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                 Book – Principles and concepts of international
                 environmental law (Part 2)
                 Book to Unit 3 – Principles and concepts of international environmental law  (Part II)
                 Site:   UNITED NATIONS INFORMATION PORTAL ON MULTILATERAL ENVIRONMENTAL AGREEMENTS
                 Course:Introductory course to International Environmental Law
                 Book: Book – Principles and concepts of international environmental law (Part 2)
       Table of contents
       1. Cooperation, and Common but Differentiated Responsibilities
        Duty to cooperate
        Common but differentiated responsibilities
        Examples
       2. Precaution
        Examples
        Southern Bluefin Tuna Case
       3. Prevention
        Preventive mechanisms
        Examples
       4. “Polluter Pays Principle”
        Application
        Examples
       5. Access and Benefit Sharing regarding Natural Resources
        Indigenous and local communities
        Prior informed consent
       6. Common Heritage and Common Concern of Humankind
       7. Good Governance
       8. Principle of progressive realisation and non-regression
        National level
       1. Cooperation, and Common but Differentiated Responsibilities
       Principle 7 of the Rio Declaration provides:
       1992 Rio Declaration Principle 7
       “States shall cooperate in a spirit of global partnership to conserve, protect and restore the health and integrity of the Earth’s
       ecosystem. In view of the different contributions to global environmental degradation,States have common but differentiated
       responsibilities. The developed countries acknowledge the responsibility that they bear in the international pursuit of
       sustainable development in view of the pressures their societies place on the global environment and of the technologies and
       financial resources they command.”
       Principle 7 can be divided into two parts: (1) the duty to cooperate in a spirit of global partnership; and (2) common but
       differentiated responsibilities.
       Duty to cooperate
       The duty to cooperate is well-established in international law, as exemplified in articles 55 and 56 of chapter IX of the Charter
       of the United Nations, to which all UN member states, at present 191, subscribe, and applies on the global, regional and
       bilateral levels. The goal of the Rio Declaration is, according to the fourth paragraph of its preamble, the establishment of a
       “...new and equitable global partnership...”
       The concept of global partnership can be seen as a more recent reformulation of the obligation to cooperate, and is becoming
       increasingly important. Principle 7 refers to states, but the concept of global partnership may also be extended to non-state
       entities.
       International organisations, business entities (including in particular transnational business entities), NGOs and Civil Society
       more generally should cooperate in and contribute to this global partnership. Polluters, regardless of their legal form, may also
       have also responsibilities pursuant to the “Polluter–Pays Principle”.