Prevention Obligations in International Environmental Law

The paper seeks to examine the content and nature of prevention obligations in international environmental law. Despite their frequent reference to these obligations in practice and in the literature their exact content remains ill-defined. Similarly, the exact nature of these obligations has not been sufficiently explored. The first part analyses the content of prevention obligations (notification, environmental impact assessment, exchange of information and negotiations/consultations). The second part, discusses and evaluates the dual nature of these obligations: as autonomous primary obligations of result and as elements of the general due diligence no-harm obligation.