The rise and fall of sustainable development

Review of European, Comparative and International Environmental Law

Volumn 22, Issue 1, 2013, Pages 3-13

  Viñuales, Jorge E ^a  

^a Graduate Institute   (Switzerland)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT; GOVERNANCE APPROACH; STAKEHOLDER; SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT;

CHLOROCRAMBE HASTATA;

EID: 84875691817     PISSN: None     EISSN: 20500386     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/reel.12021     Document Type: Article

References (70)

1. Implementation of Agenda 21, the Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21 and the Outcomes of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (UNGA Resolution A/RES/64/236, 24 December 2009).
2. M. Zürn, 'Global Governance as Multi-level Governance', in: D. Levi-Faur (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Governance (Oxford University Press, 2012), 730;
3. J.G. Speth and P. Haas, Global Environmental Governance (Island Press, 2006), 12-51 (detailing the main environmental problems requiring global action).
4. International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and World Wildlife Fund (WWF), World Conservation Strategy: Living Resource Conservation for Sustainable Development (IUCN, UNEP and WWF, 1980), found at: .
5. Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development: Our Common Future (UN Doc. A/42/427, 4 August 1987), Annex ('Our Common Future'), Part I, chapter 2, section I.
6. Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, found in Report of the UN Conference on Environment and Development (UN Doc. A/CONF.151/26/Rev.1 (Vol. I), 14 June 1992), Annex ('Rio Declaration'), particularly Principles 4 and 8.
7. For a short conceptual history of sustainable development, see A.E. Egelton, Sustainable Development: A History (Springer, 2012).
8. At least three book-length legal studies have been devoted to the evolution of sustainable development: V. Barral, Le Développement Durable en Droit International: Essai sur les Incidences Juridiques d'un Concept Évolutif (PhD dissertation, European University Institute, 2007);
9. N. Schrijver, 'The Evolution of Sustainable Development in International Law: Inception, Meaning and Status', 329 Recueil des Cours (2007), 217;
10. C. Voigt, Sustainable Development as a Principle of International Law (Martinus Nijhoff, 2009) (focusing on climate change and trade law).
11. The concept of 'eco-development' was advanced as part of the preparation of the so-called 'Founex II' conference, held in 1974. The project paper by Ignacy Sachs can be found in the collection of papers of Maurice Strong (IV. UN Conference on the Human Environment/UN Environment Programme years: 1970-1975, Series III. UNEP file: 1968 January-1975 December, Subseries B), donated by Strong himself to the Environmental Science and Public Policy Archives, Harvard University.
12. A further elaboration of this concept can be found in B. Glaeser (ed.), Ecodevelopment: Concepts, Projects, Strategies (Pergamon Press, 1984), which includes a preface by Sachs. The concept of 'green economy' is of more recent vintage.
13. Its origins are usually traced back to D.W. Pearce, A. Markandya and E.B. Barbier, Blueprint for a Green Economy (Earthscan, 1989).
14. A modernized version of the green economy concept appears in E. Barbier, A Global Green New Deal: Rethinking the Economic Recovery (Cambridge University Press, 2010)
15. as well as in UNEP, The Green Economy Report - A Synthesis for Policy Makers (UNEP, 2011). On the concept, see the article by E. Morgera and A. Savaresi in this issue.
16. Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21 (UNGA Resolution S/19-2, 28 June 1997), Annex, paragraph 3 ('We are convinced that the achievement of sustainable development requires the integration of its economic, environmental and social components').
17. W. Clark and N. Dickson, 'Sustainability Science: The Emerging Research Program', 100:14 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (2003), 8059;
18. W. Clark, 'Sustainability Science: A Room of Its Own', 104:6 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (2007), 1737.
19. S. Baumgärtner and M. Quaas, 'What is Sustainability Economics?', 69:3 Ecological Economics (2010), 445.
20. A. Gasparatos and A. Scolobig, 'Choosing the Most Appropriate Sustainability Assessment Tool', 80 Ecological Economics (2012), 1.
21. V. Lowe, 'Sustainable Development and Unsustainable Arguments', in: A. Boyle and D. Freestone (eds.), International Law and Sustainable Development: Past Achievements and Future Challenges (Oxford University Press, 1999), 19.
22. L. Caldwell, International Environmental Policy (Duke University Press, 1996), 95-97.
23. Interview Gro Harlem Brundtland, March 2004, referred to in: H. Selin and B.-O. Linnér, 'The Quest for Global Sustainability: International Efforts on Linking Environment and Development', CID Graduate Student and Postdoctoral Fellow Working Paper 5 (January 2005), found at:
24. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (New York, 9 May 1992; in force 21 March 1994).
25. Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (Kyoto, 11 December 1997; in force 16 February 2005).
26. Convention on Biological Diversity (Rio de Janeiro, 5 June 1992; in force 29 December 1993).
27. Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the Convention on Biological Diversity (Cartagena, 29 January 2000; in force 11 September 2003).
28. United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa (Paris, 14 October 1994; in force 26 December 1996).
29. Agreement for the Implementation of the Provisions of the United Nations Conventions on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 Relating to the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks (New York, 4 August 1995; in force 11 December 2001).
30. Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade (Rotterdam, 10 September 1998; in force 24 February 2004).
31. Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (Stockholm, 22 May 2001; in force 17 May 2004).
32. United National Environmental Programme (UNEP), Global Environmental Outlook 5: Environment for the Future We Want (UNEP, 2012), at 464, Figure 17.1.
33. Report of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, Johannesburg, South Africa, 26 August-4 September 2002 (UN Doc. A/CONF.199/20), in particular Resolution 2 ('Plan of Implementation of the World Summit on Sustainable Development').
34. The focus on implementation and, more specifically, on multi-stakeholder partnerships was largely an attempt to compensate for the lack of political will to take bolder steps. See L. Andonova and M. Levy, 'Franchising Governance: Making Sense of the Johannesburg Type II Partnerships', in O. Schram Stokke, Ø.B. Thommessen (eds.), Yearbook of International Co-operation on Environment and Development (Earthscan, 2004), 19.
35. The Future We Want (UN Doc. A/RES/66/288, 11 September 2012) ('Rio+20 outcome document').
36. Issue briefs were also prepared for topics such as: options for developing and strengthening an international forum on sustainable development; ideas on sustainable development goals and indicators; green jobs and social inclusion; food security and sustainable agriculture; regional/national/local level governance for sustainable development; water; science and technology for sustainable development; sustainable low carbon transport in emerging and developing economies; migration and sustainable development; and finance for the transition to a green economy. The issue briefs can be found at: .
37. P.-M. Dupuy, J.E. Viñuales (eds.), Harnessing Foreign Investment to Promote Environmental Protection: Incentives and Safeguards (Cambridge University Press, 2013).
38. The emphasis on development and growth, especially during the 1990s, is documented in S.F. Bernstein, The Compromise of Liberal Environmentalism (Columbia University Press, 2001).
39. The resolution 'reiterate[d] the primacy of independent economic and social development as the main and paramount objective of international co-operation, in the interests of the welfare of mankind and of peace and world security'. Development and Environment (UNGA Resolution 2849 (XXVI), 20 December 1971), paragraph 11 (emphasis added).
40. In the terminology developed in the seminal paper by Sherry Arnstein, this deficient degree of participation could be referred to as 'non-participation' or, at best 'tokenism' (information, consultation, placation). See S.R. Arnstein, 'A Ladder of Citizen Participation', 35:4 Journal of the American Institute of Planners (1969), 216.
41. For an analytical framework conceptualizing global environmental governance at different interconnected levels, see L. Andonova and R. Mitchell, 'The Rescaling of Global Environmental Politics', 35 Annual Review of Environment and Resources (2010), 255.
42. The most sophisticated instrument so far in this regard is the Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus, 25 June 1998; in force 30 October 2001), adopted within the framework of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, but also open to the accession of other States.
43. See, e.g., M. Kraft and S. Kamieniecki (eds.), Business and Environmental Policy: Corporate Interests in the American Political System (MIT Press, 2007).
44. S. Dietz, C. Marchiori and A. Tavoni, Domestic Politics and the Formation of International Environmental Agreements (London School of Economics, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, 2012).
45. On the links between 'subglobal' action and 'global' action, see D. Farber, 'Carbon Leakage versus Policy Diffusion: The Perils and Promise of Subglobal Climate Action', 13 Chicago Journal of International Law (2013, forthcoming) (arguing that subglobal climate action in some countries, may in fact, facilitate action in other countries and thus build confidence for global action).
46. From a normative standpoint, it has been argued that the current stagnation experienced in some international legal fora (States' negotiations within the framework offered by international organizations) is being compensated for by a major rise in 'informal international law making' - namely normative generation involving non-traditional actors (agencies, cities, central banks and non-State actors), processes (networks and schemes, rather than international organizations) and outputs (standards, guidelines and indicators, rather than treaties). See J. Pauwelyn, R. Wessel and J. Wouters (eds.), Informal International Lawmaking (Oxford University Press, 2012).
47. For a selection of case studies, see A. Berman, S. Duquet, R. Wessel and J. Wouters (eds.), Informal International Lawmaking: Case Studies (TOAEP Academic, 2012).
48. There is an abundant literature on the potential conflicts between environmentalism as a doctrine and the respect of human rights, both from a theoretical and an empirical perspective. See, e.g., T. Hayward, Political Theory and Ecological Values (Polity Press, 1998);
49. R. Neumann, Imposing Wilderness: Struggles over Livelihood and Nature Preservation in Africa (University of California Press, 1998);
50. M. Dowie, Conservation Refugees: The Hundred Years Conflict between Global Conservation and Native Peoples (MIT Press, 2009).
51. On differential treatment in international law, see D.B. Magraw, 'Legal Treatment of Developing Countries: Differential, Contextual and Absolute Norms', 1:1 Colorado Journal of International Environmental Law and Policy (1989), 69;
52. P. Cullet, Differential Treatment in International Environmental Law (Ashgate, 2003);
53. L. Rajamani, Differential Treatment in International Environmental Law (Oxford University Press, 2006).
54. See, e.g., M. Gardiner, 'Ethics and Global Climate Change', 114:3 Ethics (2004), 555;
55. S. Vanderheiden (ed.), Political Theory and Global Climate Change (MIT Press, 2008).
56. J.E. Viñuales, 'Balancing Effectiveness and Fairness in the Redesign of the Climate Change Regime', 24:1 Leiden Journal of International Law (2011), 223.
57. Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (Montréal, 16 September 1987; in force 1 January 1989).
58. L. Maugeri, Oil: The Next Revolution (Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School, June 2012).
59. This commitment to fossil fuels would likely be unsustainable if future generations (as the main 'group' stakeholder) were asked whether they feel 'indifference', 'regret' or 'gratitude' with respect to the decision to engage in the fossil path. M.W. Anderson, M. Teisl and C. Noblet, 'Giving a Voice to the Future in Sustainability: Retrospective Assessment to Learn Prospective Shareholder Engagement', 84 Ecological Economics (2012), 1. But the results of such a retrospective assessment would, in all likelihood, depend on, first, the net benefits of the fossil fuel path (as compared to its contribution to climate change and the negative effects of climate change), and second, the distribution of the costs and benefits among different groups within future generations (the future - like the current - population within a developing country may, in earnest, feel 'grateful' despite the effects of such a path on climate change). It must be noted that this approach is entirely based on consequentialist reasoning (as is the case, more generally, of economic science).
60. This potential implication highlights the importance for global environmental governance of understanding the framework applicable to geoengineering. On this point, see C. Redgwell, 'Geoengineering the Climate: Technical Solutions for Mitigation Failure or Continuing Carbon Addiction?', 4:2 Carbon and Climate Law Review (2011), 178.
61. On the different fora in which energy negotiations are being conducted, see the overview in: J. Pauwelyn (ed.), Global Challenges at the Intersection of Energy, Trade and the Environment (Graduate Institute, 2010).
62. In 2002, the ILC undertook a study of the principles governing 'shared natural resources'. The expression covered groundwater, oil and gas. The latter two proved to be too controversial. Therefore, the ILC decided to work on groundwater first and eventually adopted draft articles on transboundary aquifers in 2008. The work on oil and gas was then resumed but, because of the strong resistance on the part of most States, it was abandoned in 2010. See J.E. Viñuales, 'Vers un Droit International de l'Énergie: Essai de Cartographie', in: D. Bentolila and M.G. Kohen (eds.), Mélanges en l'Honneur du Professeur Jean-Michel Jacquet (LexisNexis, 2013, forthcoming), found at: .
63. A. Sen, Poverty and Famines: An Essay on Entitlement and Deprivation (Oxford University Press, 1981).
64. For a recent comparative survey of techniques used by three governments to direct research into energy innovation, see L. Diaz Anadon, 'Missions-oriented RD&D Institutions in Energy Between 2000 and 2010: A Comparative Analysis of China, the United Kingdom and the United States', 41:10 Research Policy (2012), 1742.
65. A.H.B., Monk, 'The Emerging Market for Intellectual Property: Drivers, Restrainers and Implications', 9:4 Journal of Economic Geography (2009), 469.
66. P.M. Haas, 'UN Conferences and Constructivist Governance of the Environment', 8:1 Global Governance (2002), 73.
67. The theory of degrowth has deep roots. In recent years, economists have tried to assess what effects degrowth policies would actually have. See, e.g., G. Kallis, C. Kerschner and J. Martinez-Alier, 'The Economics of Degrowth', 84 Ecological Economics (2012), 172 (assessing recent research and refining the relevant research questions).
68. V. Galaz et al., 'Global Environmental Governance and Planetary Boundaries: An Introduction', 81 Ecological Economics (2012), 1.
69. D. Tokic, 'The Economic and Financial Dimensions of Degrowth', 84 Ecological Economics (2012), 49 (concluding that degrowth policies would leave to an economic implosion);
70. W.H. Schlesinger, 'Planetary Boundaries: Thresholds Risk Prolonged Degradation', 3 Nature Reports Climate Change (2009), 112 (arguing that management through thresholds encourages policymakers to pollute up to the threshold instead of taking action before reaching it).