Sustainable development concerning socioeconomic rights: A duty towards future generations? An international humanitarian legal right for future generations

Abstract

The notion of sustainable development, in international law, is already vastly known, mainly as a principle of environmental international law. Nonetheless, there are still some major questions that must be addressed: is it, or will it ever be, a legal, justiciable principle of international law? What is it, specifically, composed by? In which terms does it surpass the environmental dimension? In the analyses of these questions, this article will procure to clarify the different dimensions of sustainable development, specifically in its socio-economic dimension, its direct connection to future generations in terms of intergenerational equity and the application of this principal in international and national courts.