气候变化法与一般国际法的关系:以气候变化损害的国家责任形式为例

The Relationship Between Climate Change Law and General International Law:Taking the Forms of State Responsibility for Climate Change Damage as Examples

近日,国际海洋法法庭发表了关于气候变化问题的咨询意见。法庭受所提问题的限制,只阐明了与气候变化有关的、作为“初阶规则”的海洋法下的国家权利和义务,并没有讨论作为“二阶规则”的国家责任规则是否适用以及如何适用。在讨论特别法和一般法的关系时,法庭也断然否定了气候变化条约是特别法,却没有解释理由。本文以国家责任的两种形式——停止不法行为和充分赔偿损失——为例,尝试阐明气候变化条约与一般国际法的关系,为国际法院的咨询意见程序以及潜在的国家间争端解决程序提供参考。本文认为,气候变化条约能在多大程度上构成特别法,应具体规则具体分析。气候变化条约下的某些规则(尤其是赔偿相关的安排)有可能构成特别法,排除或修改了国家责任一般法下的一些具体规则(如充分赔偿义务)的适用;但本文对停止不法行为的分析表明,并非所有国家责任一般法的规则都被气候变化条约所排除适用。

Recently, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea(ITLOS) issued an advisory opinion on the issue of climate change. Constrained by the specific questions presented to it, the Tribunal only articulated the rights and obligations of states under the law of the sea as primary rules related to climate change, without addressing whether and how the secondary rules of state responsibility apply. When discussing the relationship between special and general law, the Tribunal categorically denied that climate change treaties constitute special law, without providing a rationale for this conclusion. This paper examines the relationship between climate change treaties and general international law by focusing on two forms of state responsibility—cessation of wrongful acts and full reparation of damage. The analysis aims to provide insights for the International Court of Justice's advisory opinion proceedings as well as potential inter-state dispute resolution proceedings. The paper argues that determining the extent to which climate change treaties constitute special law requires a case-by-case analysis of specific provisions. Some rules under climate change treaties(especially those related to compensation arrangements) may indeed constitute special law, thereby excluding or modifying the application of certain rules under the general law of state responsibility(such as the obligation of full reparation). However, the analysis of cessation of wrongful acts indicates that not all general rules of state responsibility are excluded by climate change treaties.