f. No-Harm Principle

No-Harm Principle

Concept

The no-harm principle recognizes both a State’s sovereign right to exploit its own resources and its responsibility to ensure that activities within its jurisdiction or control do not damage the environment of other States or areas beyond national jurisdiction. The right to pursue environmental and developmental policies is therefore stated together with a responsibility concerning effects outside the State’s own territory. (Principle 2, Rio Declaration)¹

Governing provisions

Principle 2 of the Rio Declaration states the general relationship between sovereign resource use and responsibility for environmental damage beyond a State’s jurisdiction. It places that relationship in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and the principles of international law. (Principle 2, Rio Declaration)¹

Article 195 of UNCLOS addresses a related duty when States take measures to prevent, reduce, and control pollution of the marine environment. They must act so as not to transfer damage or hazards, directly or indirectly, from one area to another, or transform one type of pollution into another. (Art. 195, UNCLOS)²

Requisites / Rules

• Identify the activity and its connection to a State’s jurisdiction or control. Principle 2 speaks of activities within either basis; it does not confine the responsibility to activities physically within a State’s territory. (Principle 2, Rio Declaration)¹
• Identify the environment at risk. Principle 2 covers the environment of another State and areas beyond the limits of national jurisdiction. These are the external areas expressly named in the provision. (Principle 2, Rio Declaration)¹
• For marine pollution-control measures, check where the damage or hazard goes and whether the measure changes one type of pollution into another. Article 195 addresses both direct and indirect transfers between areas. (Art. 195, UNCLOS)²

Distinctions

Principle 2 concerns the external environmental effects of activities under a State’s jurisdiction or control. Article 195 focuses on the manner in which States take measures against marine pollution: a measure must not merely move damage or hazards elsewhere or replace one form of pollution with another. The provisions thus address different conduct, although both guard against shifting environmental harm. (Principle 2, Rio Declaration)¹ (Art. 195, UNCLOS)²

Key doctrines

Sovereign resource use and responsibility for effects beyond national jurisdiction appear in the same statement of Principle 2. A State’s pursuit of its own environmental and developmental policies does not remove the stated responsibility concerning damage to another State’s environment or to areas beyond national jurisdiction. (Principle 2, Rio Declaration)¹

In the marine setting, preventing or reducing pollution in one place is not, by itself, the whole inquiry under Article 195. The State must also avoid transferring damage or hazards to another area or transforming the pollution into another type. (Art. 195, UNCLOS)²

Bar tip

For Principle 2, pair the State’s sovereign right with its responsibility, then identify the activity and the environment outside its jurisdiction that may be damaged. If the question concerns a marine pollution-control measure, separately check for transferred or transformed pollution under Article 195. (Principle 2, Rio Declaration)¹ (Art. 195, UNCLOS)²