Abstract

Owing to the fact that there is currently no international treaty that provides a globally accepted substantive human right for the protection of the environment (Anton and Shelton 2011, Turner 2009) there is a case for considering how such a right could or should be developed. This paper considers certain aspects of the potential development of such a right by focussing on key non-state actors that make decisions, which can affect the environment. Consideration is given to three different types of non-state actors: companies (corporations), the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and multilateral development banks (MDBs). It specifically examines their ‘constitutional’ purposes and the overall legal constraints that their decision-makers are bound to comply with, and where applicable, the legal obligations that they impose upon their members.
Therefore, this approach to the issue focuses on the legal foundations that determine how such actors make decisions and how that can affect the environment. This paper provides a broad perspective to illustrate the commonalities between the actors that are discussed in relation to their decision-making processes. Ultimately it provides an argument in support of the formal development of an international treaty that would create a global substantive environmental right. However it posits that such a treaty should inter alia be designed and framed in a manner, that would develop reformed legal obligations for the types of non-state actors discussed.