Intergenerational Equity as a General Principle of Law

Peter T. Kourides (Class of 1933) Student Writing Prize in Comparative and International Law, Best Note

Lara Manbeck*

Are states obliged to consider future generations in their management of resources today? In anticipation of the forthcoming International Court of Justice (ICJ) Advisory Opinion on the Obligation of States in respect of Climate Change, this Note argues that intergenerational equity constitutes a general principle of law under Article 38 of the ICJ Statute. To do this, it first defines general principles, a much-debated concept, for the purposes of this study. In Part II, it provides a brief genealogy of intergenerational equity. It then surveys multilateral agreements, international jurisprudence, and domestic law to demonstrate the international community’s widespread recognition of intergenerational equity as a general principle. Finally, in Part III, it discusses the ways in which intergenerational equity may be applied by the ICJ in its forthcoming interpretation of states’ environmental obligations to future generations.

*Editor-in-Chief, Columbia Journal of Transnational Law; J.D., Columbia Law School, 2025. This piece was written under the auspices of the 2023 ICJ Advanced Research Practicum at Columbia Law School. I wish to thank the Practicum’s conveners, Judge Sarah Cleveland and Professor Benjamin Salas Kantor, for their invaluable guidance. I am also grateful to Professors Michael Gerrard, Benedict Kingsbury, and Rachel Brewster, along with Krister Rasmussen, Carter Scott, and the participants at the 2024 Salzburg Cutler Workshop, for their thoughtful feedback. Finally, my appreciation goes to Jessica A. Betancourt, Seth Snyder, and the Journal’s staff editors for their superb editorial work. All errors and opinions are my own.