Hållbar utveckling: En internationellt bindande norm?

Sammanfattning: The global environment is today more vulnerable than ever, despite more emphasis on sustainable development due to the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda. The principle of sustainable development has seen an increased influence on every imaginable level, but from a legal perspective there is still uncertainty regarding the actual function of the principle. The essay sets out to determine if the principle of sustainable development can be regarded as a binding norm based on international environmental law, and what obligations such a norm would give rise to. The essay initially gives a brief account of the etymology and legal history of the concept of sustainable development, and then shifts focus towards trying to attribute a globally binding character to the principle using the sources of international law. Based on international conventions as well as international customary law, it becomes clear that sustainable development is viewed as an objective and thereby give rise to an obligation for states to promote sustainable development. Unfortunately, it is not possible to conclude, based on treaty law, that such an obligation would create secondary obligations that are generally applicable. It is however possible to identify such obligations with the assistance of jurisprudence and legal literature: inter- and intragenerational equity, preventive measures, and cooperation. In some ways, sustainable development constitutes a globally binding norm with pronounced obligations, however, to firmly establish the existence of such a norm, tangible legal opinions by international courts of law are required. Based on the above, the essay looks to the future and examines the possible effects, on the principle of sustainable development, that the 2030 Agenda may give rise to. The obligations mentioned above are compared to the sustainable development goals and, to a large extent, they overlap with each other. The goals in conjunction with state practice, in accordance with the sustainability goals, can thus eventually contribute to giving sustainable development a stronger and more defined role. However, it is still too early to identify such effects.