Understanding the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and its manifestations in Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAS)

Abstract

After decades of increasing international cooperation on environmental issues, the notion of common but differentiated responsibilities (CBDRs) evolved into a cardinal principle in the context of international environmental negotiations. More specifically, CBDRs emerged as a policy principle that reflects the more idealistic principle of equity. It reflects the lasting political consensus that the broadest possible cooperation by all countries is needed to combat global environmental problems and that all parties have a responsibility to act accordingly while taking into account their different national circumstances, capacities, and development needs. An essential aspect of the principle is international assistance, including financial aid and technology transfer from developed to developing countries. The principle of CBDRs now embodied in most multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) means that two factors determine a nation’s obligations concerning global environmental problems. The first factor is the contribution of a particular nation to global environmental problems; the second is a nation’s economic and technological capacity to reduce or mitigate global environmental problems. This paper seeks to proffer a detailed understanding of the principle of CBDRs and its manifestations in multilateral environmental agreements. This paper finds that the principle of CBDRs seeks global solutions for global environmental concerns by considering states' differentiated degrees of responsibility for causing these problems and their divergent capacities to redress them. Also, the paper finds that the principle of CBDRs is reflected in MEAs across four different environmental regimes; the global atmosphere regime, the biodiversity conservation regime, the land conservation regime and the climate change regime. Further, the paper finds that the principle of CBDRs has moved from being a soft international legal principle (as in the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development) to a growing but an increasingly robust component of international environmental law (as demonstrated by its codification in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change). The paper recommends that the principle of CBDRs should continue to guide the negotiations of MEAs and the obligations of parties in MEAs. Further, the paper recommends that MEAs that do not reflect the CBDRs principle should be reviewed to capture and reflect the principle.