player and an authority responsible for motivating and ultimately drafting key
international regimes for the conservation of the environment.
We must remember that up until the 1960s, issues of environmental protection
were mostly in the hands of the industrialised nations, which largely corresponded to
the world’s colonial powers. For instance, the first global environmental protection
regime, the 1954 International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution of the Sea
by Oil,
7 was a regime signed and ratified by mostly western states. Only throughout
the 1960s, when the decolonisation process enabled the shift of sovereign powers to
former colonies, the international legal landscape changed, making so-called ‘developing nations’ active players in international law-shaping and -making. Particularly
their contributions to the negotiations of the United Nations Convention on the Law
of the Sea (UNCLOS)
8 between 1973 and 1982 is noteworthy. We have to bear in
mind that at that time even far-reaching and rather progressive regimes were mostly
negotiated by western governments.
This being said, when in 1972 the United Nations convened the Conference on
Environment and Development in Stockholm (Stockholm Conference), the shift
from western-dominated environmental law-making towards a truly global effort
started to take form. It is at least here that also international environmental law saw
the manifestation of legal principles. First and foremost, sovereignty or the sovereign
rights over natural resources. Although it had become clear that international
cooperation on environmental matters was necessary, this would not mean that
countries would lose their sovereign rights to their own territories and resources.
While sovereignty was manifested already in the Charter of the United Nations, in
environmental law contexts this would mean that other states would not be able to
force a government to pursue a specific environmental protection strategy. Of
course, a broad body of literature on international law and policy-making that also
tackles issues of coercion exists. However, as a fundamental principle, each state is
entitled to its own social and legal system for environmental protection. Nevertheless, the sic tuo utere principle puts limits to this sovereignty. The Stockholm
Conference confirmed this principle, which is also known as the principle of good
neighbourliness.
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s the geopolitical situation in the world started to
change once again. Glasnost and perestroika in the Soviet Union started to lift the
‘Iron Curtain’, ultimately resulting in the collapse of the Soviet regime in 1991. Only
1 year later the United Nations convened the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro (Rio Summit). This meeting
is another a landmark event for the protection of the environment. Several agreements
are a direct outcome or were profoundly motivated by the summit: the Convention on
Biological Diversity
9 ; and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
7 International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution of the Sea by Oil, 12 May 1954.
8 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, 10 Dec 1982 (1833 UNTS 3).
9 Convention on Biological Diversity, 5 Jun 1992 (1760 UNTS 79).
8
1 Why an Introduction to International Marine Mammal Law?
international regimes for the conservation of the environment.
We must remember that up until the 1960s, issues of environmental protection
were mostly in the hands of the industrialised nations, which largely corresponded to
the world’s colonial powers. For instance, the first global environmental protection
regime, the 1954 International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution of the Sea
by Oil,
7 was a regime signed and ratified by mostly western states. Only throughout
the 1960s, when the decolonisation process enabled the shift of sovereign powers to
former colonies, the international legal landscape changed, making so-called ‘developing nations’ active players in international law-shaping and -making. Particularly
their contributions to the negotiations of the United Nations Convention on the Law
of the Sea (UNCLOS)
8 between 1973 and 1982 is noteworthy. We have to bear in
mind that at that time even far-reaching and rather progressive regimes were mostly
negotiated by western governments.
This being said, when in 1972 the United Nations convened the Conference on
Environment and Development in Stockholm (Stockholm Conference), the shift
from western-dominated environmental law-making towards a truly global effort
started to take form. It is at least here that also international environmental law saw
the manifestation of legal principles. First and foremost, sovereignty or the sovereign
rights over natural resources. Although it had become clear that international
cooperation on environmental matters was necessary, this would not mean that
countries would lose their sovereign rights to their own territories and resources.
While sovereignty was manifested already in the Charter of the United Nations, in
environmental law contexts this would mean that other states would not be able to
force a government to pursue a specific environmental protection strategy. Of
course, a broad body of literature on international law and policy-making that also
tackles issues of coercion exists. However, as a fundamental principle, each state is
entitled to its own social and legal system for environmental protection. Nevertheless, the sic tuo utere principle puts limits to this sovereignty. The Stockholm
Conference confirmed this principle, which is also known as the principle of good
neighbourliness.
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s the geopolitical situation in the world started to
change once again. Glasnost and perestroika in the Soviet Union started to lift the
‘Iron Curtain’, ultimately resulting in the collapse of the Soviet regime in 1991. Only
1 year later the United Nations convened the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro (Rio Summit). This meeting
is another a landmark event for the protection of the environment. Several agreements
are a direct outcome or were profoundly motivated by the summit: the Convention on
Biological Diversity
9 ; and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
7 International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution of the Sea by Oil, 12 May 1954.
8 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, 10 Dec 1982 (1833 UNTS 3).
9 Convention on Biological Diversity, 5 Jun 1992 (1760 UNTS 79).
8
1 Why an Introduction to International Marine Mammal Law?