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law is one of the youngest areas of international law; however, in domestic
legislation, environmental and nature protection appeared much earlier."
As a result of inter-state cooperation, international environmental law has
come to regulate global environmental issues that are of major concern to all
states and all regions. International environmental law rules either protect
key natural/environmental values (e.g. world heritage protection, biodiversity
protection, classical nature conservation) or support the fight against global
environmental problems (e.g. climate change, global warming, air pollution).
In order for public international law to include specific environmental
considerations in its scope, at least two states must agree that it is not
sufficient to regulate the issue in domestic law. In the field of IEL, there
are a number of areas of regulation where almost the entire international
community has agreed on the need for a global framework. In practice,
this consensus means that, mainly through the conclusion of international
treaties, states have defined certain common minimum requirements. The
commitments made in the field of international law must be honoured
on the basis of the principle of pacta sunt servanda. However, one may ask
why states should undertake international obligations and why domestic
regulation of certain environmental issues is not sufficient. There are
several arguments supporting the need for international regulation.
First, pollution knows no borders, since it is trans-boundary in nature.
In many cases, pollution in the territory of a state results in severe
environmental damage in another country. The recognition of trans¬
boundary environmental pollution has prompted the adoption of
international legislation on the matter, the forerunner of which has already
appeared in customary law.® Secondly, it is ineffective for a state to set
high environmental standards in its domestic law if pollution from
neighbouring countries prevents the effective enforcement of such
regulations. It is enough to emphasise the importance of cross-border or
shared environmental resources that require joint action and the
development of common rules to preserve lakes, rivers, forests and other
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Farkas Csamangé, Erika: Magyar környezetjogi szabályozások és kihívások [Hungarian
environmental legislations and challenges]. Iurisperitus Publishing, Szeged, 2023, pp.
46-48.
Authors own definition.
Mendis, Chinthaka: Sovereignty vs. trans-boundary environmental harm: The evolving
international law obligations and the Sethusamuduram Ship Channel Project. United
Nations, 2006. Available at: https: //www.un.org/depts/los/nippon/unnff_programme_
home/fellows_pages/fellows_papers/mendis_0607_sri_lanka.pdf.
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