Gaps in International Environmental Law


Book Description

The United Nations has set in motion a process to discuss and potentially reach agreement on a Global Pact for the Environment. This book informs those discussions, providing a deep dive into the challenges that characterize international environmental law today as well as the necessary background on the past five decades during which these frameworks were created. The book also describes contemporary negotiations about how, and even whether, to clarify and strengthen the norms that guide us today. By providing a clear picture of the competing trajectories of the current state of the law and our environment, this book equips readers with the knowledge and confidence to shape the future evolution of international environmental law.




International Environmental Law and the Global South


Book Description

Situating the global poverty divide as an outgrowth of European imperialism, this book investigates current global divisions on environmental policy.




Bridging the Gap Between International Investment Law and the Environment


Book Description

This book addresses the topical question on how national and international environmental concerns could be adequately integrated into international investment law. It covers the question whether international investment law restricts state sovereignty in an unacceptable way - in particular, the freedom of host states to develop national policies and regulation for the improvement of the environment. The book first analyzes the interaction between international investment law and the protection of the environment, on the basis of concepts such as sustainable development, fair and equitable treatment, and international responsibility. Secondly, several chapters discuss challenges which are encountered in attempts to integrate environmental concerns in investment policies in specific sectors and regions (e.g. climate change, water pollution, renewable and nuclear energy, and the European Union region). And, finally, specific case studies illustrate the legal and policy tensions between investment law and environmental protection, namely Vattenfall's disputes with Germany, legal clashes between Chevron and Ecuador, and multinational mining companies' conflicts in Indonesia. The contributions are written by international experts and will be of interest to policy makers and practitioners. *** Librarians: ebook available (Series: Legal Perspectives for Global Challenges - Vol. 4) [Subject: International Law, Investment Law, Environmental Law]




EU Environmental Law, International Environmental Law, and Human Rights Law


Book Description

In EU Environmental Law, International Environmental Law, and Human Rights Law: The Case of Environmental Responsibility, Armelle Gouritin offers a critical appraisal of EU environmental responsibility law and asserts a new rights-based approach to international environmental law. This book addresses environmental damage, environmental harm, the grounds for environmental responsibility and the exceptions to the responsibility principle. A critical appraisal of EU Directives 2004/35 and 2008/99 is complemented by an analysis of the input of the European Court on Human Rights and international environmental law with a view to filling the gaps identified in the Directives. Gouritin offers a full analysis of the potential and limits of the rights-based approach applied to environmental responsibility.




Contemporary Issues in International Environmental Law


Book Description

. . . Highly recommended as a key contribution to the literature. It fulfils its title in being contemporaneous, but more than that it also provides a subtle critique of how many international environmental lawyers have approached their subject. . . this book will be an essential read for anyone interested in the subject. British Yearbook of International Law This book presents an interesting, scholarly read. . . an invaluable reference asset, to law students, researchers, policy makers and non-state actors with interest in environmental regulation and governance. Priscilla Schwartz, Journal of Environmental Law This is a thoughtful and well-researched study of current issues in international environmental law. Malgosia Fitzmaurice s collection of essays is a welcome addition to the literature in this rapidly developing area of the law: it provides perspective on the environmental law issues discussed, but always against the background of the broader concepts and principles of general international law. James Crawford, University of Cambridge, UK The central aim of this insightful book is to illuminate how many concepts in international environmental law such as the precautionary principle and sustainable development are taken for granted. These problematic issues are very much still evolving and subject to heated debate between scholars as well as between states. The author explores these controversies viewing them as a positive development within a field that is in a constant state of flux. Areas discussed include the convergence of human rights with environmental issues and the quest for the human right to a clean environment. The book also clearly demonstrates that international environmental law cannot be analysed in isolation since it greatly influences the development of general international law. Taking full account of the most recent decisions of international courts and tribunals as well as the most up-to-date scholarly analysis, Contemporary Issues in International Environmental Law is a timely and important resource for legal scholars, under- and post-graduates and practitioners alike.




International Environmental Law-making and Diplomacy


Book Description

Bringing together contributions from diplomats, UN agency officials, lawyers and academics, this book provides insight into the evolution of international environmental law, diplomacy and negotiating techniques. Based on first-hand experiences and extensive research, the chapters offer a blend of practice and theory, history and analysis, presenting a range of historical episodes and nuances and drawing lessons for future improvements to the processes of law-making and diplomacy. The book represents a synthesis of the most important messages to emerge from the annual course on Multilateral Environmental Agreements, delivered to diplomats and negotiators from around the world for the last decade by the University of Eastern Finland and the United Nations Environment Programme. The book will be of interest as a guide for negotiators and as a supplementary textbook and a reference volume for a wide range of students of law and environmental issues.




Environmental Change, Forced Displacement and International Law


Book Description

This book explores the increasing concern over the extent to which those suffering from forced cross-border displacement as a result of environmental change are protected under international human rights law. Formally they are not entitled to admission or stay in a third state country, a situation that has been identified as an international "legal protection gap". The book seeks to provide answers to two basic questions: whether and to what extent existing international law protects cross-border environmental displacement, and whether and how existing formalized regional complementary protection standards can interpretively solidify and conceptualize protection for cross-border environmental displacement. The discussion outlines that the protection of the human person is not only an ex post facto obligation of states, but must be increasingly seen as an ex ante one. The analysis further suggests that the European Union regionally orientated protection regime can help states to consolidate an evolving protection paradigm of proactive and reactive measures being erected at the international level. It can also narrow the identified legal protection gaps. In so doing, it helps states to reconceptualise protection as a holistic and dynamic enterprise. This book will be of great interest to academics in law, political science and human rights, policy makers and civil society organisations both at national and international level.




Charting Environmental Law Futures in the Anthropocene


Book Description

This book explores a range of plausible futures for environmental law in the new era of the Earth’s history: the Anthropocene. The book discusses multiple contemporary and future challenges facing the planet and humanity. It examines the relationship between environmental law and the Anthropocene at governance scales from the global to the local. The breadth of issues and jurisdictions covered by the book, its forward-looking nature, and the unique generational perspective of the contributing authors means that this publication appeals to a wide audience from specialist academics and policy-makers to a broader lay readership.




International Environmental Governance


Book Description

A plethora of environmental problems are ravaging the planet and its inhabitants. How well do existing structures convene governments to address these challenges? What is the role of science and civil society in this context? And, does international cooperation properly support countries with limited capacities? This report seeks to respond to these questions, based on an analysis of actions taken to renew international environmental governance to fulfill commitments made at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) in 2012. This report outlines possibilities to strengthen the UN Environment Programme and to enhance synergies among global environmental conventions to ensure that international environmental governance continues evolving and improving to secure human well-being and planetary health.