Principles of international environmental protection - Introduction to International Environmental Law - page 119

industrial nations. As China, India and many other emerging economic
powers are now producing a much higher share of overall greenhouse gas
emissions and as their capacity to make reductions has grown considerably,
binding emission reductions are now being required of them in order to
prevent climate change.
As with all principles, the principle of common but differentiated responsi-
bilities only gives highly general guidance on how, for instance, emission
reductions should be divided within the G77 group. At some point, the prac-
tical application of the principle is likely to change so that parties obviously
affected by climate change (small island states threatened by rising sea levels,
for example) continue to be exempt from emission reduction, while certain
rapidly progressing 'developing nations' will be required to consent to at least
some legally binding emission reduction targets. This move can be seen in the
example of the 2011 Durban Climate Change Conference (see Chapter 7 ,
'Achievements of the Durban Conference', pp. 201-203).
Material and procedural principles
Environmental decision-making is guided by both material and procedural
principles. Material (or substantive) principles in environmental law establish
the level of environmental quality to be attained, whereas procedural prin-
ciples establish the process whereby environmental targets are to be achieved
(who is in charge of organizing the process, under what measures and with
whom). Material principles are signifi cant when confl icts between norms are
resolved, for example, gaps in regulation are fi lled, and open and fl exible
norms are interpreted. Environmental permit decisions are made on the
basis of material principles above all. Procedural principles engage and guide
various actors to infl uence the way environmental decisions are made.
We could argue, for instance, that the environmental impact assessment
(EIA) procedure will affect the substance of an environmental permit decision,
since the permit decision should be partly based on scientifi c fi ndings of the
likely environmental impacts. If the EIA procedure is completed, it is highly
likely that the substantive outcome of the permit decision will change. We can
say, then, that the EIA procedure has both a procedural dimension and a
content-related dimension which guides decision-making.
As the EIA procedure is not a decision-making procedure in itself, the
permit decision-makers should base their decisions on material rules, taking
the data from the EIA procedure into account. This implies that although the
division into material and procedural principles is a simplifi cation, it is some-
times vital to distinguish between them in order to understand the essential
features of each. By and large, the material principles in international law are
highly general, whereas the procedural principles can be very detailed. The
material principles often remain general, because legal systems at various levels
are seeking to strike a balance between promoting economic activities and
protecting the environment.