International Environmental Law and Policy for the 21st Century

International Environmental Law and Policy

for the 21st Century

The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/IEL

International Environmental Law

VOLUME 9

Leiden • boston

2013

International Environmental Law and

Policy for the 21st Century

2nd Revised Edition

By

Ved P. Nanda

George (Rock) Pring

Chapter Seven: Energy and the Environment

by Don C. Smith

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Nanda, Ved P.

International environmental law and policy for the 21st century / by Ved Nanda,

George (Rock) Pring ; with a new chapter on ‘Energy and the environment : an international

perspective’ by Don C. Smith.—2nd revised edition.

p. cm. — (International environmental law ; volume 9)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-90-04-24286-9 (hardback)

1. Environmental law, International. 2. Environmental policy. I. Pring, George W.

(George William), 1942– II. Title.

K3585.N36 2013

344.04’6—dc23

2012031419

ISSN 1873-6599

ISBN 978-90-04-24286-9 (hardback)

ISBN 978-90-47-44099-4 (e-book)

Copyright 2013 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.

Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Global Oriental, Hotei Publishing,

IDC Publishers and Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in

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Fees are subject to change.

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Contents

Acknowledgements ....................................................................................... xiii

Part One: Introduction

Chapter One International Environmental Law: The Nature and

 Scope of the Challenge ............................................................................. 3

1.0 Introduction ..................................................................................... 3

1.1 The Sources or Bases of International Environmental Law ...... 6

1.1.1 International Conventional Law .................................... 9

1.1.2 International Customary Law ......................................... 11

1.1.3 General Principles of Law ................................................ 13

1.1.4 Judicial Decisions .............................................................. 14

1.1.5 Scholarly Writings ............................................................ 15

1.1.6 New Sources of International Law ................................. 15

Chapter Two The Fundamental Principles of International

Environmental Law .................................................................................. 19

2.0 Introduction ..................................................................................... 19

2.1 Fundamental Substantive Principles ............................................ 20

2.1.1 State Sovereignty ............................................................... 20

2.1.2 “Good Neighborliness” – The Duty to Cooperate ....... 21

2.1.3 The No-Harm Rule ........................................................... 23

2.1.4 Sustainable Development ................................................ 25

2.1.5 Right to Development ...................................................... 30

2.1.6 Right to a Clean, Healthful Environment ..................... 31

2.1.7 Environmental Justice: Intergenerational and

Intragenerational Equity .................................................. 32

2.1.8 Equitable Utilization of Shared Resources .................... 35

2.1.9 Conservation ..................................................................... 36

2.1.10 Common Heritage of Humankind – The “Global

Commons” ......................................................................... 37

2.1.11 Common Concern of Humankind – Erga Omnes ....... 39

vi Contents

2.1.12 Common but Differentiated Responsibilities ............... 41

2.1.13 The Polluter-Pays Principle ............................................. 43

2.1.14 State Responsibility and Liability ................................... 45

2.2 Fundamental Procedural Principles ............................................. 47

2.2.1 Public Participation .......................................................... 47

2.2.2 Prior Notification, Consultation, and Negotiation

Duties ................................................................................. 60

2.2.3 The Prevention Principle ................................................. 62

2.2.4 The Precautionary Principle ............................................ 63

2.2.5 Duty to Do Environmental Impact Assessment ........... 65

2.2.6 Duty to Adopt Effective National Law – The Duty

to Enforce ........................................................................... 66

2.2.7 The Integration Principle ................................................. 67

Part Two: Lawmaking

Chapter Three The Early Years ................................................................ 71

3.0 Introduction ..................................................................................... 71

3.1 International Agreements .............................................................. 72

3.1.1 Early 20th Century Agreements ..................................... 72

3.1.2 The 1909 Boundary Waters Treaty ................................. 72

3.1.3 Other Agreements ............................................................ 77

3.2 Case Law ........................................................................................... 78

3.2.1 Bering Sea Fur Seals Arbitration ..................................... 79

3.2.2 The Trail Smelter Arbitration ......................................... 79

3.2.3 The Corfu Channel Case .................................................. 82

3.2.4 The Lac Lanoux Arbitration ............................................ 83

3.2.5 The Japanese Fishermen Case ......................................... 83

3.2.6 The 1958 US Pacific Nuclear Tests ................................. 84

3.2.7 Nuclear Tests Cases (Australia v. France and

New Zealand v. France) ................................................... 85

3.2.8 Pollution of Ciudad Juarez .............................................. 86

3.2.9 The 1969 Gut Dam Case .................................................. 87

3.2.10 Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons,

Advisory Opinion ............................................................. 87

3.2.11 Case Concerning the Gabcikovo – Nagymaros Project 88

3.2.12 The MOX Plant Case (Ireland v. UK) ............................ 90

3.2.13 Iron Rhine Railway Arbitration (Belg. v. Neth.) .......... 91

3.2.14 Case Concerning Pulp Mills on the River Uruguay

(Argentina v. Uruguay) .................................................... 93

3.3 Appraisal ........................................................................................... 95

Contents vii

Chapter Four The Next 40 Years: The Evolution of International

Environmental Policy from 1972 to the Present .................................. 97

4.0 Introduction ..................................................................................... 97

4.1 The Stockholm Conference and Declaration ............................... 99

4.1.1 Analysis ................................................................................ 99

4.1.2 Appraisal .............................................................................. 101

4.2 The Post-Stockholm Period – The Flowering of UNEP ............. 102

4.2.1 Introduction ........................................................................ 102

4.2.2 Environmental Assessment ............................................... 104

4.2.3 Environmental Management ............................................ 105

4.2.4 Environmental Law ............................................................ 106

4.2.5 Appraisal .............................................................................. 108

4.3 The Rio Conference on Environment and Development .......... 108

4.3.1 Introduction ........................................................................ 108

4.3.2 The Rio Declaration on Environment and

Development ....................................................................... 110

4.3.3 Agenda 21 ............................................................................ 120

4.3.4 The Commission on Sustainable Development .............. 121

4.3.5 Appraisal .............................................................................. 122

4.4 The Uneven Road from Rio to Rio (1992–2012) ......................... 123

4.4.1 The CSD and “Rio+5” ........................................................ 123

4.4.2 UNEP Reforms for the New Century .............................. 126

4.4.3 The 2002 Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable

Development ....................................................................... 130

4.4.4 “Rio+20” – the Return to Rio ............................................ 137

4.5 International Environmental Law, Multilateral Environmental

Agreements, and International Environmental Governance .... 139

4.5.1 UNEP and International Environmental Law ................ 139

4.5.2 UNEP and Multilateral Environmental Agreements .... 150

4.5.3 UNEP and International Environmental Governance ... 154

Chapter Five International Environmental Institutions and

Organizations ............................................................................................ 159

5.0 Introduction ..................................................................................... 159

5.1 The United Nations “Family” ........................................................ 160

5.2 International Financial Organizations ......................................... 162

5.3 Other International IGOs ............................................................... 163

5.4 Regional International IGOs .......................................................... 165

5.5 Nonstate Entities – NGOs and Business Interests ...................... 168

5.5.1 International NGOs ............................................................ 168

5.5.2 Multinational Corporations and Other Business Interests 170

5.5.3 Corporate Social Responsibility ........................................ 171

viii Contents

Part tHREE: The Key Issues

Chapter Six Environmental Impact Assessment ................................... 183

6.0 Introduction ..................................................................................... 183

6.1 EIA Procedures: The Common Requirements ............................ 185

6.2 The Development of EIA Requirements in International

Law ..................................................................................................... 189

6.3 International Financial Institutions’ EIA Requirements ........... 192

6.4 The Future of EIA ............................................................................ 195

Chapter Seven Energy and the Environment: An International

Perspective ................................................................................................. 197

By Don C. Smith

7.0 Introduction ..................................................................................... 197

7.1 Energy, Economic Development, and the Environment ........... 199

7.1.1 Energy Availability and Usage and Economic

Development ....................................................................... 199

7.1.2 Tension Between Energy Generation and Consumption

and the Environment ......................................................... 200

7.1.3 Energy and Related Trends ............................................... 201

7.2 The Evolution of Energy and Environmental Law in an

International Context ..................................................................... 205

7.3 International Law Related to Energy and the Environment ..... 207

7.3.1 Introduction ........................................................................ 207

7.3.2 Nuclear Energy .................................................................... 208

7.3.3 Marine Oil Pollution from Ships ...................................... 217

7.3.4 Energy Charter Treaty ....................................................... 228

7.4 Looking Ahead ................................................................................. 235

7.4.1 Introduction ........................................................................ 235

7.4.2 A New Paradigm for Regulating Energy? Global Energy

Governance .......................................................................... 236

7.5 Conclusion ........................................................................................ 243

Chapter Eight Preservation ...................................................................... 247

8.0 Introduction ..................................................................................... 247

8.1 Preservation Laws Prior to the 1970s ........................................... 249

8.1.1 The Early Wildlife Laws ..................................................... 249

8.1.2 The Western Hemisphere Conservation Convention ... 250

8.2 Preservation Efforts – The Stockholm Era: 1972–1992 .............. 251

8.2.1 Ecosystems ........................................................................... 252

8.2.2 Natural and Cultural Resources ....................................... 254

8.2.3 Endangered Species ............................................................ 256

8.2.4 The Global Commons ........................................................ 264

Contents ix

8.3 Preservation Efforts – Rio and the 21st Century ........................ 271

8.3.1 The Convention on Biological Diversity ..................... 273

8.3.2 Forests .............................................................................. 278

8.3.3 Desertification ................................................................. 282

8.4 Conclusion ..................................................................................... 284

Chapter Nine International Freshwater Resources .............................. 287

9.0 Introduction ................................................................................... 287

9.1 Development of Customary International Law ........................ 295

9.1.1 The Major Cases ............................................................. 295

9.1.2 The Key “Soft Law” Developments .............................. 300

9.2 The 1997 UN Convention on International Watercourses ..... 305

9.2.1 Adoption of the “Ecosystem” Concept ........................ 307

9.2.2 Conflict Between the Principles of “Equitable

Utilization” and “No Significant Harm” ..................... 312

9.2.3 Pollution Control ........................................................... 316

9.2.4 Other Important Provisions of the International

Watercourses Convention ............................................. 318

9.3 Bilateral, Multilateral, and Regional Regimes of International

Freshwater Regulation .................................................................. 320

9.4 Groundwater .................................................................................. 325

9.5 Conclusion ..................................................................................... 329

Chapter Ten International Air Pollution ............................................... 331

10.0 Introduction ................................................................................... 331

10.1 Transboundary Air Pollution ...................................................... 332

10.1.1 Introduction .................................................................... 332

10.1.2 Customary International Law Governing

Transboundary Air Pollution ....................................... 336

10.1.3 Regional Treaty and Planning Regimes ...................... 339

10.2 Stratospheric Ozone Depletion ................................................... 351

10.2.1 Introduction .................................................................... 351

10.2.2 The Problem .................................................................... 352

10.2.3 Evidence of Loss ............................................................. 353

10.2.4 Long-Term Consequences ............................................ 360

10.2.5 Policy Implications ......................................................... 362

10.2.6 Prior to the 1985 Vienna Convention ......................... 365

10.2.7 The 1985 Vienna Ozone Convention .......................... 368

10.2.8 The 1987 Montreal Protocol and Subsequent

Amendments ................................................................... 371

10.2.9 Developments in the United States and the European

Union ............................................................................... 383

x Contents

10.2.10 Appraisal and Recommendations ................................ 392

10.3 Global Climate Change ................................................................ 395

10.3.1 Introduction .................................................................... 395

10.3.2 The “Greenhouse” Effect ............................................... 397

10.3.3 Preventive Strategies and Problems ............................. 401

10.3.4 The Framework Convention on Climate Change ...... 404

10.3.5 The Kyoto Protocol ........................................................ 408

10.3.6 Negotiating the Implementation of Kyoto 1998–2005 412

10.3.7 An Assessment of the Kyoto Protocol ......................... 416

10.3.8 Developing a Post-Kyoto Framework ......................... 419

Chapter Eleven The Marine Environment ............................................. 427

11.0 Introduction ................................................................................... 427

11.1 Framework of the Convention .................................................... 428

11.2 Contribution of the Convention to International

Environmental Law ....................................................................... 431

11.2.1 Environmental Assessment Provisions ....................... 432

11.2.2 Law-Making and Law Enforcement Provisions ......... 432

11.2.3 Special Status of Developing States .............................. 440

11.2.4 Protection of Living Resources ..................................... 442

11.2.5 Dispute Settlement Provisions ..................................... 442

11.2.6 The Relationship of the Convention and Customary

Law ................................................................................... 443

11.2.7 Appraisal .......................................................................... 445

11.3 Regional and International Conventions .................................. 447

11.3.1 Regional Conventions .................................................... 447

11.3.2 International Conventions and Actions ...................... 452

11.4 International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea ........................... 457

11.5 Conclusion ..................................................................................... 459

Chapter Twelve Hazardous Waste, Chemicals, and Technology ....... 461

12.0 Introduction ................................................................................... 461

12.1 The International Environmental Laws Governing Hazardous

Waste .............................................................................................. 465

12.1.1 Developments Leading up to the Basel Convention ... 465

12.1.2 The Basel Convention .................................................... 467

12.1.3 Post-Basel Developments: The “Banners” vs. the

“Boosters” of Hazardous Waste Trade ........................ 468

12.2 International Controls on Chemicals ........................................ 475

12.2.1 Introduction .................................................................... 475

12.2.2 The Beginnings: Voluntary International Chemical

Control Efforts ............................................................. 479

Contents xi

12.2.3 The Recent Development of Binding Chemical

Treaties .......................................................................... 480

12.3 International Controls on Hazardous Technologies,

Industries, and Activities ............................................................. 481

12.4 Conclusion ..................................................................................... 484

Chapter Thirteen Biotechnology in Food and the Biosafety Protocol 487

13.0 Introduction ................................................................................... 487

13.1 Background .................................................................................... 489

13.1.1 The Process ................................................................... 489

13.1.2 The Controversy .......................................................... 492

13.2 Regulation of Genetically-Modified Foods – The Key

Concepts ........................................................................................ 497

13.2.1 The Precautionary Principle ....................................... 497

13.2.2 Substantial Equivalence .............................................. 498

13.2.3 Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) ...................... 499

13.2.4 The Consumer’s Right to Know ................................ 500

13.3 International Standards for Genetically Modified Foods –

The Codex Alimentarius Commission ...................................... 500

13.4 Efforts to Regulate GMOS ........................................................... 501

13.4.1 The European Union ................................................... 502

13.4.2 The United States ......................................................... 510

13.5 Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the Convention on

Biological Diversity ...................................................................... 518

13.5.1 Events Leading Up to the Biosafety Protocol .......... 518

13.5.2 Content and Analysis .................................................. 522

13.5.3 Appraisal ....................................................................... 526

Chapter Fourteen International Trade and the Environment ............ 527

14.0 Introduction .................................................................................. 527

14.1 The 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and

Development – Agenda 21 .......................................................... 529

14.2 General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and the World

Trade Organization ...................................................................... 530

14.2.1 Environmental Trade Measures ................................ 531

14.2.2 GATT Panel Decisions Before the Establishment

of the WTO ................................................................... 532

14.2.3 WTO Cases ................................................................... 542

14.2.4 WTO’s Trade and Environment Committee .......... 557

14.2.5 Appraisal ....................................................................... 558

14.3 North American Free Trade Agreement ................................... 560

14.3.1 Overview ....................................................................... 560

xii Contents

14.3.2 Review of the Pertinent NAFTA Provisions .............. 561

14.3.3 Criticisms of NAFTA .................................................... 577

14.3.4 North American Agreement on Environmental

Cooperation .................................................................... 579

14.4 Conclusion ..................................................................................... 593

Chapter Fifteen The Environment and Human Rights ........................ 595

15.0 Introduction ................................................................................... 595

15.1 The Challenge of Environmental Degradation ......................... 595

15.2 Historical Progression .................................................................. 597

15.3 Developments in the United States ............................................ 603

15.4 The Right to Environmental Protection ..................................... 607

15.4.1 The Nexus Between Environmental Protection and

Internationally Recognized Human Rights ................ 607

15.4.2 International and National Tribunals and the Right

to a Healthy Environment ............................................ 613

15.5 Operationalizing the Right to Environment ............................. 617

15.6 Appraisal and Recommendations ............................................... 620

15.7 Rights of Indigenous Peoples ...................................................... 621

15.7.1 Introduction: A Case Study .......................................... 621

15.7.2 What is “Indigenous”? ................................................... 624

15.7.3 Early International Legal Protection ........................... 626

15.7.4 The Universal Declaration on the Rights of

Indigenous Peoples ........................................................ 629

15.8 Population, Human Rights, and the Environment .................. 632

15.8.1 Introduction .................................................................... 632

15.8.2 The Nature and Scope of the Problem ........................ 632

15.8.3 The Population – Human Rights Nexus ..................... 635

15.8.4 The ICPD Program of Action and Subsequent

Developments ................................................................. 642

15.8.5 Conclusion ...................................................................... 645

Part four: Conclusion

Chapter Sixteen The Unfinished Agenda ............................................... 649

16.0 The Challenge ................................................................................ 649

16.1 Addressing the Challenge ............................................................ 657

16.2 A Final Word ................................................................................. 661

Index ............................................................................................................... 663

Acknowledgements

We owe a great debt to many of our colleagues and students at the University

of Denver Sturm College of Law and elsewhere for their contributions to this

extensively revised 2nd edition of our treatise on International Environmental

Law and Policy for the 21st Century. This undertaking to capture the develop￾ments in the field over the past decade since our 2003 edition would not have

been possible without them.

The law student research assistants, now almost all graduates and lawyers,

who labored so long and well on this edition are (in alphabetical order) Nadav

Aschner, Jonathan Bellish, Anne Bingert, Chris Conrad, Kristi Disney, Lara

Griffith, Alexandra Haas, William Kent, Caitlin May, Teresa (Tessa) Mendez,

Jonathan Murley, Julie Nichols, Megan Sheffer, Eric Subin, and Sandy

Teixeira.

Deserving very special thanks are our Dean, Martin (Marty) Katz, Senior

Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Federico (Fred) Cheever, and Associate

Dean for Faculty Scholarship Alan Chen for so generously encouraging and

supporting our scholarship. We are truly fortunate to have had the assis￾tance of the dedicated and skilled professional staff of the Sturm College of

Law, including Joan Policastri, Foreign, Comparative, and International Law

Librarian for DU Law’s Westminster Law Library; Diane Burkhardt, Faculty

Research Liaison for the Library; Keri Grundstein, former Administrator of

the International Legal Studies Program; and McKenzie Gaby, former Faculty

Support Team Leader.

Over the years, our students in International Law and International

Environmental Law have added immensely to our understanding of this rela￾tively new frontier in the International Law field. We indeed are grateful to

them for their interest and concern for the health and well-being of the planet

and for the inspiration they have given us.

We are indebted to our colleagues Professor Don C. Smith, Lecturer and

Director of DU Law’s Environmental and Natural Resources Program and an

expert in EU, Natural Resources, and Energy Law, for contributing Chapter 7

on “Energy and the Environment: An International Perspective,” and Professor

Robert Hardaway for his thoughtful suggestions on the population crisis, as

xiv Acknowledgements

covered by the authors in section 14.8. We owe a special debt of gratitude to

Professor Lakshman Guruswamy at the University of Colorado School of Law

for his advice and counsel to add these chapters as he graciously reviewed the

prior edition of the book.

We are honored to have had the American Bar Association’s Environmental

Issues Working Group use Chapter 2 of our book to present the “fundamental

substantive and procedural principles” of international environmental law in its

adopted 2007 “Environmental Issues and the Rule of Law White Paper” (copy

at http://apps.americanbar.org/intlaw/committees/division_chair/section/

Environmental_Issues_White_Paper.pdf). Our special regards to Howard

Kenison of Lindquist & Vennum, Denver, Chair of the ABA effort.

We are grateful to our Brill-iant publisher team for their encouragement,

patience, and outstanding skill. Special thanks to Marie Sheldon, Senior

Acquisitions Editor at Brill / Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, and Lisa Hanson

and Lauren Danahy, Assistant Editors.

Our most special tributes go to three beautiful people without whom

there would be no book. To our wonderful partners, Katharine Nanda and

Catherine Pring, who reviewed endless drafts, argued, critiqued, counseled,

revised, cajoled, and added immeasurably to the final product. And to Tessa

Mendez – JD University of Denver Sturm College of Law 2011, MA University

of Denver Korbel School of International Studies 2011, Editor-in-Chief of

the Denver Journal of International Law and Policy 2010–2011, and now a

member of the California Bar – who reviewed every chapter and footnote for

publication and who personally authored Section 5.5.3 on “Corporate Social

Responsibility.”

Acknowledgements to the 1st Edition (2003)

Above all, we wish to express our gratitude and affection to Heike Fenton, our

publisher, for her vision, support, and friendship. So many friends, colleagues,

and former students have helped us with the work that resulted in this book.

For all it has been a labor of love for the environment. We wish to acknowledge

the substantial research contributions to this book made by Martha Keister,

International and Comparative Law Librarian, Diane Burkhardt, Faculty

Services Liaison, and the Staff of the Westminster Law Library at the University

of Denver College of Law. Former students, now graduates of the College of

Law, Bruce Baizel, Laura Childs, David Demaray, Tamar Fitzgerald, Nicolle

Fleury, Jennifer Lee, Marco Madriz, Katharine Nanda, Caroline Payne, Tanya

Poth, Lainie Resnick, Linda Siegele, Shana Smilovits, Elle Tauer, and David

Whiting all deserve great commendation for their substantive contributions