Global Pact Negotiations: Building a Normative Framework for Ecological Sustainability in the Anthropocene¹

Article type: News

Authors: Juste Ruiz, José^{; *}

Affiliations: Professor of International Law Emeritus, University of Valencia

Correspondence: [*] Corresponding author. E-mail: jose.juste@uv.es.

Note: [1] This article has been done within the framework of the research projects: “El pilar ambiental del desarrollo sostenible: evolución en el marco del Derecho internacional y Europeo” DER2017-85443P, MINECO/AEIFEDER, UE and “La dimensión ambiental del desarrollo sostenible: evolución jurídica internacional, europea y española de la Generalitat Valenciana” AICO/2018/137.

Abstract: This paper examines the process towards a Global Pact for the Environment (GPE), launched by the UN General Assembly on 10 May 2018, and the extent to which it still could be instrumental in strengthening the normative and governance system of response to the challenges posed by environmental degradation in the context of sustainable development. The paper reviews the origins, evolution and current status of the process for a GPE, noting a setback to the process, which occurred in Nairobi on May 2019. Arguments stressing the value of a normative approach to the governance of the Earth system are weighed against States’ preference for political action to ensure better implementation of existing norms. In its conclusive section, the paper makes the case for an integrative approach of policy and law in a global pact for the environment expressing the State’s firm commitments to protect and restore the integrity of the Earth system.

Keywords: Global pact for the environment, sustainability, global ecosystemic integrity, global environmental governance

DOI: 10.3233/EPL-200198

Journal: Environmental Policy and Law, vol. 50, no. 1-2, pp. 35-46, 2020