Biodiversity, Human Security and Climate Change: Which Legal Framework?

Abstract

The Secretariat of Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees have all published alarming figures and worrying trends which call for international and local action to protect biodiversity, human security and fight against climate change. What answers can international environmental law propose with respect to these issues? This chapter attempts to alert jurists and the public about the necessity to reconsider the international foundations that are threatened by environmental and human vulnerabilities. The analysis will provide an opportunity to identify the theme of security in the international texts related to climate change and the protection of biodiversity. I will claim that despite a rather anthropocentric construction of international environmental law, human security is not explicitly taken into account in different legal regimes, thus revealing an unusual feature: the fragmentation of the law. So, after highlighting the shortcomings, some suggestions for improvements of the international system will be proposed, for example, considering intergenerational justice, reorganizing the management of institutional vulnerabilities, evolving the subjects of law, adopting a convention on environmental displaced persons, etc. Obviously, all the solutions should be devoted to the idea of ​​interdependence.

Keywords