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                                                            Baseline Statement

            When attempting to determine the boundaries of international environmental law, one finds that no clear definition can be applied. Like many other branches of international law, international environmental law is interdisciplinary, intersecting and overlapping with numerous other areas of research, including economics, political science, ecology, human rights and navigation/admiralty. Environmental law has changed dramatically since its modern inception in 1970. The first generation of environmental statutes and regulations established clear goals but were plagued by the practical difficulties of implementation and enforcement. Administrative law was still evolving to deal with new modes of public participation, judicial review and citizen lawsuits. While striving to achieve the same goals, environmental law today focuses on the practical aspects of developing sound regulatory programs and experimenting with various policy tools to achieve environmental goals without undermining other social objectives.
             The history of international environmental law is organized around the two landmark conferences on environment and development issues: the 1972 UN Conference on the human Environment (also known as the Stockholm Conference) which considered the need for a common outlook and for common principles to inspire and guide the peoples of the world in the preservation and enhancement of the human environment and the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development (referred to as the Rio Conference). The Stockholm Conference emphasized the importance of integrating environment and development, of reducing or eliminating pollution and of controlling the use of renewable and non-renewable resources. The Stockholm Declaration placed the primary responsibility for environmental protection on national and local governments. It also identified three areas where international law had a legitimate role to play: resources to support developing countries in carrying out their responsibilities, cooperation among nations, and action by international organizations in the common interest of the parties. It particularly emphasized the equality of all states and the need to involve all States in international environmental protection. 
               Stockholm legitimized the environment as an area of international concern, highlighted the scientific and ecological reasons why international cooperation was necessary, and promoted the linkage between environment and development issue. Stockholm also spurred significant action at the national level. In part due to the Action Plan, many countries enacted environmental legislation and created environmental institutions either in anticipation of the conference or in response to it. Spurred on by the success of Stockholm, the remainder of the 1970’s saw a proliferation of international environmental treaties addressing mostly environmental issues like water pollution, ozone depletion, and air pollution. The entire treaty making process clearly indicated that the field of international environmental law had come of age. But the field had an ad hoc quality, consisting primarily of separate conventions-some global, some regional. Some negotiated under UNEP, some negotiated under arms of the UN system. As the UN began its preparation for the 1992 Rio Conference, there was hope that it would superimpose some order on the emerging field by placing international environmental law in the context of sustainable development. For a long time the challenge on international environmental diplomacy has been to try to accommodate the South’s sense of urgency to redirect the global economy to overcome the cycle of poverty and the North’s desire to protect the environment.  
                  The Rio Conference emerged as a “global partnership” between North and South to achieve sustainable development. The basis of this partnership includes mutual acceptance between environmental protection and poverty alleviation, between obligations to provide financial assistance and technology transfers, and the need to slow population growth and curb consumption. These conferences took developing countries to a higher level in the international environmental affairs because the North realized that it needs the South’s cooperation to face the global environmental challenges. Both sides in order to further their own goals were willing to compromise on many issues and reach a conclusion that would benefit all of the parties involved. Since this conference focused on the environment  the South was concerned with promoting its development and ensuring that any protection of the environment did not come at the expense of their right to develop. Even though the North and the South were able to see common ground the North did not necessarily wan to accept the full responsibility of paying for the global effort to protect the environment and achieve sustainable development. This was the prime issues during the Rio Conference, however the North and the South were able to come to an agreement about who will take what responsibilities in the future. The Rio Declaration can be read in several ways. First, it is a political document reflecting the “grand bargain” between the North and the South. Second, it includes many emerging legal principles in the field of environmental law. By confirming that a consensus exists among states the Rio Declaration may significantly further the development of international environmental law, as well as the possibility of incorporating specific principles in subsequent treaties.
                 These two conferences lead to a new beginning for furthering the development of international environmental law especially in areas of the treaty-making process. The creation of treaties and the involvement of the greater civil society are all evidence to the changes that are occurring in the sphere of international law. More people and more countries are getting involved which means that a partnership and cooperation is possible between the states, societies and people. Since the Rio Conference, the Climate Change, Biodiversity, Law of the Sea have all entered into force. However, it’s hard to implement the basis of the treaty because the world is constantly changing and more pollution builds up in the environment. A lot of industrialized countries that signed on to the treaty are having a hard time maintaining clean air because of mass production. The poor countries are also unable to maintain the degradation of natural resources because of persistent poverty. Nonetheless, these two conferences marked a turning point in international law because they showed that the legal system can be successful if it incorporates more actors and allows them to actively participate in research, decision-making and implementation of policy. 
             The treaties along with the emergence of international conferences became the frameworks of creating international understanding of problems. One way that international law is able to exist and achieve its many goals is through treaties. The Vienna Convention binds states by a written set of agreements called the “treaty.” A treaty is an international agreement concluded between states in written form and governed by international law. A treaty is a source of international environmental law because they derive their legitimacy directly from the express consent of States. They are the principle method for creating binding rules of international law, including international rules regarding the environment. Four basic steps are inherent in the conclusion of any international agreement: 1) identification of needs and goals; 2) negotiations; 3) adoption and signature; and 4) ratification. After these steps are completed treaties must be implemented, monitored for compliance and if necessary, modified or amended. For example, the Vienna Convention governs the major aspects of treaties, including negotiation, conclusion, interpretation, amendment, and termination. The treaty making process regarding the Montreal Protocol shows how scientists were significant participants in the process. They were the ones who discovered the link between CFCs and ozone depletion, resulting in diplomats turning to science when reaching a stalemate on potential regulatory measures. In short, treaties are very valuable in international law, particularly when dealing with environmental issues. Treaties are not a single way that international law operates. However,  it’s the most legal and binding way that different states can agree on things.   
             Under the principles of international law established by Hugo Grotius, each nation-state is independent and sovereign. No supra-national legislature exists with the power to create law applicable to the entire world.  Moreover States are the primary subjects of international law. As a general rule, no state may be bound by any international obligation without its consent. For example, the basic rule of international law is that a state generally has exclusive authority to regulate conduct within its territory. Even though international law allows governments to impose its authority throughout its own society, it remains remarkably non-democratic. The government of each state has an equal voice and an equal vote in most international forum, but individual citizens are generally denied both a voice and a vote.     To my observation, the non-participatory, (consensus-based) nature of international law system hinders efforts to formulate an effective international response to our global environmental crisis. Increasingly however, the limitations inherent in international law are being challenged. As non-state actors and new processes emerge in the international system, international law making is slowly-and inevitably-developing some of the more robust characteristics of national systems. With emergence of more actors pressing global issues like Ozone depletion, the international environmental law has made dramatic progress especially with the effect of the Montreal Protocol, which has been possible not only because of government efforts, but because of participation of independent agencies like EPA, NASA and UNEP.  The vigorous collaboration of scientific groups led to the discovery of the Antarctic ozone hole, which provided the driving force behind the rapid negotiation of the 1987 Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.  

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