The Extraterritorial Application of Multilateral Environmental Agreements

Abstract

The present Article discusses whether the notion of extraterritorial application of treaties, widely debated and disputed in the context of human rights treaties, is also a viable concept in the context of multilateral environmental agreements. This Article will explore whether there are specific elements governing an extraterritorial application of environmental treaties. While this question has not yet attracted much attention in the literature on international environmental law, it will be argued that more questions of extraterritoriality will arise in the context of international environmental law and that these can be appropriately resolved through multilateral environmental agreements. While environmental treaties may, at the moment, be considered less “mature” than human rights treaties in terms of their extraterritorial potential, most obstacles for such an application can be overcome.