The World Heritage List as an Environmental Protection Tool

Introduction: the World Heritage Convention is the most important instrument for the protection of unique human and natural creations. The article structures the World Heritage protection system and identifies functional subsystems of a normative and institutional nature. The most well-known means of implementing such protection is the inclusion of objects in the World Heritage List, which is decided by the World Heritage Committee. Despite the central role of this list, its legal nature and the international legal consequences of including heritage sites in it have not been studied in Russian jurisprudence. The purpose of the study is to determine the legal nature of the World Heritage List and the legal consequences of listing objects in it, both in accordance with the provisions of the international legal instruments and the established practice of their application. The research uses the methods of the formal legal analysis of the text of the Convention and the Guidelines for its implementation, on the basis of which a conclusion is drawn about the general formal equalization of the protection regime for the heritage included in the analyzed list and identified by states independently. The exceptions in which, according to the text of the Convention, there is a differentiation in the treatment of heritage inscribed and not inscribed on the World Heritage List concern only matters of international assistance. Results: the main formal and legal consequences of adding sites to the World Heritage List are related to the possibility of providing international assistance to states. The inevitability of using the means of soft international law in establishing prohibitions on mining activities and the construction of dams with large reservoirs within the boundaries of the World Natural Heritage sites included in the World Heritage List is stated. The important role of defining the boundaries of the World Heritage sites using international legal procedures and the formulation of an outstanding universal value for the protection of the World Natural Heritage is revealed. The practice of protecting World Heritage sites located in Russia and abroad is analyzed. Conclusions: at the current stage of the development of the international regulatory system, the consequences of including objects in the World Heritage List arise in the segment of soft international law, which determines the need for a responsible attitude of states to comply with environmental restrictions of this kind. The improvement of domestic regimes for the protection of World Heritage must take into account not only the provisions of the text of the Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage but also the established practice of its application.