International environmental law (sometimes international ecological law) is a field of international law regulating the behavior of states and international organizations concerning the environment. See: Phillipe Sands, et al, Principles of International Environmental Law (4th ed., Cambridge, 2018). Core global regulation domains include the world's oceans and fisheries management, the polar ice caps, and the regulation of carbon and other particulate emissions into the atmosphere.
The leading international treaties concerning the environment are:
- 1972 UN Convention on the Human Environment
- 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), which produced the Rio Declaration
- 1997 Kyoto Protocol entered into force on February 16, 2005
- 2002 World Earth Summit
- Convention on Biological Diversity (http://www.cbd.int/)
- Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPS)
- The Paris Agreement (United Nations Climate Change)
Based on the above mentioned treaties and other international conventions on environmental protection, academics have established several principles for international environmental law, such as:
- Precautionary principle
- Polluter-pays principle
- Principle of preventing trans-boundary pollution
- Principle of common but differentiated responsibility
- Principle of sustainable development
No tribunal or jurisdictional mechanism has been created to prosecute violations of the treaties and principles of international environmental law. However, some international organizations are mandated to advance the goals established in the international accords. Among these organizations are:
- Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
- United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
- International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
- United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
See Anne Burnett, ASIL Guide to Electronic Resources for International Law: International Environmental Law, available at: asil.org/sites/default/files/ERG_ENVIROMENT.pdf
[Last updated in May of 2023 by the Wex Definitions Team]