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Charting Environmental Law Futures in the Anthropocene pp 45–58Cite as

International Environmental Law in the Anthropocene: Addressing the Gaps Towards ‘Sustainable Development Law’

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Abstract

Modern human societies face a complex socio-ecological crisis marked by unsustainable use of natural resources and increasing environmental degradation. This can be seen as a result of a development model that often neglects planetary boundaries, putting at risk the “safe operating space” for humanity. All of this characterize an era in which humankind has become the force shaping the future of the planet: the Anthropocene. In this context, international environmental law (IEL) is faced with multiple challenges, given its reactive and fragmented nature, and needs to rethink its fundaments in light of anthropogenic global socio-environmental problems. This chapter discusses the role and gaps of IEL through the lenses of sustainable development, and how a different approach could be promoted to face such challenges.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The Anthropocene is being discussed by the Anthropocene Working Group, which is part of the Sub-commission on Quaternary Stratigraphy within the International Commission on Stratigraphy—that answers to the International Union of Geological Sciences. In order to be formally acknowledged as geological unit within the Geological Time Scale, all these before-mentioned bodies need to be convinced, and would have to agree on a widely acceptable formulation for the Anthropocene, a process that might take years (Zalasiewicz et al. 2010, p. 2228).

  2. 2.

    See, in this regard, a post at: https://persquaremile.com/2012/08/08/if-the-worlds-population-lived-like/, using data from the Global Footprint Network.

  3. 3.

    It is important to point out here that there are multiple views and perspectives on the concept and nature of sustainable development. Many scholars (e.g. see Winter 2008) call for a re-signification of the concept, or for a notion of strong sustainability (Ott 2003). Delving into this discussion, despite timely and extremely relevant, does not belong to the aim of this chapter, which chose to address the theory of “sustainable development law”, mostly for methodological reasons linked to bringing the discussion closer to the mainstream concept in the UN System.

  4. 4.

    Regarding the Club of Rome, see more at: https://www.clubofrome.org/.

  5. 5.

    Based in the three pillars: society, economy and environment.

  6. 6.

    The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, provides a blueprint for sustainable development, pledging to ‘leave no one behind’. At the core of the Agenda, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are an urgent call for action by all countries recognizing that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth while tackling climate change and preserving the environment. See for more information: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdgs.

  7. 7.

    See, in this regard, the work of Nobel Prize winner economist Amartya Sen, Development as Freedom, 1999, OUP.

  8. 8.

    These ideas have been exposed in the lead author’s Ph.D. thesis, ‘The implementation of sustainable development in regional trade agreements: a case study on the European Union and MERCOSUR’, defended in June 2013 at the European University Institute, at: http://cadmus.eui.eu/handle/1814/28034. Accessed 29 Jan 2015.

  9. 9.

    See, for instance, the ILA Declaration of Principles of International Law Relating to Sustainable Development (ILA 2002); jurisprudence of the International Court of Justice (e.g. concerning the Gagcikovo Nagymaros Project (Hungary/Slovakia), ICJ Reports 1997, records available at: www.icj.cij.org.

  10. 10.

    To give an example, the WTO regime is often cited. For an interesting discussion of this issue, see Ahner (2009).

  11. 11.

    The current draft GPE presents shortcomings that need to be properly addressed. For a further analysis of the draft pact see Kotzé and French (2018).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. International Consultant, Sustainable Development Law and Policy, European University Institute, Florence, Italy

    Fabiano de Andrade Correa

  2. Fellow of CAPES Foundation, Federal University of Santa Catarinal, Florianópolis, Brazil

    Marina Demaria Venâncio

Authors
  1. Fabiano de Andrade Correa
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  2. Marina Demaria Venâncio
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Correspondence to Fabiano de Andrade Correa .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Adelaide Law School, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia

    Michelle Lim

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de Andrade Correa, F., Venâncio, M.D. (2019). International Environmental Law in the Anthropocene: Addressing the Gaps Towards ‘Sustainable Development Law’. In: Lim, M. (eds) Charting Environmental Law Futures in the Anthropocene. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-9065-4_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-9065-4_4

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