Part III Conceptual Pillars, Ch.19 Differentiation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cullet Philippe
Keyword(s):  
Distributive Justice ◽  
Natural Resource ◽  
Environmental Law ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Differential Treatment ◽  
International Environmental Law ◽  
The Past ◽  
Common But Differentiated Responsibilities ◽  
Global Distributive Justice ◽  
Resource Endowments

This chapter explores differential treatment, which is one of the main instruments that exist in international environmental law to foster equity. It builds on ideas of global distributive justice and helps to rebalance some of the most visible inequalities arising between formally equal states of very different size, power, and natural resource endowments. The principle that reflects differential treatment in international environmental law is that of common but differentiated responsibilities (CBDR). The chapter discusses the conceptual bases for and development of differential treatment. This confirms the significance of the break proposed to the traditional international legal framework and explains the continuing opposition to differential treatment by some countries. The chapter then highlights the different manifestations of differential treatment in international environmental law and shows that differential treatment pervades the whole field. It also looks at some of the critiques of differentiation and the forms of differential treatment that have evolved over the past couple of decades.

Protecting Natural Resources

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jérémie Gilbert
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Natural Resources ◽  
Environmental Law ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
International Environmental Law ◽  
Conservation Of Natural Resources ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Do So

This chapter focuses on the connection between the international legal framework governing the conservation of natural resources and human rights law. The objective is to examine the potential synergies between international environmental law and human rights when it comes to the protection of natural resources. To do so, it concentrates on three main areas of potential convergence. It first focuses on the pollution of natural resources and analyses how human rights law offers a potential platform to seek remedies for the victims of pollution. It next concentrates on the conservation of natural resources, particularly on the interconnection between protected areas, biodiversity, and human rights law. Finally, it examines the relationship between climate change and human rights law, focusing on the role that human rights law can play in the development of the current climate change adaptation and mitigation frameworks.

scholarly journals Applying the Precautionary Principle to Private Persons : Should it Affect Civil and Criminal Liability?

2005 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce Pardy
Keyword(s):  
Precautionary Principle ◽  
Environmental Law ◽  
Criminal Liability ◽  
Strict Liability ◽  
Criminal Punishment ◽  
International Environmental Law ◽  
The Precautionary Principle ◽  
The Past ◽  
Precautionary Action ◽  
Domestic Law

The precautionary principle, developed in international environmental law, is a prospective concept. It can be used to decide what should be allowed to occur in the future. The question addressed in this article is whether, in domestic law, the precautionary principle should be applied retrospectively. Should precautionary behaviour be used as a standard to apply to the past actions of private persons, so as to judge whether those persons have acted legally ? In the civil realm, the answer is « yes ». Applying the precautionary principle in civil cases removes foreseeability requirements, and transforms liability based on fault into strict liability. In the criminal sphere, retrospective application of the precautionary principle is not appropriate. To require precautionary action on the part of an accused in an environmental prosecution transforms strict liability into absolute liability, and creates the potential for criminal punishment in the absence of culpability.

In Search of Global Law: The Significance of the Earth Charter

2004 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 62-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Klaus Bosselmann
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Law ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
International Environmental Law ◽  
Legal Traditions ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Ecological Principles ◽  
Earth Charter ◽  
Ecologically Sustainable ◽  
Global Law ◽  
Ecologically Sustainable Development

AbstractWestern legal traditions are anthropocentric in character and largely hostile to ecological principles. However, domestic and international environmental law show signs of an ecocentric orientation. In the search for a legal framework for ecologically sustainable development the Earth Charter marks an important step forward. Among its ground-breaking principles are ecologically defined concepts of sustainability, justice and rights.

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