- Research/Scholar Paper name – “EMERGENCE OF ENVIRONMENTAL ERGA OMNES OBLIGATION IN INTERNATIONAL LAW”
- Author: Shriya Mishra
- Institution: Jindal Global Law School
- Affiliation: Centre for Study of Contemporary Legal Issues
- Date of Publication: 26/07/2022
Abstract:
The Barcelona Traction judgment conceptualized the idea of an erga omnes obligation as specific obligations that a state owes towards the international community at large. One of the key aspects of an erga omnes obligation is that based on the global community’s common concern, the list of obligations can be expanded to include an obligation for the universal good. Through this paper, the author has tried to analyze whether global environmental concerns can be considered an erga omnes obligations. Environmental obligations have been considered to be of universal importance and even though environmental jus cogens have not yet been recognized, an erga omnes status needs to be provided to the state’s environmental obligations. As the well-being of human beings is intrinsically tied to the protection of the environment, there needs to be developed not just in state practice but also in legal jurisprudence to read environmental obligations as erga omnes.