This paper examines the ongoing process towards a Global Pact for the Environment (GPE), launched by the UN General Assembly on 10 May 2018, and the extent to which it still could be instrumental in strengthening the normative and governance system of response to the challenges posed by environmental degradation in the context of sustainable development. The paper reviews the origins, evolution and current status of the process for a GPE, noting a setback to the process, which occurred in Nairobi on May 2019. Arguments stressing the value of a normative approach to the governance of the Earth system are weighed against States' preference for political action to ensure better implementation of existing norms. In its conclusive section, the paper makes the case for an integrative approach of policy and law in a global pact for the environment expressing the State's firm commitments to protect and restore the integrity of the Earth system.
The process 'Towards a global pact for the environment' began with a French initiative on the back of the diplomatic success achieved by the adoption of the Paris Agreement on climate change at the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP 21) to the United Nations (UN) Framework Convention on Climate Change in 2015. 1 The idea to prepare such an instrument originated from the work of the Committee on the Environment of the Club des Juristes, a French legal think tank chaired by Laurent Fabius, President of the French Constitutional Court and former COP 21 President. The purpose of the pact would be to respond to the fragmentation of international environmental law by adopting an international treaty which would lay down its fundamental principles and give more coherence to this branch of international law. To that end, the Club des Juristes put together an international network of over 100 jurists from all legal traditions and representing over 40 nationalities, called the Group of Experts for the Pact. After September 2016, the Group of Experts prepared the preliminary draft for a global treaty on the environment. The definitive version of this draft was adopted after final refinements were incorporated on 24 June 2017 at an academic event held at the Sorbonne. In September 2017, the promoters of the initiative published a white paper entitled 'Towards a Global Pact for the Environment', which included the articulated text of the proposed draft convention. 2 1 The idea of a global treaty for the environment is not new. In 1987, the Brundtland report on 'Our Common Future' envisaged a Convention on Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development to be prepared by the United Nations General Assembly ('Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development: Our Common Future' (1987)
El presente estudio examina la evolución del Derecho internacional ambiental desde la Conferencia de Estocolmo de 1972 hasta el momento actual, así como el papel particular que la participación de la sociedad civil juega en este proceso. El dinamismo, productividad normativa y espíritu innovador que caracterizó al Derecho internacional ambiental en su periodo constitutivo ha perdido fuerza en el presente siglo, dando signos de un cierto agotamiento normativo, fatiga institucional y confusión respecto de sus objetivos genuinos, lo que le sitúa entre la evolución y la involución. En este contexto, el principio de participación de la sociedad civil en la acción ambiental internacional se mantiene como uno de los elementos característicos del sistema, con un avance en el reconocimiento y la internacionalización de los “derechos de acceso”, reforzado por la confluencia con las nuevas exigencias de los derechos humanos ambientales (environmental rights). Sin embargo, este reforzamiento contrasta con una cierta deriva de la práctica hacia una configuración más oficializada o “política” de la presencia de la sociedad civil en los foros internacionales. El confinamiento de las ONG en las “zonas verdes” en las grandes Conferencias mundiales o su exclusión de las negociaciones de algunos convenios ambientales constituyen signos inquietantes de una cierta regresión.
Suite à l’accident de la plateforme de forage Deepwater Horizon dans le Golfe du Mexique en 2010, l’Union Européenne adopta la directive 2013/ 30/ UE du 12 juin 2013 relative à la sécurité des opérations pétrolières et gazières en mer et modifiant la directive 2004/ 35/ CE. L’objet essentiel de la directive est de prévenir les accidents majeurs et limiter leurs conséquences en établissant des exigences minimales de sécurité pouvant contribuer indirectement à améliorer les conditions environnementales et de santé des travailleurs lors des opérations pétrolières et gazières en mer. La directive modifie aussi la directive 2004/ 35/ CE du 21 avril 2004 sur la responsabilité environnementale pour la rendre applicable en mer. Dans l’ensemble, la directive 2013/ 30/ UE constitue un pas en avant en matière de sécurité des opérations pétrolières et gazières en mer. Mais les règles établies ne sont ni claires ni complètes ; elles ne contiennent que des obligations déclinées en termes de droit mou (soft law) qui ne s’appliquent pas aux accidents majeurs pouvant se produire en haute mer dans les diverses régions marines de l’Union ou dans les eaux hors de l’Union.
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