Obligation to Conduct an Environmental Impact Assessment (eia) in International Adjudication: Interaction between Law and Time

2021 ◽  
Vol 90 (1) ◽  
pp. 86-121
Author(s):  
Yoshifumi Tanaka
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
International Law ◽  
Environmental Impact Assessment ◽  
Due Diligence ◽  
Precautionary Approach ◽  
International Adjudication ◽  
Valuable Role

Abstract An environmental impact assessment (eia) can have a valuable role in effectuating substantive rules of international law of the environment, such as the obligation of due diligence and the precautionary approach. Thus this article seeks to examine the interlink between an obligation to perform an eia, the obligation of due diligence, and the precautionary approach, focusing on temporal elements of international law of the environment. First, this article examines the interlink between an obligation to conduct an eia and the obligation of due diligence. Second, this article addresses the interlink between an obligation to conduct an eia and the precautionary approach. Third, the timing of triggering the obligation to conduct an eia must be considered. Finally, this article examines the issues of breach of the obligation to conduct an eia, before offering conclusions.

Due Diligence in the Use of International Watercourses

2020 ◽  
pp. 129-146
Author(s):  
Malgosia Fitzmaurice
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Environmental Impact Assessment ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Due Diligence ◽  
Exchange Information ◽  
The Law

This chapter analyses the concept of due diligence in the law of international watercourses. Both conventions and the case-law give some indications on the constitutive elements of the standard of due diligence in this area. The chapter reveals that due diligence provides a legal tool to balance the principle of equitable and reasonable utilisation and the principle of no harm. It also highlights that due diligence is the basis of procedural obligations in this field, such as the duty to exchange information or the duty to conduct an environmental impact assessment. The chapter however argues that the unspecified content of these norms and the lack of uniformity in their application render it impossible to draw consistent and holistic conclusions on due diligence in the field of watercourses law.

scholarly journals Health Impact Assessment as an Essential Element of Environmental Law in the National Legal Order. Considerations on the Basis of International Law

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 199-208
Author(s):  
Maciej Pakowski ◽  
◽  
Anna Garus-Pakowska ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
International Law ◽  
Environmental Impact Assessment ◽  
Health Impact Assessment ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Health Impact ◽  
Human Right ◽  
Right To Information

The purpose of this paper was to prove that the standards for environmental friendliness set out by international law require the states to carry out Health Impact Assessment (HIA) before implementation of public or private investments having a potential human health impact even if national legal systems do not require it. The analysis of both soft international law and treaty law, as well as the case-law of international courts and tribunals show that Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is the international law ius cogens. At the same time the human right to information and protection of life and health are regarded as fundamental human rights. According to the authors it means that carrying out proper Environmental Impact Assessment without Health Impact Assessment is not possible. It would be contrary to the human right to information and the obligation of the authorities to provide citizens with active transparency mentioned by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and with the principle of fair balance developed in the case-law of the similar European Court together with the objective on sustainable development adopted in Agenda 2030. According to the authors Health Impact Assessment is an immanent and integral part of environmental impact and the possible absence of provisions in the national law requiring investors to carry out HIA where EIA is necessary, does not justify the failure to assess.

scholarly journals Environmental impact assessment in the practice of international court of justice

2016 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
pp. 72-94
Author(s):  
Mihajlo Vucic
Keyword(s):  
Costa Rica ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
International Law ◽  
Environmental Impact Assessment ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Legal Analysis ◽  
Mode Of Application ◽  
San Juan River ◽  
The Icj

The paper deals with the legal institute of transboundary environmental impact assessment and its application in concrete reality of international relations. The article starts from the recent judgment of the ICJ in the environmental dispute between Costa Rica and Nicaragua which was based on the analysis of the content, legal status and mode of application of this institute. The author firstly gives a brief overview of factual background and legal history of the dispute so as to enable the reader to understand the context of the judgment. The author points the climate and environmental factors that create the politically tense climate in the region. Then, the legal analysis of transboundary environmental impact assessment in general international law is given through the overview of legal scholarship, treaty norms and international jurisprudence. A separate section is devoted to the application of this institute in the branch of international law which regulates the use of international watercourses, since the crux of the dispute is about the usage of the shared San Juan river and its ecosystems. In the last part, the interpretation of this institute in the disposition of the judgment of the ICJ is given, and some examples of Court?s argumentation which represent a new understanding of some elements of this institute or which clear previous dilemmas concerning the modes of interpretation are presented. The author points out also that the Court has missed the opportunity to shed additional light on the mode of application of this institute in the emergency cases on the territory of the state which is under an obligation to apply it. The article concludes with the statement that the judgment in the dispute between Costa Rica and Nicaragua has on the whole contributed to the established status of this institute as the norm of general international law, however, it still stands for further legal practice to define the precise contents of the procedure for its application.

Evaluating Espoo: What Protection does the Espoo Convention Offer the Arctic Marine Environment?

2013 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 337-357
Author(s):  
Rachael Lorna Johnstone
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
International Law ◽  
Environmental Impact Assessment ◽  
Customary Law ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Law Of The Sea ◽  
Arctic Council ◽  
Customary International Law ◽  
The Arctic Ocean

Abstract This article reviews the extent of the duty of States to conduct a transboundary environmental impact assessment (TEIA) prior to activity in the Arctic Ocean as part of the customary law principle of prevention. Examples are drawn from the offshore hydrocarbon industry. The paper examines in detail the Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context (Espoo Convention) and its application in the High North, reviewing its utility as well as deficiencies in the comparative light of alternative frameworks, such as the voluntary guidelines of the Arctic Council, the Convention on the Law of the Sea, and the Nordic Environmental Protection Convention. The consequences of a TEIA report are discussed in light of customary international law.

The Myth and Reality of Transboundary Environmental Impact Assessment

2002 ◽  
Vol 96 (2) ◽  
pp. 291-319 ◽  
Author(s):  
John H. Knox
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
International Law ◽  
Environmental Impact Assessment ◽  
International Agreements ◽  
Transboundary Pollution ◽  
Customary International Law

The dominant story of transboundary environmental impact assessment in international law has the following elements: (1) customary international law prohibits transboundary pollution; (2) according to the classic version of this prohibition, contained in Principle 21 of the 1972 Stockholm Declaration, states must ensure that activities within their territory or under their control do not harm the environment beyond their territory; (3) to ensure that activities within their jurisdiction will not cause transboundary harm, states must assess the potential transboundary effects of the activities; and (4) to that end, states enter into international agreements requiring them to carry out transboundary environmental impact assessment (transboundary EIA) for activities that might cause transboundary harm.

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