Human Rights and Responsibilities towards the Earth System

Abstract

In one way or other, the Earth as an ecological system, has been the core concern of modern international environmental law since its conceptualization in the 1970s. This article traces notions of stewardship and state responsibilities for the Earth in international instruments and aims to show that, and why, these notions have remained without tangible results. Even after 50 years of the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment (UNCHE) we can only conclude that international environmental law (IEL) and governance have failed. Essentially, human rights and responsibilities need to be more clearly defined in international law and with respect to the role of the United Nations and its member states. The Earth Charter and its most recent expression in the 2018 Hague Principles provide for a coherent framework of human rights and state responsibilities associated with Earth trusteeship as a future pathway.