Sustainable Development All International Law

Sustainable Development

All international law deals with relations between two or more different nations. There are two main components of international law -- the laws of nations and agreements between nations. Laws of nations are comprised of those laws accepted by virtually all world nations. These include the Geneva Convention, laws banning slavery and honoring international boundaries. Agreements between nations are specific agreements between defined nations. These agreements are only expected to be upheld by those nations, not by all nations.

At present, international law pertaining to the environment typically comprises the latter category, where nations specifically agree to enact protections for certain components of the environment. Most laws of nations deal with the definition of the national entity or issues regarding human rights. The concept of environmental rights has not traditionally been included, necessitating the use of a complex system of individual agreements between nations.

Individual countries, in theory, are obligated to adhere to the basic principles of laws of nations. There has been no shortage of examples of failure to adhere to these laws in the past century. Agreements between countries tend to have stronger enforcement mechanisms. However, the strength of these mechanisms is heavily dependent on the relative strength of the countries involved. Each nation is obligated to adhere to the rules of the treaties and agreements that they sign.

Laws of nations are subject to inconsistent enforcement. This has ranged from declarations of war (as against Germany in 1939), United Nations peacekeeping involvement, to a shrug of the shoulders (China's invasion of Tibet). At times, there have been tribunals for violations by specific national leaders, for example for war crimes, but those are few and far between. With more specific and sophisticated mechanisms for enforcement, agreements between nations are subject to investigation, hearings and arbitration. While each agreement has its own process, most contain their own detailed legal framework for investigation and punishment of transgression.

In the past few years, there have been a number of key meetings of about environmental issues. The ongoing discussions with regards to the fate of the soon-to-be extinct bluefin tuna illustrate the frustrations of trying to reach environmental agreements. Nations responsible for the management of the resource ignore scientific advice and pursue their own interests to the detriment of the common good, and resist any effort to change the practice (Gronewald, 2009). Other conferences trend along the same line -- small groups of nations meeting to hammer out specific policy details. The Environmental Law Roundtable of Australia and New Zealand is one such example. The UNEP (United Nations Environmental Programme) chemicals roundtable was a conference that discussed specific areas of concern with respect to chemical pollution.