Environmental law: real-world examples
Named cases you can use in an answer, each under the syllabus point it illustrates and linked to the lesson it comes from.
HL.a Environmental law
HL.a.7International law provides an essential framework for addressing transboundary issues of pollution and resource management.HL
Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement
Under the 1972 Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, Canada and the USA coordinate phosphorus reduction targets and monitoring to tackle algal blooms caused by agricultural runoff. The agreement covers eight US states and two Canadian provinces.
Shows why a binational legal framework is needed when pollution from one country's farmland degrades a shared water body.
HL.a.8UN conferences produce international conventions (agreements) that are legally binding, and protocols that may become legally binding, to all signatories.HL
PolicyKigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol
The 2016 Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol is legally binding on parties that ratify it. It phases down hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) used in refrigeration, with separate schedules for developed and developing countries and trade restrictions on non-parties.
Shows how a protocol under a UN convention can be amended to become legally binding on its signatories, using differentiated responsibilities to win wider participation.
HL.a.9International agreements can generate institutions or organizations to aid their implementation.HL
OrganisationGreen Climate Fund, UNFCCC
The Green Climate Fund was established under the UNFCCC and has allocated over $13 billion (as of 2024) to climate adaptation and mitigation projects in developing countries. It reviews proposals, pays out funding and monitors how projects are carried out.
Demonstrates how an international agreement creates a dedicated institution to turn treaty commitments into funded action on the ground.
HL.a.10The application of international environmental law has been examined within international courts and tribunals.HL
South China Sea Arbitration, Philippines v China
In the Philippines v China arbitration (2016), the Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled that China's artificial island-building had caused severe harm to coral reef ecosystems, in breach of UNCLOS. China rejected the ruling, and it remains unenforced.
Demonstrates that international tribunals can test environmental obligations, but also shows the limits of enforcement when a powerful state refuses to comply.
HL.a.11There are an increasing number of laws granting legal personhood to natural entities in order to strengthen environmental protection.HL
Whanganui River legal personhood, New Zealand
In 2017 New Zealand's Te Awa Tupua Act recognised the Whanganui River as an indivisible living whole with legal personhood. Two guardians, one appointed by Māori iwi and one by the Crown, can bring legal action on the river's behalf.
Shows how legal personhood gives a natural entity standing in court, so harm to the river can be challenged directly rather than only through human property rights.
HL.a.12Both legal and economic strategies can play a role in maintaining sustainable use of the environment.HL
Payment for Ecosystem Services, Costa Rica
Costa Rica combines a legal ban on deforestation with Payments for Ecosystem Services to landowners who keep their tree cover, funded largely by a fossil fuel tax. This has helped reverse decades of forest loss.
Demonstrates that legal prohibitions work best alongside economic incentives, because conservation then becomes financially worthwhile for landowners.
Costa Rica Environmental laws #2