Practice question
State A licenses a private facility near a frontier. Credible concerns arise that its discharge will damage State B's environment. A refuses even to consider the concern, arguing that its domestic permit conclusively settles all international environmental issues. Applying Rio Principle 2, which conclusion is best?
- Domestic licensing necessarily eliminates the stated international responsibility.
- The permit automatically becomes a bilateral treaty.
- The neighboring State automatically becomes the facility's owner.
- The domestic permit alone does not answer the separate responsibility concerning activities under A's jurisdiction or control and environmental damage outside it.
- Any concern alone conclusively fixes a criminal sentence.
Legal references
- Rio Declaration on Environment and Development (1992), Principle 2, https://www.un.org/esa/documents/ga/conf151/aconf15126-1annex1.htm
- Convention on Biological Diversity, Article 3, https://www.cbd.int/convention/articles/default.shtml?a=cbd-03
- UN Audiovisual Library, Stockholm and Rio Declarations, https://legal.un.org/avl/ha/dunche/dunche.html
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