Introduction

The protection of the atmosphere was a relative latecomer to international environment regulation but is now well established. With limited exceptions, until 1979 no treaty sought, as its primary purpose, to place limits on the right of states to allow atmospheric emissions which caused environmental damage. Some treaties had, however, called for general preventive strategies. Since 1979, numerous treaties and other international acts have addressed the protection of the atmosphere. Although there is no atmospheric equivalent to the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, international legal instruments have been adopted at the regional and global level which address a range of issues, including: transboundary pollution by sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and volatile organic compounds; the protection of the ozone layer; the prevention of climate change; and the protection of the environment of outer space.