Philosophical Issues in International Environmental Law

The philosophy of environmental law overlaps considerably with philosophical work in environmental ethics. For example, whether species and ecosystems have intrinsic value (in addition to instrumental value) is an issue in both environmental ethics and the philosophy of environmental law. This chapter addresses philosophical issues about international environmental law (IEL) in the three sections which follow. It reflects on the demand of IEL that the world&s;s governments and other actor&s;s seriously take into account the interests of future generations when they decide issues involving resources and pollution. The chapter considers philosophical issues about value raised by the requirements of IEL that species and ecosystems be protected. It also addresses IEL&s;s attempt to promote measures that mitigate climate change. The goal is to show that the philosophical questions raised by IEL are interesting, connected to practice, and worth thinking about.