Humanitarian Limits to Sovereignty: Common Concern and Common Heritage Approaches to Natural Resources and Environment

Abstract

The Peace of Westphalia released forces leading to the Industrial Revolution, ultimately freeing sovereign states to develop competing systems of economic development that had in common the uncontrolled exploitation of the environment. Over time, a law of humanity developed in response to the failings of a law of sovereign states in two main spheres: that of the dignity of the individual and that of matters of "common concern" that require a global, humanitarian response. Environmental issues have moved to the forefront of the latter, as can be demonstrated by an examination of terms used in international law to describe environmental matters, and have given rise to new forms of international and transnational cooperation. By being reminded that humanitarian issues of common concern were at the root of the Westphalian shift itself, we see that it is the radical form of sovereignty that developed in the 19th and 20th centuries that in fact proved inadequate. The key questions, therefore, are what the global environmental challenge teaches us about the potential for sovereignty to be "reclaimed" for humanity, and how and whence authoritative norms to modulate sovereignty will arise.

Intervencionismo y medio ambiente: el caso de la Amazonía Brasileña

“…y del interés común (common interest) (Stec, 2010). Adicionalmente se desarrolló la argumentación de que recursos compartidos como el agua o ciertas especies son del ámbito del res communis (Bosselmann, 2016;Stec, 2010).…”

“…Adicionalmente se desarrolló la argumentación de que recursos compartidos como el agua o ciertas especies son del ámbito del res communis (Bosselmann, 2016;Stec, 2010). Lo cierto es que como lo enfatizan Cárdenas y Cadena (2009) se desarrollaron nuevo enfoques a partir de conceptos tales como preocupaciones comunes, intereses comunes o patrimonio común de la humanidad.…”

“…Schrijver (2009, p. 73), a su vez, precisa que "la soberanía relativa y funcional siempre está reemplazando la soberanía absoluta", añadiendo que "sería una malinterpretación pensar que la soberanía del Estado siempre está obstruyendo la buena política para el medio ambiente y el desarrollo." Stec (2010) alerta, por su lado, que en algunos casos-estudio, como el de la internacionalización de la Antártica, si no se hubiese desarrollado conceptos como el de patrimonio común, tendríamos como mero resultado una explotación conjunta económica, sin preservar la naturaleza. Bratman (2015), como un jugador central en la política mundial ambiental.…”

Differential Treatment in Environmental Law: Addressing Critiques and Conceptualizing the Next Steps

“…Conceptually, there is a need to move beyond the idea of ownership of environmental resources by individual states to an understanding that certain resources are in the custody of the whole of humankind. 98 Once these resources are defined as 'common heritage', 99 they become something that cannot be owned by anyone, that must be managed jointly and the benefits of which are also enjoyed jointly. This provides an avenue to look at their regulation in a new light which transcends national self-interest.…”

Intellectual Property Rights and the Conservation of Plant Biodiversity as a Common Concern of Humankind

“…133 Appreciating the gravity of the task, Stec relates the challenges in international environmental law to the 'kinds of concerns that have parallels in other major turning points in history, and which therefore do not so much point towards "progress" but rather a fundamental questioning of values and assumptions'. 134 Demonstrating the relationship between international environmental law and state sovereignty, he highlights that the Westphalian peace led states to develop competing systems to exploit the earth. In response, a 'law of humanity' developed to address two main spheres in which states had failed:…”