The Legal Inequality in the International Environmental System: The Disparity of Obligations Between Developed and Developing Countries and Its Impact on Legislative Sovereignty

Abstract

Abstract: This research aims to analyze the phenomenon of legal inequality within the international environmental system by examining the divergence of obligations between developed and developing countries and its impact on legislative sovereignty. It reveals that, despite their proclaimed pursuit of climate justice, international environmental treaties have institutionalized a form of legal disparity that subjects developing countries to obligations exceeding their technical and economic capacities. The study argues that the principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities” has evolved from a mechanism of fairness into an instrument that reproduces legal dependency through conditional financing and international monitoring mechanisms. Furthermore, the research explores how this structural imbalance undermines national legislative autonomy in developing countries, drawing on examples from the Kyoto Protocol, the Paris Agreement, and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. It proposes an alternative legal framework grounded in the concepts of adaptive differentiation and environmental sovereignty as means to achieve environmental justice while preserving legislative independence. The study concludes that reforming the international environmental order requires redefining the relationship between international obligations and the right to development, ensuring that environmental justice rests upon substantive—rather than merely formal—legal equality.