From Trail Smelter to The Hague: The Evolution of International Environmental Law and Its Modern Trajectory
International environmental law has grown from a few bilateral treaties on transboundary water bodies and precious species into a vibrant and dynamic strand of public international law with almost 1,000 instruments. This article reviews its evolution during four phases: a pre-1950 period of sovereignty-based resource agreements and the Trail Smelter Arbitration; a 1950-1972 period of concern with nuclear and marine pollution; a modern period from the 1972 Stockholm Conference reinforced by the 1992 Rio Conference; and a post-Rio period of concern with climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. It looks at the UN climate regime (Kyoto Protocol and Paris Agreement), the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, the 2023 BBNJ agreement, current plastics negotiations and the ICJ advisory opinion on states' climate obligations, to update previous accounts through 2025–2026.
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International Environmental Law, ICJ, Environment
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(1) Abida Hassan
Assistant Professor (Law), Dr. Muhammad Iqbal Law School, Government College University, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan.
Cite this article
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APA : Hassan, A. (2026). From Trail Smelter to The Hague: The Evolution of International Environmental Law and Its Modern Trajectory. Global Foreign Policies Review, IX(I), 59-63. https://doi.org/10.31703/gfpr.2026(IX-I).06
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CHICAGO : Hassan, Abida. 2026. "From Trail Smelter to The Hague: The Evolution of International Environmental Law and Its Modern Trajectory." Global Foreign Policies Review, IX (I): 59-63 doi: 10.31703/gfpr.2026(IX-I).06
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HARVARD : HASSAN, A. 2026. From Trail Smelter to The Hague: The Evolution of International Environmental Law and Its Modern Trajectory. Global Foreign Policies Review, IX, 59-63.
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MHRA : Hassan, Abida. 2026. "From Trail Smelter to The Hague: The Evolution of International Environmental Law and Its Modern Trajectory." Global Foreign Policies Review, IX: 59-63
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MLA : Hassan, Abida. "From Trail Smelter to The Hague: The Evolution of International Environmental Law and Its Modern Trajectory." Global Foreign Policies Review, IX.I (2026): 59-63 Print.
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OXFORD : Hassan, Abida (2026), "From Trail Smelter to The Hague: The Evolution of International Environmental Law and Its Modern Trajectory", Global Foreign Policies Review, IX (I), 59-63
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TURABIAN : Hassan, Abida. "From Trail Smelter to The Hague: The Evolution of International Environmental Law and Its Modern Trajectory." Global Foreign Policies Review IX, no. I (2026): 59-63. https://doi.org/10.31703/gfpr.2026(IX-I).06