CRUZ ESPUERTA BESORO

Held in Stockholm in 1972 Gave way to the UN Environment Programme Became the starting point for the development of international environmental law as a separate and youngest field of international law

Important organisation in the evolution of conventions Based in Nairobi Consists of a governing Council of fifty-right members elected by the General Assembly Responsible for the development of a number of initiatives, including the 1985 Vienna Convention for the protection of the Ozone Layer and the 1987 Montreal Protocol and the 1992 Convention on biodiversity

African Charter of Human and Peoples Rights,1981 Article 24 All people shall have the right to a General satisfactory environment favorable to their development Additional Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights 1988 Article 11 Everyone shall have the right to live in a healthy environment and the states parties shall promote the protection, preservation and improvement of the environment Convention on the rights of the Child,1989 Article 29 The need for the education of the Child to be directed inter alia to the development of respect for the natural resources

Aarhus Convention on Access to information, Public Participation in Decision Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters,1998 Recognises adequate protection of the environment is essential to human well being and the enjoyment of basic human rights, including the right to life itself Article 1 Each contracting party shall guarantee the rights of access to information, public participation, in decision-making and access to justice in environmental matters.

Article 9
Stipulates that parties should establish a review procedure before a court of law or other independent and impartial body for any persons who consider that their request for information has not been properly addressed Article 15 Optional arrangements of anon-confrontational. Nonjudicial and consultative ststus should be established for reviewing in compliance with the convention.

27 principles The twenty-seven principles contain references, inter alia, to common but differentiated responsibilities of states in view of their different contribution to global environmental degradation, the need to reduce and eliminate unsustainable patterns of production and consumption and of the promotion of appropriate demographic policies, the precautionary approach, the right to development, environmental impact assessments, the right of individuals to access to information held by public authorities, the avoidance of unilateral trade measures in response to environmental challenges outside their jurisdiction, and to the role of women and indigenous peoples.

Agenda 21 constitutes a non-binding action plan on environment and development, divided into forty chapters covering sectoral issues such as the atmosphere, oceans, fresh water, and land resources, cross-sectoral issues such as poverty, demographics, and human health, means of implementation, including finances, transfer of technology as well as institutional and legal issues.

States are accountable for breaches of International Law. Such breaches of treaty or customary International Law enable the injured state to maintain a claim against the violating state, whether by way of diplomatic action or by way of recourse to international mechanisms where such are in place with regard to the subject matter.

A dispute between Canada and United States over sulphur dioxide pollution from a Canadian Smelter, built in a valley shared by British Columbia and the State of Washington, which damaged trees and cops on the American side of the border. Tribunal Note:
Under principles of international law, as well as the law of the United States, no state has the right to use of territory in such a manner as to cause injury by fumes in or to the territory of another or the properties or persons therein, when the case is of serious consequence and the injury is established by clear and convincing evidence

The convention on International Liability for Damage Caused by Spaceobjects,1972 Absolute liability for damage caused by space objects on the surface of the earth or to aircraft in flight (Article II), but for fault liability for damage caused elsewhere or to persons or property on board a space object.(Article III)

A state is responsible for unlawful acts of its officials causing injury to nationals of foreign states and retains a general territorial competence under international law. Where an international agreement requires, for example, that certain limits be placed upon emissions of a particular substance, the state would be responsible for any activity that exceeded the limit, even if it were carried out by a private party, since the state had undertaken a binding commitment

Established the principle that states are not knowingly to allow their territory to be used for acts contrary to the rights of other states and from this can be deduced a duty to inform other states of known environmental hazards. Article 198 of the Convention on the Law of the Sea, 1982 When a state becomes aware of cases in which the marine environment is in imminent danger of being damaged or had been damaged by pollution, it shall immediately notify other states it deems likely to be affected by such damage, as well as the competent international authorities

While the airspace above the territorial domain of a state forms part of that state, the imprecise notion of the atmosphere would combine elements of this territorial sovereignty with areas not so defined. The legal characterization of the atmosphere, therefore, is confused and uncertain, but one attractive possibility is to refer to it as a shared resource or area of common concern

Pollution is broadly defined as the introduction by man, directly or indirectly, of substances or energy into the environment resulting in deleterious effects of such a nature as to endanger human health, harm living resources and ecosystems, and impair or interfere with amenities and other legitimate uses of the environment.

The Framework Convention on Climate Change was negotiated by the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee, an independent body that had been established by the UN General Assembly. It was signed by 154 states and the European Community and entered into force, after fifty ratifications, on 21 March 1994.

The Convention on Biological Diversity was prepared under the auspices of UNEP by an Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee and opened for signature in Rio. As of June 1993, it was signed by 163 states. It entered into force on 29 December 1993 after thirty ratifications. The Convention aims at the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity, the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits from its use, and the regulation of biotechnology.