The Impact of Climate Change Law on the Principle of State Sovereignty Over Natural Resources

Abstract

The overarching objective of this book is to make a positive contribution to the global efforts to address the problem of climate change by considering the possible contribution of the international law principle of sovereignty over natural resources. The legal principle of sovereignty over natural resources is considered in this book as a means by which to address the lack of state compliance to climate commitments made in terms of the international legal climate change regime. The gravity of the effects of climate change justify a reinterpretation and reconfiguration of the principle of sovereignty over natural resources in terms of which the right of people to economic self-determination is promoted and constitutes a basis upon which states can be held accountable to climate commitments made in terms of the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement.