Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7czq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-21T07:41:28.244Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Beyond the national resource privilege: towards an International Court of the Environment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 March 2014

Fabian Schuppert
Fabian Schuppert*
Affiliation:
Institute for Collaborative Research in the Humanities, Queen’s University Belfast, Belfast, Ireland
*
E-mail: f.schuppert@qub.ac.uk
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The national resource privilege, which holds that states are allowed to control all the natural resources found in their territory, is a cornerstone of international politics. Supporters of the national resource privilege claim that without the privilege states would fail to be sovereign and self-determining entities which provide for the needs of their citizens. However, as this paper shows the case is not as simple as that. In fact, control over resources must be carefully unpacked. Doing so shows that states do not require full control over all resources found in their territory in order to be sovereign. Moreover, sovereignty and self-determination come with a set of responsibilities and duties attached. Based on these observations the paper will sketch the contours of an alternative resource governance scheme built around the idea of an International Court of the Environment.

Keywords

natural resourcessovereigntyself-determinationresource rightsenvironmental governanceinternational law
Type
Original Papers
Information
International Theory , Volume 6 , Issue 1 , March 2014 , pp. 68 - 97
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Armstrong, Chris. (n.d.) Resource Rights: The Demands of Equality. Unpublished Manuscript.Google Scholar
Armstrong, Chris. forthcoming. “Against ‘Permanent Sovereignty’ over Natural Resources.” Politics, Philosophy & Economics.Google Scholar
Barry, Brian. 1982. “Humanity and Justice in Global Perspective.” In Nomos XXIV: Ethics, Economics and the Law, edited by J. Roland Pennock and John Chapman, 219–252. New York: New York University Press.Google Scholar
Beitz, Charles. 1979. Political Theory and International Relations. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Buchanan, Allen. 2003. “The Making and Unmaking of Boundaries: What Liberalism Has to Say.” In States, Nations, and Borders. The Ethics of Making Boundaries, edited by Allen Buchanan and Margaret Moore, 231–261. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buchanan, Allen, and Keohane, Robert. 2006. “The Legitimacy of Global Governance Institutions.” Ethics & International Affairs 20(4):405–437.Google Scholar
Casal, Paula. 2011. “Global Taxes on Natural Resources.” Journal of Moral Philosophy 8:307–327.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eckersley, Robyn. 2007. “Ecological Intervention: Prospects and Limits.” Ethics & International Affairs 21(3):293–316.Google Scholar
Elliott, Lorraine. 2003. “Imaginative Adaptations: A Possible Environmental Role for the UN Security Council.” Contemporary Security Policy 24(2):47–68.Google Scholar
Grimm, Dieter. 2009. Souveränität. Herkunft und Zukunft eines Schlüsselbegriffs. Berlin: Berlin University Press.Google Scholar
Hayward, Tim. 2005. “Thomas Pogge’s Global Resource Dividend: A Critique and an Alternative.” Journal of Moral Philosophy 2(3):317–332.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hiskes, Richard. 2009. The Human Right to a Green Future. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Joyner, Christopher. 2005. International Law in the 21st Century. Rules for Global Governance. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield.Google Scholar
Kolers, Avery. 2009. Land, Conflict and Justice: A Political Theory of Territory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kolers, Avery. 2012. “Justice, Territory and Natural Resources.” Political Studies 60(2):269–286.Google Scholar
Koskenniemi, Martti. 1994. “National Self-Determination Today: Problems of Legal Theory and Practice.” The International and Comparative Law Quarterly 43(2):241–269.Google Scholar
Lovett, Frank. 2010. A General Theory of Domination & Justice. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Malone, Linda. 1996. “‘Green Helmets’: A Conceptual Framework for Security Council Authority in Environmental Emergencies.” Michigan Journal of International Law 17:515–536.Google Scholar
McCallion, Kenneth, and Sharma, H. Rajan. 2000. “Environmental Justice Without Borders: The Need for an International Court of the Environment to Protect Fundamental Human Rights.” George Washington Journal of International Law and Economics 32:351–365.Google Scholar
McMahan, Jeff. 1996. “Intervention and Collective Self-Determination.” Ethics & International Affairs 10(1):1–24.Google Scholar
Meisels, Tamar. 2005. Territorial Rights. Dordrecht: Springer.Google Scholar
Miller, David. 2012. “Territorial Rights: Concept and Justification.” Political Studies 60(2): 252–268.Google Scholar
Mitchell, Ronald. 2003. “International Environmental Agreements: A Survey of Their Features, Formation, and Effects.” Annual Review of Environment and Resources 28:429–461.Google Scholar
Moore, Margaret. 1998. “The Territorial Dimension of Self-Determination.” In National Self-Determination and Secession, edited by M. Moore, 134–158. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Moore, Margaret. 2001. The Ethics of Nationalism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Moore, Margaret. 2012. “Natural Resources, Territorial Right, and Global Distributive Justice.” Political Theory 40(1):84–107.Google Scholar
Murphy, Sean. 2000. “Does the World Need a New International Environmental Court?” George Washington Journal of International Law and Economics 34:333–349.Google Scholar
Nettesheim, Martin. 1996. “Die ökologische Intervention. Gewalt und Druck zum Schutz der Umwelt?” Archiv des Völkerrechts 34:168–217.Google Scholar
Nine, Cara. 2008. “A Lockean Theory of Territory.” Political Studies 56(2):148–165.Google Scholar
Nine, Cara. 2010. “Ecological Refugees, State Borders, and the Lockean Proviso.” Journal of Applied Philosophy 27(4):359–375.Google Scholar
Nine, Cara. 2012. Global Justice and Territory. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Odenthal, Kerstin. 1998. Die Umweltpflichtigkeit der Souveränität. Berlin: Duncker & Humblot.Google Scholar
Osiander, Andreas. 2001. “Sovereignty, International Relations, and the Westphalian Myth.” International Organization 55(2):251–287.Google Scholar
Ostrom, Elinor. 1990. Governing the Commons. The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Ostrom, Elinor. 2000. “Private and Common Property Rights.” In Encyclopedia of Law and Economics, vol. II. Civil Law and Economics, edited by Boudewijn Bouckaert and Gerrit De Geest, 332–379. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.Google Scholar
Pogge, Thomas. 1994. “An Egalitarian Law of Peoples.” Philosophy & Public Affairs 23:195–224.Google Scholar
Pogge, Thomas. 2008. World Poverty and Human Rights: Cosmopolitan Responsibilities and Reforms, 2nd ed., Cambridge: Polity.Google Scholar
Pogge, Thomas. 2011. “Allowing the Poor to Share the Earth.” Journal of Moral Philosophy 8:335–352.Google Scholar
Postiglione, Amedeo. 1993. “An International Court for the Environment?” Environmental Policy and Law 23:73–78.Google Scholar
Ratner, Steven. 2013. “Ethics and International Law: Integrating the Global Justice Project(s).” International Theory 5(1):1–34.Google Scholar
Reichel, Richard. 1997. “Internationaler Handel, Tauschgerechtigkeit und die globale Rohstoffdividende.” Analyse & Kritik 17:183–208.Google Scholar
Rest, Alfred. 1994. “Need for an International Court for the Environment?” Environmental Policy and Law 24:173–187.Google Scholar
Rest, Alfred. 1999. “Enhanced Implementation of the Biological Diversity Convention by Judicial Control.” Environmental Policy and Law 29:32–42.Google Scholar
Reus-Smit, Christian. 2001. “Human Rights and the Social Construction of Sovereignty.” Review of International Studies 27(4):519–538.Google Scholar
Schlager, Edella, and Ostrom, Elinor. 1992. “Property-Rights Regimes and Natural Resources: A Conceptual Analysis.” Land Economics 68(3):249–262.Google Scholar
Schrijver, Nico. 1997. Sovereignty over Natural Resources: Balancing Rights and Duties. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Schuppert, Fabian. 2011. “Climate Change Mitigation and Intergenerational Justice.” Environmental Politics 20(3):303–321.Google Scholar
Schuppert, Fabian. 2012. “Reconsidering Resource Rights: The Case for a Basic Right to the Benefits of Life-Sustaining Ecosystem Services.” Journal of Global Ethics 8(2/3):215–225.Google Scholar
Shue, Henry. 1997. “Eroding Sovereignty: The Advance of Principle.” In The Morality of Nationalism, edited by Robert McKim and Jeff McMahan, 340–359. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Simmons, A. John. 2001. “On the Territorial Rights of States.” Philosophical Issues 11(2):300–326.Google Scholar
Simmons, A. John. n.d. States’ Resource Rights: Locating the Limits. Unpublished manuscript available at http://territorynetwork.wordpress.comGoogle Scholar
Sorensen, Georg. 2004. The Transformation of the State. Beyond the Myth of Retreat. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Steiner, Hillel. 1998. “Territorial Justice.” In Theories of Secession, edited by Percy Lehning, 60–70. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Steiner, Hillel. 1999. “Just Taxation and International Redistribution.” In Global Justice. Nomos XLI, edited by Ian Shapiro and Lea Brilmayer, 171–191. New York: NYU Press.Google Scholar
Stephens, Tim. 2009. International Courts and Environmental Protection. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Stilz, Anna. 2009. “Why Do States Have Territorial Rights?” International Theory 1(2):185–213.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stilz, Anna. 2011. “Nations, States, and Territory.” Ethics 121(3):572–601.Google Scholar
Wenar, Leif. 2008. “Property Rights and the Resource Curse.” Philosophy & Public Affairs 36(1):2–32.Google Scholar
Weston, Burns, and Bollier, David. 2013. Green Governance. Ecological Survival, Human Rights, and the Law of the Commons. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Ypi, Lea. forthcoming. “A Permissive Theory of Territorial Rights.” European Journal of Philosophy, doi:10.1111/j.1468-0378.2011.00506.x.Google Scholar