OVERVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL CONTROL REGIME OF GLOBAL WARMING

It is widely recognized that the planet faces serious environmental challenges that can only be addressed through international co-operation.1 Environmental issues are contributing to the emergence of international environmental law with ecological interdependence recognition and those issues can frequently only be addressed by international law and regulation. The growth of international environmental issues is evidenced by the large body of principles and rules of international environmental law that apply bilaterally, regionally and globally, and reflects international interdependence in a ‘globalising’ world. Progress in developing international legal control of activities has been gradual and piecemeal, and frequently reactive to particular incidents or the availability of new scientific evidence such as the Chernobyl accident or the discovery of the hole in the ozone layer.2 The goal of international environmental law, broadly stated, is protection of the environment. Many multilateral environmental agreements have two objectives. They focus both on conservation and protection of the environment, and also on a second objective related to “sustainable use” or “sustained economic growth”.