The notion of harm and the environment
In a world where severe and wide-spread environmental degradation is and has occurred, courts need to be able to measure the harm in some way to enable judges to award damages for the wrong done to the person or property. Traditional international environmental law, that addresses the rights and obligations between nation-states, has in the past, little to offer individuals harmed by environmental damage. People whose health or livelihood is threatened by exposure to hazardous waste or the pollution of streams and rivers, for example, often have now recourse under international environmental laws in many countries.
The United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
In Articles 1,2, and 3 state
- All peoples have the right of self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development. Linking human rights with the environment creates a rights-based approach to environmental protection that places the people harmed by environmental degradation at its centre. Anthropocentric environmental law foundations are based on the fundamental right of people to live in an environment free from harm and if a harm is caused by the actions of others, environmental law creates the opportunity to secure those rights through human rights bodies in court whether it is local, national, regional of international. The Environmental Dimension of Human Rights.
- All peoples may, for their own ends, freely dispose of their natural wealth and resources without prejudice to any obligations arising out of international economic co-operation, based upon the principle of mutual benefit, and international law. In no case may a people be deprived of its own means of subsistence.
- The States Parties to the present Covenant, including those having responsibility for the administration of Non-Self-Governing and Trust Territories, shall promote the realization of the right of self-determination, and shall respect that right, in conformity with the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations.
However in Article 6 the Covenant gives rise to the notion of life and the environment
Article 6
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Every human being has the inherent right to life. This right shall be protected by law.
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No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life. In countries which have not abolished the death penalty, sentence of death may be imposed only for the most serious crimes in accordance with the law in force at the time of the commission of the crime and not contrary to the provisions of the present Covenant and to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. This penalty can only be carried out pursuant to a final judgment rendered by a competent court.
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When deprivation of life constitutes the crime of genocide, it is understood that nothing in this article shall authorize any State Party to the present Covenant to derogate in any way from any obligation assumed under the provisions of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
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Anyone sentenced to death shall have the right to seek pardon or commutation of the sentence. Amnesty, pardon or commutation of the sentence of death may be granted in all cases.
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Sentence of death shall not be imposed for crimes committed by persons below eighteen years of age and shall not be carried out on pregnant women.
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Nothing in this article shall be invoked to delay or to prevent the abolition of capital punishment by any State Party to the present Covenant.
To understand how these principles are now reflected please see Harming the Environment
