The rights and safety of people worldwide - and the future of humanity itself - are increasingly threatened by global catastrophic risks, including those arising from advanced artificial intelligence. Yet the international legal framework to govern such risks appears fragmented and unclear. International Catastrophe Law shows that international law is not silent on these threats. Drawing on eleven international legal regimes, from nuclear and biological weapons control to human rights and environmental law, this work identifies fifty-seven binding obligations that already require states to mitigate global catastrophic risks. It derives seven general principles of law that, through systemic integration, can guide national and international responses. Timely and corrective, International Catastrophe Law demonstrates that international law already provides crucial foundations for protecting humanity from its gravest threats. This title is available as open access on Cambridge Core.

‘In International Catastrophe Law, Villalobos, Maas & Winter confront the daunting challenges that face us with clear-eyed use of the tools of international law. They find the general principles that already animate the law's response to disasters and show how, in an integrated approach, they are applicable to a host of new catastrophic risks: from climate change to AI. The result is not only a work of ground-breaking analysis; it also provides an inspiring route-map to an uncertain future.'

Campbell McLachlan - University of Cambridge

‘In case common sense isn't enough, this book provides solid legal grounds for states to address the largest risks from advanced AI, keeping private entities from causing global catastrophes. Essential reading for those interested in continuing the human project.'

Stuart J. Russell - University of California, Berkeley

‘Villalobos, Maas, and Winter demonstrate that international law already imposes on States the obligations that would ensure a safer and sustainable future-what's needed is for nations to respect these laws. This important book bridges the gap between the warnings of science and the tools of law.'

Martin Rees

‘States urgently need a shared and grounded legal vocabulary in responding to AI's global risks. Villalobos, Maas, and Winter provide it-drawing on established norms from across the international legal system to show what States already owe each other in the age of advanced AI. Rigorous, practical, and long overdue.'

Brianna Rosen - University of Oxford

‘A compelling case for how international law already has the tools to help address the greatest threats of our time. Necessary reading for any lawyer who wants to save the world.'

Luke Kemp