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Sustainable Development in International Environmental Law

Sustainable development started to become an issue in European Union Law
in 1992. Sustainable development is regarded as a goal of the European Union in
Article 3 of the European Union Agreement. In Article 21 of the same Agreement;
sustainable development, conservation and improvement of the quality of
the environment and natural resources are considered among the common
policy areas (Skalar 2015:81). Article 37 of Charter of Fundamental Rights of the
European Union addresses the objectives of protecting the environment and
improving environmental quality and the need to implement them in compatible
with the principle of sustainable development (Skalar 2015:82).

2.3. Sustainable Development in International Judicial Decisions
As mentioned in the previous parts of our study, environmental legal
disputes date back to the Pacific Fur Seal Arbitration of 1893. In this dispute
between the United Kingdom and the United States, the conservation of the
environment and the right to exploit natural resources were discussed. After
the Pacific Fur Seal Arbitration, this time the transboundary pollution between
Canada and the USA and then the legitimate use of the transboundary waters
between France and Spain with the Lac Lanoux Arbitration became the
subject of international arbitration (Skalar 2015:84). When all these disputes
are examined, the main similarity reveals as the competition between the
states for right to economic benefit and the conservation of the environment.
In the settlement of disputes, the goal of harmonising the competing interests
indicates the sustainable development.
It is seen that since the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, the principle of sustainable
development has often been included in the decisions of international
judicial bodies, the initial examples of which have been previously described.
Although the decisions of international courts are binding only on the parties
to the dispute, the decisions made are important for the development of
international law and provide guidance to states in resolving transboundary
disputes that require balancing environmental, economic and social
development priorities (Cordonier and Segger 2009:18).
Today, with the raising awareness of environmental protection and the
pressure on natural resources, the environment found a place among the main
issues of international law (Sands 2007:314). With the effect of this interest,
the number of national and international regulations has increased, and thus,
it has become challenging for the courts to investigate an environmental
dispute (Skalar 2015:85).
The main challenge of the judicial processes related to international
environmental law is that almost no disputes can be resolved solely within
the framework of the norms of environmental law. In other words, it is
almost impossible to come across a dispute that concerns only international

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