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Hållbar utveckling: En internationellt bindande norm?

Åhman, Johan LU (2020) LAGF03 20202
Department of Law
Faculty of Law
Abstract
The global environment is today more vulnerable than ever, despite more emphasis on sustainable development due to the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda. The principle of sustainable development has seen an increased influence on every imaginable level, but from a legal perspective there is still uncertainty regarding the actual function of the principle. The essay sets out to determine if the principle of sustainable development can be regarded as a binding norm based on international environmental law, and what obligations such a norm would give rise to.

The essay initially gives a brief account of the etymology and legal history of the concept of sustainable development, and then shifts focus towards trying to attribute a globally... (More)
The global environment is today more vulnerable than ever, despite more emphasis on sustainable development due to the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda. The principle of sustainable development has seen an increased influence on every imaginable level, but from a legal perspective there is still uncertainty regarding the actual function of the principle. The essay sets out to determine if the principle of sustainable development can be regarded as a binding norm based on international environmental law, and what obligations such a norm would give rise to.

The essay initially gives a brief account of the etymology and legal history of the concept of sustainable development, and then shifts focus towards trying to attribute a globally binding character to the principle using the sources of international law. Based on international conventions as well as international customary law, it becomes clear that sustainable development is viewed as an objective and thereby give rise to an obligation for states to promote sustainable development. Unfortunately, it is not possible to conclude, based on treaty law, that such an obligation would create secondary obligations that are generally applicable. It is however possible to identify such obligations with the assistance of jurisprudence and legal literature: inter- and intragenerational equity, preventive measures, and cooperation. In some ways, sustainable development constitutes a globally binding norm with pronounced obligations, however, to firmly establish the existence of such a norm, tangible legal opinions by international courts of law are required.

Based on the above, the essay looks to the future and examines the possible effects, on the principle of sustainable development, that the 2030 Agenda may give rise to. The obligations mentioned above are compared to the sustainable development goals and, to a large extent, they overlap with each other. The goals in conjunction with state practice, in accordance with the sustainability goals, can thus eventually contribute to giving sustainable development a stronger and more defined role. However, it is still too early to identify such effects. (Less)
Abstract (Swedish)
Världens miljö är mer utsatt idag än någonsin, trots ett ökat fokus på hållbar utveckling i form av Parisavtalet och Agenda 2030. Principen har under de senaste åren fått ökat inflytande på alla tänkbara nivåer, men från ett juridiskt perspektiv råder fortfarande tveksamhet kring principens faktiska funktion. Uppsatsen försöker därför fastställa huruvida principen om hållbar utveckling kan anses utgöra en bindande norm med bas i internationell miljörätt och vilka skyldigheter en sådan norm ger upphov till.

Uppsatsen redogör inledningsvis kortfattat för begreppets etymologiska och folkrättsliga historia, och fokuserar sedan på att försöka tillskriva principen en globalt bindande karaktär med hjälp av de folkrättsliga rättskällorna. Från... (More)
Världens miljö är mer utsatt idag än någonsin, trots ett ökat fokus på hållbar utveckling i form av Parisavtalet och Agenda 2030. Principen har under de senaste åren fått ökat inflytande på alla tänkbara nivåer, men från ett juridiskt perspektiv råder fortfarande tveksamhet kring principens faktiska funktion. Uppsatsen försöker därför fastställa huruvida principen om hållbar utveckling kan anses utgöra en bindande norm med bas i internationell miljörätt och vilka skyldigheter en sådan norm ger upphov till.

Uppsatsen redogör inledningsvis kortfattat för begreppets etymologiska och folkrättsliga historia, och fokuserar sedan på att försöka tillskriva principen en globalt bindande karaktär med hjälp av de folkrättsliga rättskällorna. Från internationella överenskommelser och internationell sedvanerätt blir det tydligt att hållbar utveckling behandlas som ett mål och ger upphov till en skyldighet för stater att främja hållbar utveckling. Det går dessvärre inte att, med hjälp av traktater, fastställa att en sådan skyldighet skulle skapa sekundära skyldigheter som skulle kunna anses allmänt gällande. Däremot är det med hjälp av rättspraxis och doktrin möjligt att identifiera några sådana: rättvisa mellan och inom generationer, förebyggande åtgärder och samarbete. Hållbar utveckling utgör alltså på sätt och vis en globalt bindande norm med uttalade skyldigheter, men starkare stöd för normens existens behövs i form av konkreta uttalande från internationella domstolar.

Med detta som utgångspunkt blickar uppsatsen därefter framåt och granskar den potentiella effekt som Agenda 2030 kan tänkas ha på principen. Här jämförs ovan nämna skyldigheter mot hållbarhetsmålen, vilka överlappar med varandra i stor utsträckning. Målen tillsammans med staters agerande i enlighet med dessa kan därför så småningom tillsammans ge hållbar utveckling en starkare och mer konkret roll, men det är fortfarande för tidigt att utläsa sådana effekter. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Åhman, Johan LU
supervisor
organization
course
LAGF03 20202
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
Folkrätt, Hållbar utveckling, Internationell miljörätt
language
Swedish
id
9034098
date added to LUP
2021-02-09 10:17:52
date last changed
2021-02-09 10:17:52
@misc{9034098,
  abstract     = {{The global environment is today more vulnerable than ever, despite more emphasis on sustainable development due to the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda. The principle of sustainable development has seen an increased influence on every imaginable level, but from a legal perspective there is still uncertainty regarding the actual function of the principle. The essay sets out to determine if the principle of sustainable development can be regarded as a binding norm based on international environmental law, and what obligations such a norm would give rise to.

The essay initially gives a brief account of the etymology and legal history of the concept of sustainable development, and then shifts focus towards trying to attribute a globally binding character to the principle using the sources of international law. Based on international conventions as well as international customary law, it becomes clear that sustainable development is viewed as an objective and thereby give rise to an obligation for states to promote sustainable development. Unfortunately, it is not possible to conclude, based on treaty law, that such an obligation would create secondary obligations that are generally applicable. It is however possible to identify such obligations with the assistance of jurisprudence and legal literature: inter- and intragenerational equity, preventive measures, and cooperation. In some ways, sustainable development constitutes a globally binding norm with pronounced obligations, however, to firmly establish the existence of such a norm, tangible legal opinions by international courts of law are required.

Based on the above, the essay looks to the future and examines the possible effects, on the principle of sustainable development, that the 2030 Agenda may give rise to. The obligations mentioned above are compared to the sustainable development goals and, to a large extent, they overlap with each other. The goals in conjunction with state practice, in accordance with the sustainability goals, can thus eventually contribute to giving sustainable development a stronger and more defined role. However, it is still too early to identify such effects.}},
  author       = {{Åhman, Johan}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Hållbar utveckling: En internationellt bindande norm?}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}