Common Concern of Humankind and Its Legal Consequences for Climate Stability

Abstract

Abstract One of the main challenges for modern international law is its capacity to deal with global public interests. In a world characterized by growing interdependence, the international community requires instruments to regulate the global commons, provide global public goods, and enforce its fundamental values. In this context, this article contributes to the debate on the legal consequences of recognizing climate stability as a global public good. While these goods are regulated on a case-by-case basis, some of them have the status of being common concerns of humankind. Since the icj and the ilc have not clarified the content of this legal status, I discuss the main academic perspectives and propose a new standpoint. Considering the current stage of public international law, I argue that the common concern status does not generate new state obligations but impacts the content of those commitments already included in the international climate change regime.