The environmental consequences of war : legal, economic, and scientific perspectives
Editor:
Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2000
Physical description:
p. 47-86
Languages:
English
Abstract:
The author argues that IHL provides a far stronger basis for protecting the environment in armed conflicts than is sometimes supposed. This protection flows both from the inclusion of provisions that explicitly mention the environment in various treaties, and from the fact that the general principles underlying IHL and many rules aiming to protect people and property also have the effect of restraining environmental damage during armed conflict. The impact of these rules is limited, however, by deficiencies in their content and difficulties with implementation, especially in situations of non-international armed conflict. The author also explores the relevance of environmental protection to the U.S.’s refusal to ratify Additional Protocol I of 1977. Rather than trying to negotiate a new, overarching convention on armed conflict and the environment, the author suggests a number of alternative approaches: negotiating agreements on specific issues, encouraging states to become parties to the existing treaties, exploring the application of peacetime environmental law to situations of armed conflict, ensuring legal and physical protection for environmental clean-up efforts, and conferring specific authority on peacekeeping forces to limit environmental damage. [Summary by students at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law (IHRP)]
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