Common use of Development of Environmental Law Clause in Contracts

Development of Environmental Law. International environmental law is structured around prevention of serious harm to the environment. It traditionally centered on State obligations, and largely relied on cooperative negotiation. Enforcement has been sought through public opinion rather than any binding mechanisms.233 Although international environmental law in its modern form is only recognisable from the 1970s onwards, its roots go back to the second half of the nineteenth century, when bilateral fisheries treaties began to be formed.234 Those early treaties, and the creation of international institutions such as the League of Nations in the 1920s and the United Nations in 1945, signalled a growing understanding of the interconnectedness of the world and the limits on the availability of natural resources.235 In this early period, States concluded treaties on an ad hoc, sporadic, and limited basis, generally seeking to preserve wildlife and protect waterways and 232 See, e.g., Hague Institute for the Internationalisation of Law, General Rules and Principles of International Criminal Procedure and Recommendations of the International Expert Framework, October 2011, p.4.