international environmental law since its conceptualization in the 1970s. This article traces notions of stewardship and state responsibilities for the Earth in international instruments and aims to show that, and why, these notions have remained without tangible results. Even after 50 years of the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment (UNCHE) we can only conclude that international environmental law (IEL) and governance have failed. Essentially, human rights and responsibilities need to be more clearly defined in international law and with …respect to the role of the United Nations and its member states. The Earth Charter and its most recent expression in the 2018 Hague Principles provide for a coherent framework of human rights and state responsibilities associated with Earth trusteeship as a future pathway. Show more

Keywords: International environmental law, state sovereignty, human rights and responsibilities, Earth Charter, Hague Principles, Earth trusteeship

DOI: 10.3233/EPL-219032

Citation: Environmental Policy and Law, vol. 52, no. 3-4, pp. 213-222, 2022

Authors: Desai, Bharat H.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: The idea of the revival and repurpose for the United Nations Trusteeship Council (UNTC) is pragmatic one to meet the needs of the changed times. Such repurpose entails entrustment of a new mandate to the revived UNTC that constitutes evolution of the trust in the global domain. It will be crucial restructuring and evolution of the UN with an understanding that there are places, territories, and areas known as ‘global commons’ that require special and careful nurturing for our better future. In a new avatar (form), the TC would in essence reflect the ‘ sacred trust’ with a …‘new mandate.’ From a scholarly perspective, such a move eminently makes sense since it could bring to life an entity within the UN and provide a big push to make the UN relevant for the needs of the present and future generations. It will essentially serve as a guardian of the global ‘common concerns’, ‘common heritage of mankind’ and the global environment. In the changed context, the UNTC need to serve as a trustee for betterment of the humankind and for the survival of the planet earth. The new mandate for the environment and the global commons could strengthen the UN and vindicate one of the core purposes for which the ‘United Nations’ came together in 1945 with a solemn resolve “to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained”. Show more

Keywords: United Nations, Trusteeship Council, sacred trust, revival and repurpose, global environment, new mandate, common concerns, global commons.

DOI: 10.3233/EPL-219039

Citation: Environmental Policy and Law, vol. 52, no. 3-4, pp. 223-235, 2022

Authors: McIntyre, Owen

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Despite the extraordinary proliferation of instruments of international environmental law since the 1972 UNCHE Conference in Stockholm, it appears that diverse forces are acting to maintain the internal coherence of this sub-field of international law, as well as its position firmly within the international law system. A range of institutions and processes ensure the continuing unitary nature of international environmental law within a unitary system of international law, notably including the universalist instincts of the International Court of Justice, the codification routinely undertaken by the International Law Commission, and the universal, pervasive and indivisible character of increasingly relevant human rights …norms. These processes of “convergence” act to unify and enrich the fabric of the increasingly elaborate and sophisticated complex of rules, principles and institutional structures comprising international environmental law, while suggesting its growing developmental maturity after 50 years of frenetic evolution and supporting its continuing coherent elaboration. Show more

Keywords: Fragmentation, convergence, treaty congestion, legal coherence, systemic unity of international law

DOI: 10.3233/EPL-219041

Citation: Environmental Policy and Law, vol. 52, no. 3-4, pp. 237-251, 2022

Authors: Backes, Chris | Boeve, Marlon

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: The urgency of transitioning to a circular economy is by now widely recognized. Overexploitation of our earth has been convincingly evidenced globally. An optimal legal instrumentation is one of the prerequisites for fostering the transition to a circular economy. This article identifies and critically assesses recent developments of relevant legal tools and provides some ideas of what else could be needed for the pathway to a circular economy. Since the EU may be seen as a frontrunner in this area and is rapidly developing additional legal instruments to contribute to the transition, the EU is taken as a showcase. Besides …EU law, the role of international law is discussed, as well as the question what individual states can do, within the boundaries of internal markets such as the EU. In short, there still is some room for improvement of EU law, especially concerning the establishment of concrete quantifiable general targets and the introduction of general legal principles of sustainable product design. On a global level, there is an urgent need to discuss and develop a legal framework for fostering the transition to a more circular economy. Show more

Keywords: Circular economy, legal instrumentation, EU circular economy action plans, product policy framework, product law, ecodesign approach, binding targets, global law on circularity

DOI: 10.3233/EPL-219034

Citation: Environmental Policy and Law, vol. 52, no. 3-4, pp. 253-263, 2022

Authors: Junker, Kirk W. | Münster, Saskia | Shinde, Mrinalini

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: We are already witnessing climate-induced migration and thus must prepare to address the next decades of even more human mobility as a consequence of the climate disruption crisis. Fifty years after the Stockholm Conference, international environmental law still needs solutions to protect those persons most vulnerable to environmental harm. This paper seeks to focus on the concept of reparative justice as the theme and attitude of legal solutions, so as to refocus legal tools to provide relief to those persons who are displaced and dispossessed because of the climate disruption crisis. In this paper, we present possibilities for a reparative …climate justice regime that could help to break the current cycle of harm and denial in which states are currently embroiled within international climate negotiations. This focus considers how careful solutions such as credit within the financial mechanisms under the Paris Agreement, in a spirit of trust and solidarity, could contribute to legal solutions to climate migration problems. The paper first iterates the scope and history of climate-induced migration in international law and then presents the case for reparations as a strong legal response to climate-induced migration, before finally exploring the legal avenues within international climate law wherein reparative justice and financing could potentially operate. Show more

Keywords: Climate-induced migration, environmental migrants, environmental refugees, slow-onset events, climate change, UNFCCC, reparations, climate justice, reparative justice, trust fund, loss and damage

DOI: 10.3233/EPL-219035

Citation: Environmental Policy and Law, vol. 52, no. 3-4, pp. 265-276, 2022