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ECOCIDE 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 transboundary 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 61 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. 62 63 36
