Sustainable Development In International Law Research Articles

Human security as an element of the concept of sustainable development in international law

ObjectivesThe most popular definition of sustainable development is contained in the Report of the Brundtland Commission of 1987, according to which “sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. Although this definition is widely accepted, it still requires further discussion, which is the subject of the present study.Material and methodsFor the purposes of this article, research was carried out on the broadly defined issues of sustainable development, the origin and importance of the Sustainable Development Goals, the essence of sustainability in the context of social, normative, economic, environmental, climate aspects as well as human rights, etc. The research also concerned the issue of key determinants of human security as an element of the concept of sustainable development. The method of analysis of literature sources, comparative analysis of the examined determinants of sustainable development in international terms and analysis of the synthesis of various individual, key aspects of sustainable development...ResultsResearch findings are included in the text of the article. The face of the principle of sustainable development is different, depending on the place, in which it is carried out. Its constituents, that is social and economic development with concurrent preserving of the environment, are differently treated in developed countries and in developing ones.ConclusionsThis variety of approaches affects the range of the understanding of the principle. It seems that this aspect of the principle should prevail that decides about the environmental protection - as the principle of sustainable development allows ensuring intergenerational equity in access to natural environment resources.

Право Совета Европы в контексте глобальной стратегии устойчивого развития.

INTRODUCTION. The present article is devoted to considering specificity of the Council’s of Europe action on coordinating cooperation between member states in the area of research and developments as well as international technology transfer with the aim of transition towards sustainable development. In this connection, author addresses some issues concerning how this international organization promotes “green” track of modern scientific and technological progress not only in Europe, but also around the world. MATERIALS AND METHODS. In the course of preparation of this study, writings of foreign and Russian researches in the field of international law and law of international organizations was being used. At that, author have used materials and documents of Council of Europe, analyzed conventions of this organization, as well as sources of its “soft” law, namely resolutions and recommendations of the PACE, Committee of ministers and Congress of local and regional authorities. RESEARCH RESULTS. On the basis of conducted research author comes to the conclusion that balance – advocated by Council of Europe – between human rights and scientific progress is a significant aspect of sustainable development that should act as background of process of international scientific and technological cooperation and transfer of “green” technologies. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS. The author comes to conclusion that the law of Council of Europe embraces multitude of international legal obligations conducive to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals including SDG No. 17 considering knowledge and technologies as tools for transition to sustainable development. At the same time, success in realization of given obligations depends on readiness of member states to follow related provisions of “hard” and “soft” law of this organization that is a part of international sustainable development law.

The role of International sustainable development law principles in enabling effective renewable energy policy – a South African perspective.

It is universally accepted that renewable energy is an important contributing factor towards the promotion of sustainable development. The implementation of renewable energy needs to be regulated in an effective manner which in turn necessitates the formulation of law and policy geared towards sustainable development. Recent policy developments in South Africa propose to facilitate the promotion of sustainable development through the implementation of renewable energy, among others. In terms of existing energy policy in South-Africa, the interconnectivity of renewable energy and sustainable development is evident. Most notably, the White Paper on Renewable Energy of 2003 promotes increased access to affordable renewable energy in order to contribute to sustainable development. Moreover, the 2008 first review of the National Energy Efficiency Strategy of the Republic of South-Africa of 2005 states that in order for the country’s renewable energy policy to be considered sustainable, it needs to facilitate development in the social, economic and environmental spheres. Notwithstanding, attaining the goal of sustainable development depends on whether all its effecting principles are catered for in the policy developments. Accordingly, in order to ascertain whether South-African law and policy can successfully facilitate/enable sustainable development via the implementation of renewable energy, a specific methodology is proposed. In terms of the New Delhi Declaration of 2002 there are 7 principles of international law effecting sustainable development. These principles will be used as criteria in a principled assessment of South-African renewable energy law and policy in order to establish whether the goal of promoting sustainable development would be effected through the national policy developments.

The Principle of Integration in International Sustainable Development Law (ISDL) with Reference to the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC)

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.

The role of International sustainable development law principles in enabling effective renewable energy policy – a South African perspective.

It is universally accepted that renewable energy is an important contributing factor towards the promotion of sustainable development. The implementation of renewable energy needs to be regulated in an effective manner which in turn necessitates the formulation of law and policy geared towards sustainable development. Recent policy developments in South Africa propose to facilitate the promotion of sustainable development through the implementation of renewable energy, among others. In terms of existing energy policy in South-Africa, the interconnectivity of renewable energy and sustainable development is evident. Most notably, the White Paper on Renewable Energy of 2003 promotes increased access to affordable renewable energy in order to contribute to sustainable development. Moreover, the 2008 first review of the National Energy Efficiency Strategy of the Republic of South-Africa of 2005 states that in order for the country’s renewable energy policy to be considered sustainable, it needs to facilitate development in the social, economic and environmental spheres. Notwithstanding, attaining the goal of sustainable development depends on whether all its effecting principles are catered for in the policy developments. Accordingly, in order to ascertain whether South-African law and policy can successfully facilitate/enable sustainable development via the implementation of renewable energy, a specific methodology is proposed. In terms of the New Delhi Declaration of 2002 there are 7 principles of international law effecting sustainable development. These principles will be used as criteria in a principled assessment of South-African renewable energy law and policy in order to establish whether the goal of promoting sustainable development would be effected through the national policy developments.

Sustainable Development in Emerging Markets & CSR Codes of Conduct: Oil and Gas Industry in Brazil

This paper intends to provide a comparative analysis of corporate social responsibility codes of conduct (CSR Codes) of the oil and gas industry operating in Brazil with the provisions embodied in the international legal framework system, such as the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights and the Fundamental Conventions of the International Labour Organization. For comparative purposes, and given the usual structure that CSR Codes tend to follow, the analysis has been developed around the three most emphasized issues - namely, labor and human rights, environment and socio-economic issues - which in turn have been divided into common subcategories of CSR Codes. One can argue that if CSR Codes are actually based on the new international sustainable development law, which may be used to verify CSR Codes' compliance and enforcement, CSR Codes can be seen as a «global commons» understanding framework to improve sustainable development operations in emerging markets such as Brazil.

Sustainable Development in International Law: Nature * and Operation of an Evolutive Legal Norm

The wide dissemination of sustainable development in international law has generated considerable academic interest. However, because of the evasive and flexible content of what has been termed by the ICJ a concept in the Gabc ˇikovo-Nagymaros case, and more recently an objective in the Pulp Mills case, academic commentary has often struggled to ascertain sustainable development’s legal nature, which has proved a notion defying legal classification. One attractive thesis has been Lowe’s analysis of sustainable development as an interstitial or modifying norm which exerts its normative influence as an interpretative tool in the hands of judges. Its interpretative function is certainly very significant. Judicial bodies have used it to legitimize recourse to evolutive treaty interpretation, as a rule of conflict resolution, and even to redefine conventional obligations. However, beyond this convenient hermeneutical function, by laying down an objective to strive for in hundreds of treaties, sustainable development primarily purports to regulate state conduct. As an objective, it lays down not an absolute but a relative obligation to achieve sustainable development. Such obligations are known as obligations of means or of best efforts. Legal subjects are thus ultimately under an obligation to promote sustainable development.

Sustainable Development Law on Environmental Migration: The Story of an Obelisk, a Bag of Marbles, and a Tapestry

No specific, consistent law deals with migration in the context of environmental phenomena (specifically of climate change) as a distinct issue. From this simple assessment, an oft-heard discourse identifies a ‘legal gap’ that should accordingly be filled through new norms specific to environmental migration. A new international treaty, in particular, would build such a normative monolith – an ‘obelisk’. However, I argue that some existing international norms may indeed play at least a partial role. The Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and the Draft Articles on State Responsibility, among others, are part of a ‘bag of marbles' – a collection of isolated norms that should be held together if possible. However, these isolated norms have little consistency and need to be woven together into a coherent synthesis. The nascent notion of an international sustainable development law helps us in conceiving such a ‘tapestry’ – a comprehensive analysis of a plethora of existing norms helping us to form a coherent response to the issues raised by environmental migration. Even though this cannot tackle all the issues relating to environmental migration, it should at least allow us to identify the multiple insufficiencies of international law, instead of referring simply to an incurable unique ‘legal gap’.

Taking Stock of the Concept of Sustainable Development in International Law and International Relations

This paper, based on a keynote speech held at the ESIL in 2012, gives an overview over the development of the concept of sustainable development in international law and international relations since the Brundtland Report in 1989. It traces the three-dimensionality of sustainable development, namely its social, economic, and environmental dimensions, which have been declared to be of equal value, and the cornerstone of what distinguishes sustainable development from other related concepts. Yet, in the “meaning-in-use” (Wiener 2009, 2008) of sustainable development, this key aspect of the reconciliation of the three dimensions is usually neglected or ignored with the economic and environmental dimensions emphasized to the detriment of the social dimension. Yet, how individuals understand and interpret the concept matters crucially to how the concept is enacted in the literature as well as at the United Nations and beyond. Therefore, this paper argues, more attention needs to be paid to the invisible normative baggage of actors, which influences how they enact sustainable development, in order to understand how sustainable development as a concept develops and is used with regard to the underlining three-dimensionality.

Sustainable Development in International Law

Over the past decades, the concept of sustainable development has been accepted by international community due to the serious environmental problems. However, the debates surrounding the legal status of sustainable development are continuing all the time. Apparently, sustainable development should be seen as a binding principle of international customary law and its broad policy goal, found in certain international treaties has specific meanings in the text of international laws.

Sustainable Development in International Law

This article explores the meaning of development. In part A the author describes the evolution of the concept of sustainable development, stressing its international environmental orientation. She then presents an analysis of the concept relating to its formulation, definition and meaning. This part also explores the legal aspects of the concept so as to ascertain its true legal character on the international arena. It identifies a legal character in the concept beyond legislative processes, and a flexibility that allows for their interpretation within legal rules to enhance environmental protection at the global or domestic level. Some pertinent developments on the concept since its international inception are also explored, further stressing its importance. In part B the author examines the context in which sustainable development can be implemented at national level. She also shows that national implementation of the concept, represents an important and necessary means of applying sustainable development in order to protect domestic development environments.

Significant developments in sustainable development law and governance: A proposal

Abstract This article develops a practical proposal for progress on sustainable development law. It examines the prospects for an international sustainable development law to provide a framework for more effective, coherent governance. Sustainable development law is briefly defined and an analytical framework is provided. Different degrees of integration between economic, social and environmental law are described. Certain principles of international law related to sustainable development are also highlighted. It is argued that these principles may serve to guide law‐makers and jurists where social, economic and environmental law and policy conflict or overlap. Continuing, underlying questions of sustainable development governance are addressed and its global frameworks analysed. The article also focuses on the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development, held in Johannesburg in August‐September 2002, and its specific mandate for the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) to take related legal developments into account. The article advances a proposal: that governments, economic, social and environmental intergovernmental organizations and other actors establish a ‘network of inquiry’ with members from relevant groups, including legal and academic organizations, and other expert groups, in order to follow, research, analyse and debate legal developments in a balanced way.

Prospects for Principles of International Sustainable Development Law after the WSSD: Common but Differentiated Responsibilities, Precaution and Participation

Prospects for Principles of International Sustainable Development Law after the WSSD: Common but Differentiated Responsibilities, Precaution and Participation