International Environmental Law and UN Conferences

• Treaties and conventions (hard law): e.g. UNFCCC, CBD, Montreal Protocol.

• Customary international law: the duty to prevent transboundary harm, the duty to cooperate, the duty to notify and consult, and (increasingly) the duty to conduct environmental impact assessment.

• General principles of law and judicial decisions (Article 38, ICJ Statute).

• Soft law: declarations, action plans and guidelines such as the Stockholm Declaration, Rio Declaration, Agenda 21 and the Forest Principles. They are not binding but shape treaties and domestic law, and Indian courts use them to interpret statutes.

• Attended by 113 States. Indira Gandhi’s speech (“poverty is the greatest polluter”) set out the developing-country position that environment and development cannot be separated.

• Principle 1: Man has the fundamental right to freedom, equality and adequate conditions of life, in an environment of a quality that permits a life of dignity and well-being, and bears a solemn responsibility to protect and improve the environment for present and future generations.

• Principle 21: States have, in accordance with the UN Charter and principles of international law, the sovereign right to exploit their own resources pursuant to their own environmental policies, and the responsibility to ensure that activities within their jurisdiction or control do not cause damage to the environment of other States or of areas beyond national jurisdiction. This is the classic statement of the no-harm rule.

• Principle 22: States shall cooperate to develop international law on liability and compensation for victims of pollution.

• Impact on India: the 42nd Amendment 1976 inserted Article 48A (Directive Principle) and Article 51A(g) (Fundamental Duty). The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1974 was enacted by Parliament under Article 252 on resolutions from States, expressly to implement decisions taken at Stockholm. The Environment (Protection) Act 1986 was enacted under Article 253 and its preamble refers to Stockholm.

• Rio Declaration key principles: P1 humans are at the centre of concerns for sustainable development; P3 right to development must be fulfilled so as to equitably meet developmental and environmental needs of present and future generations; P4 environmental protection is an integral part of development; P7 common but differentiated responsibilities (CBDR); P10 public participation and access to information and justice; P15 precautionary approach; P16 internalisation of environmental costs and the polluter pays principle; P17 environmental impact assessment as a national instrument; P22 role of indigenous people.

• Agenda 21: a non-binding action programme for the twenty-first century with 40 chapters.

• Forest Principles: a non-legally binding authoritative statement of principles for a global consensus on forests.

• UNFCCC (entered into force 1994) and CBD (entered into force 1993) were opened for signature at Rio.

Regional and procedural instruments worth remembering: Espoo Convention 1991 (transboundary EIA), Aarhus Convention 1998 (access to information, public participation, access to justice), Bamako Convention 1991 (Africa ban on hazardous waste imports), Antarctic Treaty 1959 and Madrid Protocol 1991, UN Watercourses Convention 1997, MARPOL 1973/78 (ship pollution), London Dumping Convention 1972.

• COP1 Berlin 1995 (Berlin Mandate); COP3 Kyoto 1997; COP13 Bali 2007 (Bali Action Plan); COP15 Copenhagen 2009 (Copenhagen Accord, \$100 billion goal); COP16 Cancun 2010 (Green Climate Fund created); COP17 Durban 2011; COP21 Paris 2015; COP26 Glasgow 2021 (Glasgow Climate Pact; first COP text to mention phasing down unabated coal power; India announced its Panchamrit targets and net zero by 2070); COP27 Sharm El-Sheikh 2022 (agreement to set up a loss and damage fund); COP28 Dubai 2023 (call for transition away from fossil fuels; loss and damage fund operationalised); COP29 Baku 2024 (new climate finance goal of at least \$300 billion a year by 2035); COP30 Belem, Brazil, 2025. COP31 is scheduled for November 2026 in Antalya, Turkiye (confirm host details).

• IPCC (1988, set up by WMO and UNEP) produces assessment reports; shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore.

• International Solar Alliance: launched by India and France at COP21 (2015).

• Human right to a healthy environment: the UN Human Rights Council recognised the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment in 2021 (Res. 48/13), and the UN General Assembly followed in July 2022 (Res. 76/300).

• Sovereignty over natural resources with the responsibility not to cause transboundary harm (Stockholm P21; Rio P2).

• Sustainable development (Brundtland 1987; Rio P3, P4; Gabcikovo-Nagymaros).

• Intergenerational and intra-generational equity.

• Precautionary principle (Rio P15).

• Polluter pays (Rio P16).

• Common but differentiated responsibilities (Rio P7; UNFCCC Art. 3).

• Common heritage of mankind (deep seabed under UNCLOS Part XI; Moon Agreement).

• Common concern of humankind (climate change, biodiversity).

• Public participation, access to information and EIA (Rio P10, P17).

• Duty of cooperation, notification and consultation.

• UNEP (1972, Nairobi); UN Environment Assembly (UNEA) is its governing body with universal membership; Global Environment Facility (1991) funds environmental projects; IUCN (1948) publishes the Red List; IPCC; UNFCCC Secretariat (Bonn); ITLOS (Hamburg, law of the sea disputes); Commission on Sustainable Development (1992), succeeded by the High-Level Political Forum.

• India’s negotiating stance is built on CBDR and equity, “right to development”, and climate finance and technology transfer by developed countries.

• India ratified the Kyoto Protocol (2002) and the Paris Agreement (2 October 2016), and is a party to the Montreal Protocol, Basel, CBD and CITES. It ratified the Kigali Amendment in 2021.

• Domestic implementation: the Environment (Protection) Act 1986 (Article 253), the Biological Diversity Act 2002 (CBD), the Wild Life (Protection) Act 1972 (CITES), the Ozone Depleting Substances (Regulation and Control) Rules 2000 (Montreal Protocol), and the Hazardous and Other Wastes Rules 2016 (Basel).

• Constitutional hooks: Article 51(c) (respect for international law and treaty obligations) and Article 253 (Parliament may legislate to implement international agreements). In Vellore Citizens Welfare Forum (1996) the Supreme Court said that the precautionary and polluter pays principles are part of the environmental law of the country, and that customary international law not contrary to domestic law is part of it.

• India’s Paris-era commitments (as updated in 2022): reduce emissions intensity of GDP by 45% from 2005 levels by 2030; about 50% of installed electric power capacity from non-fossil sources by 2030; net zero by 2070. Mission LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment) was launched in 2022.