Considering the shortcoming of international environmental law in dealing with the crises of the era of the Anthropocene, this research seeks to analyze some foundational categories of international legal norms. With this in mind, firstly, the discourse of the three main general declarations of international environmental law (Stockholm Declaration, Rio92 and Rio +20) will be observed in a critical and reflective way, with the help of an enunciative discourse analysis. Then, some accounts will be traced about the construction of meanings that support the ontology legitimized by these norms, such as the ideal for development, coloniality and a certain conception about nature, humanity and the relationship between them. Finally, considering the roles of imaginaries and constructions of futures, questions will be raised about the possibilities of alternative futures that derive from these concepts, such as the recognition of the rights of nature and the limits that the existing categories impose on dissident imaginaries. Hence, it can be observed that the way in which international environmental law is constructed presupposes that the constitutive exclusion of others from the modern international system is not problematized. Therefore, it is crucial to question these very foundational categories, not only of international law (general and environmental), but of the international and state systems as a whole, as an invitation to face the end of the world through constructive speculation about which futures we are able to imagine and build.