This Article examines the relationship between legal constructions of equity and rules of international environmental law, with particular emphasis on the emerging concept of intragenerational equity as a significant element in the debate on the international attainment of sustainable development. On one level, the concept of equity has always been an integral part of human experience. At its core is the notion that human beings, both as individuals and as members of civil society, should "pay more attention to justice . . . [than] they are compelled to do by their situation."¹ In fact, it is no exaggeration to say that equity forms one of the very cornerstones of our modern liberal democracy. The term is often used as a synonym for basic notions of fairness and natural justice—the idea that human behavior is constrained by certain moral principles.² But this is not just a question of moral philosophy; the notion of equity also forms part of many states' political and legal systems. And at the international level, equity is increasingly relied upon both by the International Court of Justice (ICJ or the Court) and by the international community, more generally. Despite this, there is no agreed meaning of equity; in fact, due to its fluidity, it is very possible for it to possess differing, even contradictory, meanings. This is as true in international environmental law as in any other area in which equity is applied.

As will be discussed below, equity is used to mean different things in different contexts. On one level, equity is seen as being merely akin to general notions of fairness, such as the example of the 1992 United Nations (U.N.) Framework Convention on Climate Change demanding "equitable and balanced representation of all Parties" within its financial mechanism.³ However, on another level, equity has a central role within the concept of intergenerational equity—ensuring justice for future generations. While such a concept is also based on fairness, it is arguably of a fundamentally different order from that requiring equitable participation. Moreover, many developing states argue that equity can also justify substantive changes to the present international situation, i.e., that equity demands a fairer world order so as to benefit the poorer states of the world (the concept of intragenerational equity), which at its extreme some critics might term international socialism.

It is the aim of this Article, therefore, to explore the many different aspects of equity in international environmental law, in particular intragenerational equity. However, to place such an analysis in context, it is necessary to discuss other aspects of equity, including the jurisprudence of the ICJ on this issue and the principle of equitable utilization of shared natural resources, two areas in which equity has already been extensively applied.