Abstract

The Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) does not explicitly refer to sustainable development despite the fact that other United Nations (UN) disarmament documents prescribe that international environmental law principles and sustainable development be considered among arms control agreements. This study’s objective is to utilize the principle of integration’s three components of environmental, economic, and social development, as found in the International Sustainable Development Law (ISDL) from the New Delhi Declaration (Delhi Declaration) of Principles of International Law Relating to Sustainable Development, in order to evaluate whether the BWC contains such components; thereby, making it possible for the BWC to contribute to sustainable development. The methodology of this study is necessarily qualitative, given that it is a socio-legal research that relies on international agreements such as the BWC, declarations, resolutions, plans of implementation, other non-binding documents of the UN, and secondary resources—all of which are analyzed through a document analysis. The results show that the BWC addresses the environment (Article II), prohibits transfers relating to export controls, international trade, and economic development (Article III), while at the same time, covering social development concerns, health, and diseases that make up the international social law (Article X). Since the BWC is found to be capable of contributing to sustainable development, it is concluded that ISDL cannot be restricted to international environmental, economic, and social law, but should be expanded to include international arms control law.

Highlights

  • The Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons has provisions that address environmental protection, trade, and social development; thereby, making it possible to promote sustainable development

  • After the careful examination of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), it is to be asserted that this agreement contains provisions that cover environmental protection, trade, and social development concerns, which make up the components of International Sustainable Development Law (ISDL)

  • Going back to Tladi’s [10] assertion earlier in this study that international arms control law can subscribe to sustainable development, this study has found evidence that by examining the provisions of Article II, Article III, and Article X [40] based on the principle of integration in ISDL, the BWC can embrace sustainable development

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Summary

Introduction

The principle of integration in ISDL has been mostly applied to determine whether international agreements in the area of environmental, trade, human rights, health, and investment laws have all applied the three components of sustainable development besides their own scope of work [2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9]. There remains the question of whether the principle of integration in ISDL can be applied to an international arms control agreement such as the BWC. 348) both stated that the arms control law is highly integrated and can be subscribed to sustainable development. 107) was critical that ISDL has been merely confined to the application of international environmental, trade and social law because it can be extended within international arms control law Tladi [10] (p. 107) was critical that ISDL has been merely confined to the application of international environmental, trade and social law because it can be extended within international arms control law

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