New Technologies in International Law / Tymofeyeva, Crhák et al.

mostly related to the biotechnology. It includes customary rules such as precautionary principle, polluter pays principle, environmental impact assessment, or responsibility of States not to cause damage to areas outside State jurisdiction. Conclusion Numbers have shown that biodiversity loss is even greater than we originally thought. The situation is also being called the sixth massive extinction and must be properly addressed, inter alia, by international law. On the other side, more and more advanced technologies are being produced each year. Unfortunately, it does not always go hand in hand with biodiversity protection. Many conservationists claim insufficient funding, lack of data sharing, and capacity-building are the biggest constraints that need to be dealt with before we can adequately use technology for biodiversity protection. After analyzing relevant international environmental treaty law (HTS was also considered although it has not yet entered into force), it is fair to say that regulation of the technology-biodiversity relationship is not as bad, as the paper might suggest. There are many issues with it (sometimes insufficient definitions or too benevolent language), but besides these issues, it properly regulates this question. The biggest issue is its application, implementation and efficiency. We consider The High Sea Treaty a stronger and more potent successor of the Convention on Biological Diversity (although its objectives are narrower), so it will be interesting to see whether it strengthens biodiversity protection, or it will be yet another failure of the international community.

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