The sustainable development goals and international environmental law: normative value and challenges for implementation
| Autor | Riccardo Pavoni - Dario Piselli |
| Cargo | J.D., University of Siena. MJur, University of Oxford. Professor of International and European Law, Department of Law, University of Siena (Italy). Email: riccardo.pavoni@unisi.it - JD, University of Siena. MSc, London School of Economics and Political Science. Email: dario.piselli@unisi.it |
| Páginas | 13-60 |
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Veredas do Direito, Belo Horizonte, v.13 n.26 p.13-60 Maio/Agosto de 2016
ABSTRACT
This article explores the implications for international environmental law
of the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which
occurred at the 2015 United Nations Sustainable Development Summit.
Following a summary of the main outcomes of the Summit, the paper eva-
luates the process and vision of the SDGs against both the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) and the past efforts of the UN General As-
sembly (UNGA) in the eld of sustainable development. The paper then
examines how the environmental dimension of the SDGs is integrated into
the general framework of the post-2015 development agenda and addres-
ses two important questions which will most likely prove instrumental in
the achievement of the Goals themselves. First, it the light of UN General
Assembly Resolution 70/1, it discusses the normative value of the environ-
mental obligations of States enshrined in the SDGs. Secondly, it deals with
problems of implementation of the outcomes of the Summit, and accordin-
gly attempts to identify the main legal challenges for the operationaliza-
tion of the environmental component of the SDGs, in the wider context of
the Agenda and taking the recent developments under the UN Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) into account.
Keywords: Sustainable Development Goals; United Nations; Internatio-
nal Environmental Law; Integration; 2030 Agenda; Post-2015.
THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
AND INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL LAW:
NORMATIVE VALUE AND CHALLENGES FOR
IMPLEMENTATION
Riccardo Pavoni
J.D., University of Siena. MJur, University of Oxford.
Professor of International and European Law, Department of Law,
University of Siena (Italy).
Email: riccardo.pavoni@unisi.it
http://dx.doi.org/10.18623/rvd.v13i26.865
Dario Piselli
JD, University of Siena.
MSc, London School of Economics and Political Science.
Email: dario.piselli@unisi.it
THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS AND INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL LAW: NORMATIVE...
14 Veredas do Direito, Belo Horizonte, v.13 n.26 p.13-60 Maio/Agosto de 2016
OS OBJETIVOS DO DESENVOLVIMENTO SUSTENTÁVEL E O
DIREITO AMBIENTAL INTERNACIONAL: VALOR NORMATIVO E
DESAFIOS PARA IMPLEMENTAÇÃO
RESUMO
Esse artigo explora as implicações para o Direito Ambiental internacio-
nal da adoção das Metas de Desenvolvimento Sustentável, que ocorreu
na Cúpula de Desenvolvimento Sustentável das Nações Unidas de 2015.
Seguindo um resumo dos principais resultados da Cúpula, o artigo avalia
o processo e a visão das Cúpulas em face das Metas de Desenvolvimento
do Milênio e dos esforços passados da Assembleia Geral das Nações uni-
das no campo do desenvolvimento sustentável. O artigo então examina
como a dimensão ambiental das Metas de Desenvolvimento Sustentável
é integrada na estrutura geral da agenda de desenvolvimento pós-2015
e então trata de duas importantes questões que provavelmente se mostra-
rão instrumentais para alcançar as próprias Metas. Primeiramente, à luz
da Resolução 70/1 da Assembleia Geral das Nações unidas, ele discute o
valor normativo das obrigações ambientais dos resultados da Cúpula, e
nesse sentido tenta identicar os principais desaos para operacionalizar
as Metas de Desenvolvimento Sustentável, no contexto amplo da Agenda
e considerando os desenvolvimentos recentes da Convenção-Quadro das
Palavras-chave: Objetivos do desenvolvimento sustentável; Nações Uni-
das; Direito Ambiental internacional; Integração; Agenda 2030; Pós-
2015.
Riccardo Pavoni & Dario Piselli
15
Veredas do Direito, Belo Horizonte, v.13 n.26 p.13-60 Maio/Agosto de 2016
INTRODUCTION
This article explores the implications for international
environmental law of the adoption of the Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs), which occurred at the 2015 United Nations Sustainable
Development Summit (UNITED NATIONS, 2016). In Section 2, following
a summary of the main outcomes of the Summit, it evaluates the process
and vision of the SDGs against both the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs) and the past efforts of the UN General Assembly (UNGA)
in the eld of sustainable development. The article then examines how
the environmental dimension of the SDGs is integrated into the general
framework of the post-2015 development agenda (Section 3) and addresses
two important questions which will most likely prove instrumental in the
achievement of the Goals themselves (Section 4). First, in the light of UN
General Assembly Resolution 70/1 ( entitled Transforming Our World: the
2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development), it discusses the normative
value of the environmental obligations of States enshrined in the SDGs.
Secondly, it deals with problems of implementation of the outcomes of the
Summit, and accordingly attempts to identify the main legal challenges for
the operationalization of the environmental component of the SDGs, in the
wider context of the Agenda and taking the recent developments under the
UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) into account.
By way of conclusions, the paper reects on the potential of Transforming
Our World to deliver on its ambitious goals in the eld of the environment,
adding a note of caution but also an element of optimism (Section 5).
Central to the analysis is the concept of sustainable development
as a principle of integration between environmental, social and economic
considerations, with a particular focus on its evolution and progressive
renement since the publication in 1987 of the report Our Common
Future of the World Commission on Environment and Development
(WCED, 1987). Over the past few decades, such concept has shaped
the landscape of international environmental law and other key areas of
international law, such as human rights and trade and investment law. This
has led authors to reect on its normative value and, consequentially, on
its potential to be regarded as either a general principle of law or a norm
of customary international law. However, neither the WCED report nor
subsequent international instruments, including the 1992 Rio Declaration
on Environment and Development (UNITED NATIONS, 1992), have
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