Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Acknowledgement
- Contents
- List of Abbreviations
- List of Instruments
- List of Cases
- Introduction
- PART I PROGRESSIVITY AND NON-REGRESSION IN INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS LAW: GOING UP ON THE ESCALATOR
- PART II PROGRESSIVE OBLIGATIONS AND NON-REGRESSION IN ENVIRONMENTAL TREATY REGIMES: GOING UP THE DOWN ESCALATOR
- PART III NON-REGRESSION AND THE PROMISES OF COMPARATIVE INTERNATIONAL LAW
- Bibliography
- Index
- About the Author
Chapter 6 - Environmental Agreements Focusing on the Conservation of Biodiversity
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 February 2021
- Frontmatter
- Acknowledgement
- Contents
- List of Abbreviations
- List of Instruments
- List of Cases
- Introduction
- PART I PROGRESSIVITY AND NON-REGRESSION IN INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS LAW: GOING UP ON THE ESCALATOR
- PART II PROGRESSIVE OBLIGATIONS AND NON-REGRESSION IN ENVIRONMENTAL TREATY REGIMES: GOING UP THE DOWN ESCALATOR
- PART III NON-REGRESSION AND THE PROMISES OF COMPARATIVE INTERNATIONAL LAW
- Bibliography
- Index
- About the Author
Summary
Although much writing has focused on the general principles of IEL, specific pollution regimes, or the international climate change regime, there has also been a resurgent interest in the conservation of nature and wildlife on the international level. International law relating to nature and wildlife conservation forms part of a broader framework that relates to the conservation of ‘biological diversity’ (or, in short, biodiversity). It was already noted in the introduction to this part that the importance of biodiversity has attracted renewed attention in various disciplines. The international legal efforts in this area are now loosely grouped around the 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity (‘CBD’ or ‘Biodiversity Convention’), which was opened for signature in the context of the 1992 Rio Conference together with the abovediscussed FCCC and the 1992 UN Convention to Combat Desertification (‘UNCCD’). Biodiversity in this sense is understood as
the variability among living organisms from all sources including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part; this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems.
Unlike in the climate change context, however, where the future development of the legal response on the international level has essentially concentrated on the FCCC forum, the CBD is complemented by numerous distinct and specialised biodiversity agreements that focus on the conservation of species, habitats, or ecosystems. Furthermore, it is much less evident in the biodiversity context that international legal responses would need to be universal or global in their approach. While the conservation of biodiversity is now equally regarded a ‘common concern’ of mankind (just like anthropogenic climate change), it may still be viable to protect certain species or habitats from local or regional impacts through regional instruments. Hence, the already complex body of global instruments for biodiversity conservation is further supplemented by numerous regional instruments.
Again, the following discussion is not intended to provide a complete overview of IEL instruments relating to the conservation of biodiversity. Instead, the following sections focus on selected examples of biodiversityrelated MEAs which are meant to provide an exemplary impression of the way biodiversity agreements seek to put their provisions into practice.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Non-Regression in International Environmental LawHuman Rights Doctrine and the Promises of Comparative International Law, pp. 333 - 428Publisher: IntersentiaPrint publication year: 2020