or specific species. Seals played a major role in this regard, as Chap. 6 will
demonstrate. Particularly in the colonies of the European states, the colonisers put
in place legal regimes to protect the environment. For instance, the Convention
Relative to the Preservation of Fauna and Flora in their Natural State
6 established
national parks and strict natural reserves in colonial Africa. The point of this
convention was not to protect the environment for the sake of the environment.
Instead, it was to provide for as little disturbance as possible in order to retain its
natural state so that colonisers had the possibility to ‘escape’ the noisy life in the city.
This being said, the 1930s were a time when, surprisingly, also the first principles of
international environmental law were codified. The principles of environmental law
are as such not enforceable rules, but rather underlying norms that have found their
way into the provisions of different legal regimes. The first ones that were
formulated and generally accepted were the avoidance of transboundary pollution
and the associated ‘polluter pays’ principle as well as the ‘no-harm’ principle.
These principles had their origins in the Trail Smelter case which revolved around
a smelter in Canada that emitted sulphur dioxide, damaging crops and property in the
United States. Since neither legal system provided for legal remedies, the US and
Canadian governments relied on an arbitration tribunal to resolve this issue.
Throughout years of legal proceedings, in 1941 the tribunal finally ruled that a
state cannot use its own territory in a way that would cause harm to others.
Ultimately, Canada was therefore ordered to pay compensation to the United States.
The no-harm principle has become widely known as Sic utere tuo ut alienum non
laedas (or abbreviated to sic tuo utere) which translates into “use your own property
in such a manner as not to injure that of another.” This principle would become
relevant internationally some years later.
With the establishment of the United Nations (UN) in 1945, the path for further
cooperation on all different kinds of issues was paved. Also global environmental
cooperation was consequently made easier. At first, however, the prevention of war,
economic growth and the promotion and advancement of human rights stood at the
core of the UN. Consequently, the environment was not considered as crucially
important other than a resource. The 1949 UN Conference on the Conservation and
Utilization of Resources, for example, was convened for the purposes of exchanging
information on resource exploitation and for increasing capacities.
By then, of course, the international community had realised that humankind is
capable of causing wide-scale environmental destruction and indeed total annihilation of life on Earth—best exemplified by the short- and long-term effects of the
nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Only 3 years after the end of the
Second World War, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
was established, consisting of governments and civil society organisations. The
IUCN at first examined the impacts of human activities on nature, especially as
regards the role of pesticides. Over time it would develop into a core international
6 Convention Relative to the Preservation of Fauna and Flora in their Natural State, 8 Nov 1933
(1 LNTS 172).
1.4 The Basics of International Environmental Law
7
demonstrate. Particularly in the colonies of the European states, the colonisers put
in place legal regimes to protect the environment. For instance, the Convention
Relative to the Preservation of Fauna and Flora in their Natural State
6 established
national parks and strict natural reserves in colonial Africa. The point of this
convention was not to protect the environment for the sake of the environment.
Instead, it was to provide for as little disturbance as possible in order to retain its
natural state so that colonisers had the possibility to ‘escape’ the noisy life in the city.
This being said, the 1930s were a time when, surprisingly, also the first principles of
international environmental law were codified. The principles of environmental law
are as such not enforceable rules, but rather underlying norms that have found their
way into the provisions of different legal regimes. The first ones that were
formulated and generally accepted were the avoidance of transboundary pollution
and the associated ‘polluter pays’ principle as well as the ‘no-harm’ principle.
These principles had their origins in the Trail Smelter case which revolved around
a smelter in Canada that emitted sulphur dioxide, damaging crops and property in the
United States. Since neither legal system provided for legal remedies, the US and
Canadian governments relied on an arbitration tribunal to resolve this issue.
Throughout years of legal proceedings, in 1941 the tribunal finally ruled that a
state cannot use its own territory in a way that would cause harm to others.
Ultimately, Canada was therefore ordered to pay compensation to the United States.
The no-harm principle has become widely known as Sic utere tuo ut alienum non
laedas (or abbreviated to sic tuo utere) which translates into “use your own property
in such a manner as not to injure that of another.” This principle would become
relevant internationally some years later.
With the establishment of the United Nations (UN) in 1945, the path for further
cooperation on all different kinds of issues was paved. Also global environmental
cooperation was consequently made easier. At first, however, the prevention of war,
economic growth and the promotion and advancement of human rights stood at the
core of the UN. Consequently, the environment was not considered as crucially
important other than a resource. The 1949 UN Conference on the Conservation and
Utilization of Resources, for example, was convened for the purposes of exchanging
information on resource exploitation and for increasing capacities.
By then, of course, the international community had realised that humankind is
capable of causing wide-scale environmental destruction and indeed total annihilation of life on Earth—best exemplified by the short- and long-term effects of the
nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Only 3 years after the end of the
Second World War, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
was established, consisting of governments and civil society organisations. The
IUCN at first examined the impacts of human activities on nature, especially as
regards the role of pesticides. Over time it would develop into a core international
6 Convention Relative to the Preservation of Fauna and Flora in their Natural State, 8 Nov 1933
(1 LNTS 172).
1.4 The Basics of International Environmental Law
7