The Impact of International Environmental Law Obligations on the Principle of Intergenerational Equity and Its Legal Obstacles During the Period 1972–2024

Abstract

Intergenerational equity, as a concept concerned with the rights and interests of future generations, emphasizes the necessity of responsible utilization of natural resources and environmental protection. This concept entered the contemporary discourse of international environmental law with the 1972 Stockholm Conference and, by 2024, had been further developed through major international instruments, including the 1992 Rio Declaration, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Kyoto Protocol, the Paris Agreement, the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the Declaration on Future Generations. Employing a descriptive-analytical method and analyzing international instruments and judicial decisions, the present study examines how these instruments, through the establishment of state obligations, the creation of legal frameworks, and the strengthening of mechanisms for international cooperation, can contribute to ensuring future generations’ access to minimum standards of living and sustainable natural resources. The findings indicate that the principle of intergenerational equity requires development and the exploitation of natural resources to be regulated in a manner that safeguards the legitimate rights and interests of future generations and establishes an appropriate balance between the interests of the present generation and those of subsequent generations. Nevertheless, the existing legal regime has a hybrid structure: some relevant norms are articulated in declarations and other soft-law instruments, whereas others have materialized as binding treaty obligations, particularly obligations of conduct and procedural obligations. Accordingly, international environmental law cannot be characterized in its entirety as soft law. However, the fragmentation of legal rules, the weakness of certain enforcement mechanisms, the dependence of implementation on the political will of states, and the difficulties associated with the representation of future generations have reduced its practical effectiveness. The principal contribution of this study lies in providing a systematic analysis of the historical and legal development of international obligations during the period 1972–2024 and assessing the extent of their impact on intergenerational equity. Finally, the adoption of a comprehensive convention on intergenerational equity, consideration of the possibility of internationally criminalizing ecocide, and the establishment of a judicial mechanism or a specialized environmental chamber are proposed as measures for strengthening the enforcement of this principle.