Towards a Global Pact for the environment

Written by Yann Aguila

Published on European Review of Public Law

We need a Global Pact for the Environment and, more broadly, an international legally binding treaty on environmental rights. Indeed, international environmental law is critical to protecting the environment since global warming does not stop at national borders. However, despite the development of environmental law since the 1972 Stockholm Conference, there is a failure of this law because of the very lack of a global legal framework. An international treaty would provide for legal foundations and inspire national legislators and national courts. It would also stand as a political text by becoming a global reference, as constitutions for nations. Negotiations on the Global Pact for the Environment, launched in 2018 by a UN General Assembly resolution, have failed. However, the movement for international recognition of “green rights” is gaining momentum, as evidenced by the adoption in July 2022 by the same UNGA of a resolution on the right to a healthy environment. Read more