The Earth’s Atmosphere as a Global Trust: Combatting Climate Change through Negative Emissions and a Legal Trust or Fiduciary Liability Regime

Establishing proportionate state responsibility to maintain, restore and sustain the global atmosphere

Thomas Boudreau argues it is time to recognize the Earth’s Atmosphere as a global trust and move forward with the creation of a binding international treating that treats it as such.

“As we shall see, the legal status of all of the Earth’s other Commons—the Oceans, near Outer Space, and Antarctica have been recognized in explicit and sometimes contested treaties or conventions. Only the Earth Atmosphere as a whole has no binding international treaty that recognizes it as a Global Trust or part of the Common Heritage of Humanity for present and future generations.”

ABSTRACT: Expanding upon the important work already accomplished by the Paris Agreement (2015), the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) can help create the international legal framework needed by recognizing, in a nonbinding resolution as a first step, the Earth’s atmosphere as a global trust and thus helping to create the necessary legal capacitybuilding among nation-states to monitor, maintain as well as restore the Earth’s atmosphere for future generations.

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