ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the question whether, in the contemporary reality that is the ‘Anthropocene’, it is time to move beyond the duality of territorial and extraterritorial law. It focuses on what might be required to construct relational laws that acknowledge the reality of state and non-state interdependence in response to ecological crisis. The chapter discusses the Anthropocene, a proposed new geological epoch defined by profound human activity that has destabilised earth systems by disregarding the ecological limits of planetary boundaries. It describes the increasing invocation of extraterritoriality in international discourse over the appropriate scope of, first, state jurisdiction and, second, state obligations to prevent and remedy human rights harms arising from transnational corporate conduct. The chapter argues that the invocation of extraterritoriality as part of the project risks undermining its objective, as it reinforces the myth of the bounded autonomous state while simultaneously endorsing the need to regulate across borders.
