The Natura 2000 network of protected areas is the centrepiece of European Union nature policy, currently covering almost one-fifth of the EU's entire land territory plus large marine areas. This vast EU-wide network, which aims to conserve Europe's most valuable and threatened species and habitats, has major impacts on land use throughout all Member States of the EU. This book critically assesses the origins and implementation of the Natura 2000 network, established under the Birds Directive of 1979 and the Habitats Directive of 1992. Based on original archival research and interviews with key participants, the book records a detailed history of the origins and negotiation of Natura 2000 policy and law, with the history of EU environmental policy provided as a framework. An historical institutionalist approach is adopted, which emphasises the importance of understanding legal and policy development as processes that unfold over time. Three phases in the history of EU environmental policy are identified and described, and the history of EU nature policy is placed within the context of these three phases. Informed by this history, the author presents a comprehensive summary and assessment of the law and policy that protects Natura 2000 sites at EU level, and reviews the nature conservation outcomes for the targeted species and habitats. The book reveals how a knowledge of the history of Natura 2000 enriches our understanding of key issues such as conflicts in establishing and conserving the Natura 2000 network, EU integration in the field of nature conservation, and the future of EU nature policy.

Environmental justice research and activism predominantly focus on openly conflictive situations; claims making is central. However, situations of injustice can still occur even if there is no overt conflict. Environmental Justice and Soy Agribusiness fills this gap by applying an environmental justice incommensurabilities framework to reveal the mechanisms of why conflicts do not arise in particular situations, even though they fall within classic environmental justice schemes. Empirically, the case study focus is on the remote soy frontier in Northwest Argentina, particularly the town of Las Lajitas as the nucleus of soy production. This represents an excellent example of the recent expansion of the soy agribusiness industry in Latin America. First, a classic environmental justice analysis is carried out. Second, and drawing on the epistemological works of Ludwik Fleck, an alternative analytical framework is proposed, visualising locals' thought styles on change, effects and potential conflict in relation to soy agribusiness. Here, visceral elements and the application of a jazz methodology are vital for a more holistic form of multisensory cognition. Third, incommensurabilities among the classic and alternative approach are uncovered, arguing for the importance of temporal and spatial contexts in environmental justice research.

The Paris Framework for Climate Change Capacity Building pioneers a new era of climate change governance, performing the foundational job of clarifying what is meant by the often ad-hoc, one-off, uncoordinated, ineffective and unsustainable practices of the past decade described as 'capacity building' to address climate change. As an alternative, this book presents a framework on how to build effective and sustainable capacity systems to meaningfully tackle this long-term problem. Such a reframing of capacity building itself requires means of implementation. The authors combine their decades-long experiences in climate negotiations, developing climate solutions, climate activism and peer-reviewed research to chart a realistic roadmap for the implementation of this alternative framework for capacity building. As a result, this book convincingly makes the case that universities, as the highest and sustainable seats of learning and research in the developing countries, should be the central hub of capacity building there. This will be a valuable resource for students, researchers and policy-makers in the areas of climate change and environmental studies.

Resolving a conflict is based on the art of helping people, with disparate points of view, find enough common ground to ease their fears, sheath their weapons, and listen to one another for their common good, which ultimately translates into social-environmental sustainability for all generations. Written in a clear, concise style, Resolving Environmental Conflicts: Principles and Concepts, Third Edition is a valuable, solution-oriented contribution that explains environmental conflict management. This book provides an overview of environmental conflicts, collaborative skills, and universal principles to assist in re-thinking and acting toward the common good, integrates a variety of new real-world conflicts as a foundation for building trust, skills, consensus, and capacity, and explains pathways to collectively construct a relationship-centric future, fostering healthier interactions with one another and the planet. The new edition illustrates how to successfully mediate actual environmental disputes and how to teach conflict resolution at any level for a wide variety of social-environmental situations. It adds a new chapter on water conflicts and resolutions, providing avenues to healthy, sustainable, and effective outcomes and provides new examples of conflicts caused by climate change with discussion questions for clear understanding. Land-use planners, urban planners, field biologists, and leaders and participants in collaborative environmental projects and initiatives will find this book to be an invaluable resource. University students in related courses will also benefit, as will anyone interested in achieving greater social-environmental sustainability and a more responsible use of our common natural resources for themselves and their children.

Comparative Concepts of Criminal Law is unique in the sense that it introduces the reader to the fundamental concepts and rules of substantive criminal law in a comparative way and not just to the criminal law system of one specific jurisdiction. Compared with other fields of law, like contract and property law, comparative research into the so-called general part of criminal law is quite a recent phenomenon within academia. The increasing 'Europeanisation' of criminal law and policy makes such a comparative approach even more necessary.This handbook therefore fills a legal educational gap by exploring basic concepts of substantive criminal law in three major European legal systems: the common law system of England and Wales and the civil law systems of Germany and the Netherlands. Each chapter focuses on a specific concept or doctrine that is necessary to determine criminal liability (e.g. actus reus, mens rea, defences, inchoate offences). Throughout the book the authors also highlight and discuss some recent legislative and judicial developments that broaden the scope of criminal liability in our modern culture of control.This book is not only invaluable for students, but also for legal practitioners who want to broaden their knowledge of criminal law.

This book examines the conditions under which PPM measures may be adopted under WTO law de lege lata and de lege ferenda. It analyses in detail the complex case law in this field and its evolution in the last 25 years, as well as the many doctrinal debates around PPM measures and their relevance in the light of the evolution of case law, both under the GATT and the TBT Agreement. Further, it also suggests an original approach to the interpretation of the relevant provisions of the GATT and the TBT Agreement in the context of PPM measures. The PPM issue has been one of the most debated topics in the trade and environment debate. Even though the US-Shrimp case showed that PPM measures are not prohibited per se under the GATT, many questions remain unanswered when it comes to the precise conditions under which environmental PPM measures are justifiable under WTO law, for example in the field of trade measures relating to climate change mitigation efforts, natural resources management policies and biodiversity conservation measures.

Since the very beginning of European integration, electricity has been within the legal sphere of the EU. Much of this is found within the binding European acts making up the framework of the Energy Packages. The established legal institutions have had a significant impact on the shape of the energy market in Europe. Nevertheless, the European energy market still seems to be developing, as demonstrated by the current lively discussion about the state of the Energy Union. Regulation in the European Electricity Sector delves into European energy law and reflects on some of the primary issues related to the public legal impact on the European energy sector. The book offers a brief explanation of the background operation of the electricity sector, as well as liberalisation within the area, and traces the evolution of the EU's approach towards the issue of public law regulation within the electricity sector. Finally, the book presents an analysis of European and national laws, considering their interpretation, and explores the future of public law regulation. Aimed at giving the reader a deep insight into a nature of the state's presence in the power sector, this book will be of great interest to students and scholars of EU energy law and policy.

Do anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions affect human rights? Should fundamental rights constrain climate policies? Scientific evidence demonstrates that anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions contribute to increasing atmospheric temperatures, soon passing the compromising threshold of 2 Degrees C. Consequences such as Typhoon Haiyan prove that climate alteration has the potential to significantly impair basic human needs. Although the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and human rights regulatory regimes have so far proceeded separately, awareness is arising about their reciprocal implications. Based on tripartite fundamental obligations, this volume explores the relationship between climate change and interdependent human rights, through the lens of an international and comparative perspective. Along the lines of the metaphor of the 'wall', the research ultimately investigates the possibility of overcoming the divide between universal rights and climate change, and underlying barriers. This book aims to be a useful resource not only for practitioners, policymakers, academics, and students in international, comparative, environmental law and politics and human rights, but also for the wider public.

Within the broad framework of the common law of tort, the torts of nuisance and the rule in Rylands v. Fletcher are central to the protection of the rights of landowners to use and enjoy their land without unreasonable interference and to be free from material damage to their interests. Negligence actions can also serve to promote the protection of personal and property interests. Yet toxic torts are often seen as being beset by theoretical and practical drawbacks. Overall there are serious concerns about the continued value of common law principles as an effective and coherent system that is geared to protecting the environment. Environmental law is increasingly developing its own statutory regimes to address a range of environmental problems. This accentuates the sense in which the aims and reach of these two different branches of the law appear to be diverging. Questions inevitably arise about the inter-relationship between the private law sphere of tort and the public regulatory schemes.

The contributors to this volume of essays include many of the UK's leading academics in the relevant fields of private and public law. While the essays are broadly based, the focus of the book is on the challenges posed by accommodating tort with environmental law.

This book explores the process of shipbreaking in developing countries, with a particular focus on Bangladesh. In the past, shipbreaking (the disposal of obsolete ships) was a very common industrial activity in many developed countries. However, due to stringent domestic environmental and labour laws it is almost impossible for the increasing number of vessels to be disposed of domestically, and now developing nations including Bangladesh, China, India, Turkey and Pakistan regularly participate in this activity. The shipbreaking yards in these countries are not only detrimental to the marine and coastal environment but also represent significant health hazards to local people and workers. Given the global importance of the issue, an effective legal and institutional framework for a sustainable operation of the shipbreaking industry is desperately needed. Sitting at the intersection of three distinct fields - environmental justice, international environmental law and international maritime law - this book offers an innovative take on the issues surrounding the shipbreaking process. Drawing on the case study of Bangladesh due to its prominence in the shipbreaking industry, the author implements an environmental justice framework to examine the issues of sustainability surrounding shipbreaking, and analyses the relationship between social development, economic development and environmental protection. Maritime perspectives of environmental justice will also be highlighted through a discussion of the International Maritime Organization's role in the implementation of the Hong Kong Convention in developing countries. This book will be of great interest to scholars of environmental justice, international maritime law and international environmental law.

The history of human rights suggests that individuals should be empowered in their natural, political, political, social and economic vulnerabilities. States within the international arena hold each other responsible for doing just that and support or interfere where necessary. States are to protect these essential human vulnerabilities, even when this is not a matter of self-interest. This function of human rights is recognized in contexts of intervention, genocide, humanitarian aid and development. This book develops the idea of environmental obligations as long-term responsibilities in the context of human rights. It proposes that human rights require recognition that, in the face of unsustainable conduct, future human persons are exposed and vulnerable. It explores the obstacles for long-term responsibilities that human rights law provides at the level of international and national law and challenges the question of whether lifestyle restrictions are enforceable in view of liberties and levels of wellbeing typically seen as protected by human rights. The book will be of interest to postgraduates studying Human Rights, Sustainability, Law and Philosophy.

The world's freshwater supplies are increasingly threatened by rapidly increasing demand and the impacts of global climate change, but current approaches to transboundary water management are unsustainable and may threaten future global stability and international security. The absence of law in attempts to address this issue highlights the necessity for further understanding from the legal perspective.

Environmental law and governance are the cornerstones of global efforts to conserve the environment, protect resources and ensure fair and equitable outcomes for all of the planet's inhabitants. This book presents a series of thought-provoking chapters which consider the place of governance and law in the defence against imminent and ongoing threats to ecological, social and cultural integrity. Written by an international team of both established and early-career scholars from various disciplines and backgrounds, the chapters cover the most pressing and contemporary issues in environmental law and governance. These include access and benefit-sharing; the right to food and water; climate change coping and adaptation; human rights; the rights of indigenous communities; public and environmental health; and many more. The book has a general focus on environmental governance and law in the European Union and offers points of comparison with Canada and North and South America.

This book is a remarkable case study of an environmental policy initiative for a national environmental regulatory system in the information age. In 1995 the Indonesian Ministry of Environment took the bold step to launch an environmental disclosure initiative called the Program for Pollution Control, Evaluation and Rating (PROPER). Under PROPER, environmental performance of companies is mapped into a five-color grading scale - Gold for excellent, Green for very good, Blue for good, Red for non-compliance, and Black for causing environmental damage. These ratings are then publicly disclosed through a formal press conference and posted on the internet. Not only did this simple rating scheme create a major media buzz and enhanced environmental awareness of the general public, but it also unleashed a wide range of performance incentives that showed how markets with environmental information could function in a developing country setting. The authors provide a multidisciplinary analysis of how the PROPER program harnessed the power of public disclosure to abate the problem of industrial pollution. They describe how the program has successfully improved the average environmental compliance rate from close to thrity per cent in 1995 to as high as seventy per cent in 2011. This improvement was driven primarily by information disclosure, which avoided expensive and unpredictable legal enforcement through the court system of Indonesia. The combination of institutional history and detailed economic and analyses sheds light on the role of policy entrepreneurs who laid the foundation for disclosure and transparency, despite the constraints of the Suharto regime. The PROPER program is now internationally recognized and continues to serve as a model for many developing countries.

Demonstrating the shortcomings of current policy and legal approaches to access and benefit-sharing (ABS) in the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), this book recognizes that genetic resources are widely distributed across countries and that bilateral contracts undermine fairness and equity. The book offers a practical and feasible regulatory alternative to ensure the goal of fairness and equity is effectively and efficiently met. Through a legal analysis that also incorporates historic, economic and sociological perspectives, the book argues that genetic resources are not tangible resources but information. It shows that the existing preference for bilateralism and contracts reflects resistance on the part of many of the stakeholders involved in the CBD process to recognize them as such. ABS issues respond very well to the economics of information, yet as the author explains, these have been either sidelined or overlooked. At a time when the Nagoya Protocol on ABS has renewed interest in feasible policy options, the author provides a constructive and provocative critique. The institutional, policy and regulatory framework constitute "bounded openness" under which fairness and equity emerge.

The Nile River and its basin extend over a distinctive geophysical cord connecting eleven sovereign states from Egypt to Tanzania, which are home to an estimated population of 422.2 million people. The Nile is an essential source of water for domestic, industrial and agricultural uses throughout the basin, yet for more than a century it has been at the centre of continuous and conflicting claims and counter-claims to rights of utilization of the resource. In this book the author examines the multifaceted legal regulation of the Nile. He re-constructs the legal and historical origin and functioning of the British Nile policies in Ethiopia by examining the composition of the Anglo-Ethiopian Treaty of 1902, and analyses its ramifications on contemporary riparian discourse involving Ethiopia and Sudan. The book also reflects on two fairly established legal idioms - the natural and historical rights expressions - which constitute central pillars of the claims of downstream rights in the Nile basin; the origin, essence and legal authority of the notions has been assessed on the basis of the normative dictates of contemporary international watercourses law. Likewise, the book examines the non-treaty based claims of rights of the basin states to the Nile waters, setting out what the equitable uses principle entails as a means of reconciling competing riparian interests, and most importantly, how its functioning affects contemporary legal settings. The author then presents the concentrated diplomatic movements of the basin states in negotiations on the Transitional Institutional Mechanism of the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) - pursued since the 1990's, and explains why the substance of water use rights still continued to be perceived diversely among basin states. Finally, the specific legal impediments that held back progress in negotiations on the Nile Basin Cooperative Framework are presented in context.

Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) is an integrated and comprehensive approach to ocean governance and is used to establish a rational use of marine space and reconcile conflicting interests of its users. MSP allows both a high level of environmental protection and a wide range of human activities and emphasizes coordinated networks of national, regional and global institutions. This book focuses on the framework of international law behind MSP and especially on the transboundary aspects of MSP. It first sets out a general framework for transboundary MSP and then moves on to compare and assess differences and similarities between different regions. Specific detailed case studies include the EU with the focus on the Baltic Sea and North Sea, the Bay of Bengal and Great Barrier Reef in Australia. The authors examine the national and regional significance of MSP from an integrated and sustainable ocean governance point of view. They also show how transboundary MSP can create opportunities and positive initiatives for cross-border cooperation and contribute to the effective protection of the regional marine environment.

Water scarcity is an increasing problem in many parts of the world, yet conventional supply-side economics and management are insufficient to deal with it. In this book the role of water trading as an instrument of integrated water resources management is explored in depth. It is also shown to be an instrument for conflict resolution, where it may be necessary to reallocate water in the context of increasing scarcity. Recent experiences of implementation in different river basins have shown their potential as instruments for improving allocation. These experiences, however, also show that there are implementation challenges and some limitations to trading that need to be considered. This book explores the various types of water trading formulas through the experience of using them in different parts of the world. The final result is varied because, in most cases, trading is conditioned by the legal and institutional framework in which the transactions are carried out. The role of government and the definition of water rights and licenses are critical for the success of water trading. The book studies the institutional framework and how transactions have been undertaken, drawing some lessons on how trading can improve. It also analyses whether trading has really been a positive instrument to manage scarcity and improve water ecosystems and pollution emission problems in those parts of the world which are most affected. The book concludes by making policy proposals to improve the implementation of water trading.

In 2007/8 world food prices spiked and global economic crisis set in, leaving hundreds of millions of people unable to access adequate food. The international reaction was swift. In a bid for leadership, the 123 member countries of the United Nations' Committee on World Food Security (CFS) adopted a series of reforms with the aim of becoming the foremost international, inclusive and intergovernmental platform for food security. Central to the reform was the inclusion of participants (including civil society and the private sector) across all activities of the Committee. Drawing on data collected from policy documents, interviews and participant observation, this book examines the re-organization and functioning of a UN Committee that is coming to be known as a best practice in global governance. Framed by key challenges that plague global governance, the impact and implication of increased civil society engagement are examined by tracing policy negotiations within the CFS, in particular, policy roundtables on smallholder sensitive investment and food price volatility and negotiations on the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security, and the Global Strategic Framework for Food Security and Nutrition. The author shows that through their participation in the Committee, civil society actors are influencing policy outcomes. Yet analysis also reveals that the CFS is being undermined by other actors seeking to gain and maintain influence at the global level. By way of this analysis, this book provides empirically-informed insights into increased participation in global governance processes.

The nature of environmental human rights and their relation to larger rights theories has been a frequent topic of discussion in law, environmental ethics and political theory. However, the subject of environmental human rights has not been fully established among other human rights concerns within political philosophy and theory. In examining environmental rights from a political theory perspective, this book explores an aspect of environmental human rights that has received less attention within the literature. In linking the constraints of political reality with a focus on the theoretical underpinnings of how we think about politics, this book explores how environmental human rights must respond to the key questions of politics, such as the state and sovereignty, equality, recognition and representation, and examines how the competing understandings about these rights are also related to political ideologies. Drawing together contributions from a range of key thinkers in the field, this is a valuable resource for students and scholars of human rights, environmental ethics, and international environmental law and politics more generally.

Globalisation of the market, law and politics contributes to a diversity of transnational sustainability problems whose solutions exceed the territorial jurisdictional limits of nation states in which their effects are generated or occur. The rise of the business sector as a powerful global actor with a claim to participation and potential contributions as well as adverse impacts sustainability complicates the regulatory challenge. Recent decades' efforts to govern transitions towards sustainability through public or hybrid regulation display mixed records of support and results. In combination, these issues highlight the need for insights on what conditions multi-stakeholder regulation for a process that balances stakeholder power and delivers results perceived as legitimate by participants and broader society. This book responds to that need. Based on empirical experience on public-private regulation of global sustainability concerns and theoretical perspectives on transnational regulation, the book proposes a new theory on collaborative regulation. This theory sets out a procedural approach for multi-stakeholder regulation of global sustainability issues in a global legal and political order to provide for legitimacy of process and results. It takes account of the claims to participation of the private sector as well as civil society organisations and the need to balance power disparities.

This book looks at how legal frameworks can and do reduce risks arising out of disasters. The volume: analyses existing disaster laws and the challenges on the ground; brings together case studies from some of the most vulnerable regions; and proposes solutions to avert existing and possible future crises. The book offers appropriate legal frameworks for disaster management which could not only offer sustainable institutional reforms towards community resilience and preparedness but also reduce risk within the frameworks of justice, equity and accountability. It examines the intricacies of governance within which governments function and discusses how recent trends in infrastructure development and engineering technology could be balanced within the legal principles of ethics, transparency and integrity. The chapters in the volume suggest that legal frameworks ought to resonate with new challenges of resource management and climate change. Further, these frameworks could help secure citizens' trust, institutional accountability and effective implementation through an unceasing partnership which keeps the community better prepared and more resilient. This volume will be indispensable to scholars and researchers of disaster management, law, public policy, environment and development studies as well as policymakers and those in administrative, governmental, judicial and development sectors.

This original contribution to the field is the first to bring economic sociology theory to the study of federal land exchanges. By blending public choice theory with engaging case studies that contextualize the tactics used by land developers, this book uses economic sociology to help challenge the under-valuation of federal lands in political decisions. The empirically-based, scholarly analysis of federal-private land swaps exposes serious institutional dysfunctions, which sometimes amount to outright corruption. By evaluating investigative reports of each federal agency case study, the book illustrates the institutional nature of the actors in land swaps and, in particular, the history of U.S. agencies' promotion of private interests in land exchanges. Using public choice theory to make sense of the privatization of public lands, the book looks in close detail at the federal policies of the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service land swaps in America. These pertinent case studies illustrate the trends to transfer federal lands notwithstanding their flawed value appraisals or interpretation of public interest; thus, violating both the principles of equality in value and observance of specific public policy. The book should be of interest to students and scholars of public land and natural resource management, as well as political science, public policy and land law.

This book examines the political economy that governs the management of international transboundary river basins in the developing world. These shared rivers are the setting for irrigation, hydropower and flood management projects as well as water transfer schemes. Often, these projects attempt to engineer the river basin with deep political, socio-economic and environmental implications. The politics of transboundary river basin management sheds light on the challenges concerning sustainable development, water allocation and utilization between sovereign states. Advancing conceptual thinking beyond simplistic analyses of river basins in conflict or cooperation, the author proposes a new analytical framework. The Transboundary Waters Interaction NexuS (TWINS) examines the coexistence of conflict and cooperation in riparian interaction. This framework highlights the importance of power relations between basin states that determine negotiation processes and institutions of water resources management. The analysis illustrates the way river basin management is framed by powerful elite decision-makers, combined with geopolitical factors and geographical imaginations. In addition, the book explains how national development strategies and water resources demands have a significant role in shaping the intensities of conflict and cooperation at the international level. The book draws on detailed case studies from the Ganges River basin in South Asia, the Orange-Senqu River basin in Southern Africa and the Mekong River basin in Southeast Asia, providing key insights on equity and power asymmetry applicable to other basins in the developing world.

The battle is an old one: man versus nature. And in modern society, man includes the military. Machines. Chemicals. Who wins the battle and at what cost? This practical analysis of the conflict between national security requirements and environmental responsibility looks at just that. William Wilcox examines the most common environmental issues that the military faces during wartime and peacetime and provides an introduction to the legal authorities, including statutes, regulations, and executive orders, governing the application of environmental law to military activities. It also illuminates the tension between environmentalists and regulators concerned with the damages that military development, testing, and training operations inflict on the environment and military leaders dedicated to using actual field conditions to prepare soldiers for war. In addition, this book addresses environmentalists' desire for greater accountability from the military, which has a history of dumping, spilling, stockpiling, and launching harmful chemicals. Although some exemptions from environmental compliance have been granted to the military, federal agencies are sometimes held to higher standards than private sector companies. Wilcox, an experienced environmental attorney and former military attorney, focuses on the legal framework in which environmental issues are addressed and examines how policy translates into legal application. He also examines the changing relationship between the military and the environment by exploring environmental law as it applies to the military domestically and the impact of international environmental law on combat operations. In addition to addressing such environmental laws as the National Environmental Policy Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the author provides an overview of the laws governing access to information concerning the military's impact on the environment. Other topics covered include civil penalties and sovereign immunity, water rights,