International environmental law (IEL) is a branch of public international law, a body of law created by States for States to govern problems that arise between States. IEL law typically endeavors to control pollution and the depletion of natural resources within a framework of sustainable development. The transboundary nature of many kinds of environmental issues means that most IEL related issues are addressed through international agreements.
Related guides include can be found here.
International environmental law as a subset of international law began with the Stockholm Conference on the Environment in 1972. Since then, IEL has developed as a body of law that consists primarily of treaties and other multilateral agreements entered into by states to regulate activities of participating states. Some principles, such as sustainable development, may have become customary law that bind states whether or not they have adopted the principle as part of their national law. Non-state actors are generally governed by national law and not directly through treaties.
 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. |
