Workshop on International Law, Natural Resources and Sustainable
Development
Sovereignty and Sustainability: The Limits of the Law
Sam Adelman
School of Law, University of Warwick
The exploitation of fossil fuels and the world’s rainforests is environmentally unsustainable
but almost impossible to regulate under international environmental law and climate law.
There is a tension between the principle of sovereignty over natural resources on the one
hand, and the principles sustainable development and the common heritage of mankind on
the other. The paper explores the possibility of reconciling these conflicting principles in
order to limit the impacts of climate change. The pertinence of the principle of common but
differentiated responsibility is discussed as the basis for allocating duties to developing and
developed states. The paper examines the possibility that developing countries might
voluntarily limit their sovereign prerogative to exploit their natural resources in return for
adequate compensation. The paper examines the efficacy of the United Nations
Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest
Degradation in Developing Countries (REDD) regime under the UN Framework Convention
on Climate Change and the campaign to make ecocide the fifth crime against peace under
the statute of the International Criminal Court. It discusses the failure of Ecuador’s
innovative scheme to avoid exploitation of the oil reserves in the Yasuni national park and
concludes with an analysis of impact of the concept of the new commons.