Role of International Law in Addressing Cross-Border Environmental Harm Affecting Pakistan

Abstract

The problem of cross-border environmental degradation is increasingly becoming a complicated issue to Pakistan especially when it is explained in the environment of shared rivers, cross-border air pollution, disaster due to climate change and the upstream development of the neighboring states. Transnational sources of environmental degradation are becoming more influential on the water security of Pakistan, agricultural sustainability, health of the people, and ecology but the remedies are meager, in the form of law. To fill the gap, this article explores the application of international law to resolve the issue of cross-border environmental damage to Pakistan by considering the relevant concepts of the international environmental law, state responsibility, and dispute resolution procedures. It postulates that although international law has a well-established normative system, which is based on such principles as no-harm, due diligence, equitable and reasonable utilization, and cooperation, the effectiveness of this normative system is limited due to the ineffective enforcement mechanisms, political sensitivities and power asymmetries among states. The article also shows how Pakistan has remained more of a reactive and diplomatic player in the international environmental law as opposed to maintaining a juridical approach, which is based on bilateral negotiations and political processes as opposed to legal responsibility. Investigating the practice of the state, international jurisprudence and regional environmental issues, the paper reveals instances of the potential and shortcomings of the international law in defending Pakistan against the transboundary environmental damages. It finds that to apply a legal and institutional capacity of Pakistan to invoke the international environmental law, coupled with active regional cooperation and integration of international norms into domestic policy becomes critical in solving the issue of cross-border environmental problem in a legal sustainable way.