Oldal 34 [34]
OCR
ECOCIDE 2.1. The birth of International Environmental Law and the beginning of environmental protection International Environmental Law is a newer regulatory aspect of public international law, since its modern history started in the first half of the 20th century and strongly relates to the establishment of intergovernmental organisations, such as the United Nations. The entities of the UN family and the UN itself played a significant role in the development of environmental standards and provided a viable framework for discussion. Due to the fact that the UN was established in 1945, some authors count the “birth” of IEL only from the creation of the organisation. However, this view seems to be inaccurate, since several important international conventions were signed in the first half of the 20th century, and the states realised that global cooperation was needed to fight the adverse environmental consequences of the Great Industrial Revolution.” This is the first part of the IELs history, labelled as the ‘era of recognition’. Among the milestone international conventions, the Paris Treaty has to be mentioned on the protection of birds useful to agriculture, an international treaty that, in a renewed form, is still in force." The practical impact of the instrument is limited, although it served as a "stepping stone” towards more advanced international treaties.*! In 1911, the United States of America and Great Britain signed the North Pacific Fur Seal Convention. It was also interesting that the colonial powers initiated the first international convention that aimed to preserve wildlife in Africa. The London Convention of 1900” was signed by France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Spain and the Free State of Congo, but the majority of states failed to ratify the Convention, and it did not enter into force. The London Convention was explicitly aimed at the conservation of wildlife on the African continent: to prevent the uncontrolled massacre of wild animals and ensure the conservation of diverse wild animal species." The treaty ® On the history of International Environmental Law See: Sands, Philippe: Principles of International Environmental Law. Third Edition, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2012. pp. 22-49. °° Convention for the Protection of Birds Useful to Agriculture 1902 In later form: International Convention for the Protection of Birds, Paris, 1950. UNTS Vol. 638. p. 185. Based on Article 1, the aim of the Convention is much broader than the first version of the international treaty, to “protect birds in the wild state”. 1 Bowman, Michael J.: The 1902 Convention for the Protection of Birds in Historical and Juridical Perspectiveal A. Ardeola, Vol. 61. No. 1. June 2014. pp. 171-196. DOE: http:// dx.doi.org/10.13157/arla.61.1.2014.171. 52 Convention for the Preservation of Wild Animals, Birds and Fish in Africa 53 Based on the Preamble of the London Convention. 32
