The Evolution of the Principle of Intergenerational Justice in Light of the Requirements of International Environmental Law from 1972 to 2024

Abstract

Intergenerational justice, as a concept concerned with the rights and interests of future generations, emphasizes the necessity of responsible use of natural resources and environmental protection. This concept entered international environmental law through the Stockholm Conference of 1972 and, by 2024, had been developed in major instruments such as the Rio Declaration of 1992, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Kyoto Protocol, the Paris Agreement, and the Convention on Biological Diversity. Using a descriptive-analytical research method, this study examines how these instruments, through the establishment of state obligations, legal frameworks, and mechanisms of international cooperation, provide the basis for future generations’ access to minimum standards of living and sustainable natural resources. The findings indicate that the principle of intergenerational justice requires the obligations of international environmental law to regulate development and the exploitation of natural resources in such a way that the rights of future generations are protected and a balance of interests between generations is maintained. Through the creation of state obligations and mechanisms of international cooperation, these instruments have played a role in ensuring minimum environmental standards for future generations. The main contribution of this study is that, by providing a systematic analysis of the historical and legal trajectory of the requirements arising from international environmental instruments between 1972 and 2024, it enables a more precise evaluation of the extent to which these requirements have affected intergenerational justice and offers a theoretical foundation for developing and strengthening the status of this principle in international environmental law. However, practical and empirical evidence shows that, given the soft-law nature of international environmental law, it has not been able to adequately safeguard and protect the principle of intergenerational justice. Moreover, the adoption of a “Comprehensive Convention on Intergenerational Justice” and the international criminalization of “ecocide” in the Statute of the International Criminal Court, or the establishment of a specialized environmental court, are proposed as measures to strengthen the enforceability of this principle.