This timely book examines the legal and policy challenges in international, regional and national settings, faced by developing countries in mitigating and adapting to climate change. With contributions from over 20 international scholars from developing and developed countries, the book tackles both long-standing concerns and current controversies. It considers the positions of developing countries in the negotiation of a new international legal regime to replace the Kyoto Protocol and canvasses various domestic issues, including implementation of CDM projects, governance of adaptation measures and regulation of the biofuels industry. Through a unique focus on the developing world, this book makes a significant contribution to understanding current challenges and future directions of climate law. It will prove a stimulating read for legal academics, undergraduate and graduate law students as well as policymakers interested in the role of developing countries in climate change law. The book originates from an international conference on Climate Law in Developing Countries Post-2012, co-sponsored by the IUCN Academy of Environmental Law, the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law and Osgoode Hall Law School. The book is part of the ongoing mandate of the IUCN Academy of Environmental Law to generate collaborative research on the most pressing issues in environmental law.

This book analyzes international and Chinese regulatory approaches addressing environmental risks that may be caused by GM crops and examines how China implements its international obligations in its policies and laws. Using the legal doctrinal method, the book discusses the precautionary principle and the public involvement principle, as well as several legal measures at the international law level and in Chinese law. It observes that legal principles and measures as provided for in China's GMO legal framework have generally implemented the international obligations regarding the prevention of environmental risks that may be caused by the cultivation of GM crops and related activities. However, the book argues that Chinese law lacks an explicit codification of the precautionary principle, and the same is true with regard to public participation; the regulatory framework lacks specific obligations. It concludes that future research should focus on the application and enforcement of the relevant Chinese legislation, and that it is also important to investigate how the environmental risks that may be caused by new techniques, such as genome-editing techniques, could be prevented, given the experience gained by regulating the cultivation of GM crops and related activities.

This volume is an important contribution to both theoretical and practical approaches to solving contradictions and conflicts between the approaches, principles, objectives and regulations of international environmental agreements. The issue of the coordination and streamlining of environmental agreements is of growing importance regarding the increasing number of international regulations on the one hand and the urgency for effective instruments in the light of continuing environmental degradation on the other. This study will become an essential reference for scholars as well as practitioners working in the field of international environmental law.

International Marine Mammal Law is a comprehensive, introductory volume on the legal regimes governing the conservation and utilisation of marine mammals. Written as a textbook, it provides basic overviews of international conservation law, which enable the reader to understand the greater implications of governance of a specific group of species. Paired with biological information on some marine mammal species, the international regimes for whales, seals and polar bears are explored - either as part of global regimes of international environmental governance or as regimes that were specifically designed for them. The book concludes with outlooks on the future of international marine mammal law, particularly in light of Japan's withdrawal from the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling in July 2019.

This open access book aims to elaborate on the legal prerequisites to establish the liability of corporations for transboundary environmental harm, not only by identifying existing liability rules, principles and standards but also by analysing their potential for further legal development. The authors consider international and transboundary liability law to currently be an underutilised tool for international environmental protection. The book seeks to address this by exploring what is needed in terms of legislative action and identifying options for judicial pliability, thereby providing an important legal contribution in furthering the development of an effective international and transnational environmental liability law regime.

More than ten years after the adoption of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, this book critically reviews the achievements, limits and next frontiers of business and human rights following the 'protect, respect, remedy' trichotomy. The UN Guiding Principles acted as a catalyst for hitherto unprecedented regulatory and judicial developments. The monograph by Macchi proposes a functionalist reading of the state's duty to regulate the transnational activities of corporations in order to protect human rights and adopts a holistic approach to the corporate responsibility to respect, arguing that environmental and climate due diligence are inherent dimensions of human rights due diligence. In the volume emerging legislations are assessed on mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence, as well as the potential and limitations of a binding international treaty on business and human rights. The book also reviews groundbreaking litigation against transnational corporations, such as Lungowe v. Vedanta or Milieudefensie v. Shell, for their human rights and climate change impacts. The book is primarily targeted at academic and non-academic legal experts, as well as at researchers and students looking at business and human rights issues through the lenses of legal studies (particularly international law and European law), political sciences, business ethics, and management. Additionally, it should also find a readership among practitioners working in the public or private sector (consultants, CSR officers, legal officers, etc.) willing to familiarize themselves with the expanding areas of liability, financial and reputational risks connected to the social and environmental impacts of global supply chains. Chiara Macchi is currently Lecturer in Law at Wageningen University & Research in The Netherlands.

This book is about joint implementation. It addresses legal, economic and institutional questions which should be taken into account in setting up joint implementation projects and in developing criteria for joint implementation under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC). First, however, before going into any detail, we shall briefly sketch the background, quoting Daniel Bodansky: 'Each year, mankind injects approximately six billion tons of carbon into the atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels, as well as a substantial (although still uncertain) amount from deforestation. Since the advent of the industrial revolution, atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide have risen by more than twenty five percent, from 280 to more than 350 parts per million. Scientists estimate that if current patterns of emissions continue unchecked, the increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide, together with parallel increases in other trace gases such as methane and nitrous oxide, will cause an average global warming in the range of 0. 2 to 0. 5 DegreesC per decade, or 2 to 5 oc by the end of the next century. Such a temperature rise, more rapid than at any time in human history, could have severe effects on coastal areas, agriculture, forests 1 and human health. ' In recent years there has been growing awareness of the extent of the damage done to the world's environment through unsustainable patterns of development.

The first volume of the International Yearbook of Soil Law and Policy includes an important discussion on the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals that are the basis for the post-2015 development agenda up to the year 2030; the Yearbook focuses in particular on Goal 15, which includes achieving a "land degradation-neutral world." It also provides a comprehensive and highly informative overview of the latest developments at the international level, important cross-disciplinary issues and different approaches in national legislation. The book is divided into four sections. Forewords by internationally renowned academics and politicians are followed by an analysis of the content and structure of the Sustainable Development Goals with regard to soil and land as well as the scientific methods for their implementation. In addition, all relevant international regimes are discussed, including the latest developments, such as the decisions made at the 12th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. The next section deals with cross-disciplinary issues relevant to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals like the right to food, land tenure, migration and the "Economics of Land Degradation" initiative. The last section gathers reports on the development of national legislation from various nations and supra-national entities, including Brazil, China, the European Union, Mongolia, Namibia and the United States. Addressing this broad range of key topics, the book offers an indispensible tool for all academics, legislators and policymakers working in this field. The "International Yearbook of Soil Law and Policy" is a book series that discusses the central questions of law and politics with regard to the protection and sustainable management of soil and land - at the international, national and regional level.

This book explains the role and limitations of liberalized international trade on the global environment and sustainable development. A distinguishing feature of this book is an integration of trade, environment, and development perspectives for operationally meaningful policy purposes. The topics include an analysis of the global trade regimes, their interrelationships with the existing multilateral environmental agreements, institutional mechanisms governed by the World Trade Organization, and a framework for pragmatic reforms.

The book deals with the question whether the investment treaty law system could be harmonized with the climate change international legal framework and the climate interest that lies beyond. The answer to this research question is divided into three parts. The first examines the relevance of the climate change international legal framework in investment treaty disputes as a natural pre(logical)interpretative stage. The second focuses on the BIT's content-interpretation, which is the orthodox approach to solve the fragmentation between the system of investment treaty law and the system of international climate change law. Finally, the third part tackles this fragmentation through a heterodox approach that is grounded in the direct application of climate change principles through law ascertainment. Apart from concluding that harmonization between investment treaty law and international climate change law is possible through the orthodox approach to the expropriation and the FET standards, as well as through the direct application of the climate change precautionary principle and the CBDRRC principle heterodox approach, the book suggests that tribunals are expected soon to openly address climate change disputes in their rulings.

From soil degradation and biodiversity loss to the coexistence of malnutrition and obesity, many of the largest challenges facing humanity today are underpinned by food and agriculture systems. In order to alleviate and resolve them, global governance of food and agriculture needs to be reformed. Unravelling the array of international regulatory instruments, this timely book provides the first systematic analysis of the international law surrounding food systems. International Agricultural Law and Policy provides a systems-based analysis of the rules that intersect with the physical elements of agriculture against a framework of commonly held norms. The author conducts a comprehensive examination not only of the rules, but also the implementation and broader socioeconomic, scientific and political context. By, exploring and clarifying the relationship between food security and the right to food and sustainability, Johnson closes the gap between the disparate international rules that govern food and agriculture, while exploring the practical implications of these overlapping regimes. This unique book is an invaluable resource for lawyers and social scientists working within food and agriculture systems and their governance and lays the much-needed groundwork for future research. For policy makers in the food and agricultural space, this book provides a wide-ranging and innovative analysis of the global regulatory landscape that influences law and policy processes.

This book presents an important discussion on future options for sustainable soil management in Africa from various perspectives, including national soil protection regulations, the role of tenure rights, the work of relevant international institutions such as the UNCCD and FAO, and regional and international cooperation. This first volume of the new subseries Regional Perspectives to the International Yearbook of Soil Law and Policy includes contributions by African and international experts alike. Given the range of key topics covered, the book offers an indispensable tool for all academics, legislators and policymakers working in this field. The "International Yearbook of Soil Law and Policy - Regional Perspectives" series discusses central questions in law and politics that concern the protection and sustainable management of soil and land in different regions of the world.

This book addresses the diverse ways in which international law governs the uses, management, and protection of fresh water. The international law of fresh water is most comprehensively understood in the light of the different bodies of norms applicable to these varied uses and functions. The regulation of fresh water has primarily developed through the conclusion of treaties concerning international watercourses. Yet a number of other legal regimes also apply to the governance of fresh water. In particular, there has been an increasing recognition of the importance of fresh water to environmental protection. The development of international human rights law and international humanitarian law has also proven crucial for ensuring the sound and equitable management of this resource. In addition, the economic uses of fresh water feature prominently in the law applicable to watercourses, while water itself has become an important element of the trade and investment regimes. These bodies of rules and principles not only surface in an array of dispute settlement mechanisms, but also stimulate wider trends of institutionalization. The book investigates the origin and scope of these bodies of norms as they apply to fresh water, and demonstrates how they connect and adapt to one another, forming an integrated body of international principles. This approach is accompanied by a detailed analysis of the practice of states and of international organizations, taking into account the activities of the many non-state actors involved in the treatment of fresh water.

Ocean Law and Coastal Law have grown rapidly in the past three decades as specialty areas within natural resources law and environmental law. The protection of oceans has received increased attention in the past decade because of the global overfishing crisis, widespread depletion of marine living resources (such as marine mammals and coral reefs), and oil pollution. During this same period, climate change regulation has emerged as a focus of international environmental diplomacy, and has gained increased attention in the wake of disturbing and abrupt climate change related impacts throughout the world that have profound implications for ocean and coastal regulation and marine resources. Climate Change Impacts on Ocean and Coastal Law effectively brings together the two worlds of climate change and ocean and coastal management. It raises important questions about whether and how ocean and coastal law will respond to the regulatory challenges that climate change presents to resources in the oceans and coasts of the U.S. and the world. This comprehensive work assembles the insights of global experts from academia and major NGOs (e.g., Center for International Environmental Law, Ocean Conservancy, and Environmental Law Institute) to address regulatory challenges from the perspectives of U.S. law, foreign domestic law, and international law.

This Research Review covers the main topics and dimensions of environmental and energy law in its contemporary expression. It discusses foundational material for those interested in understanding the development of the field and conducting research on the myriad of questions raised by transitions to sustainability. Particular emphasis is placed on the systematisation of the material. The Research Review discusses articles that cover international dimensions, including principles, substantive areas of regulation and implementation techniques as well as the European dimensions broadly understood, including EU law and other regional approaches (the UNECE) and distinguishing sector-specific and transversal regulation. It also looks at the transnational, comparative and domestic dimensions and major questions arising from selected English-speaking jurisdictions. Edited by two recognised experts in the field, this research review will provide a solid foundation for the study of environmental and energy law.

This book examines the role of The International Maritime Organization (IMO) in the prevention and control of pollution of the marine environment from vessels with a particular reference to the current north-south tensions regarding the strategy for combating climate change in the maritime sector as well as the prevention of marine pollution from the ship-breaking industry. The IMO, a United Nations specialized agency, has been entrusted with the duty to provide machinery for cooperation among governments for the prevention and control of pollution of the marine environment from vessels. The organization is responsible for drafting legal instruments as well as for facilitating technical cooperation for the protection of the marine environment. Although IMO legal instruments are mainly targeted at the prevention of pollution of the marine environment from vessels, there is a trend towards a liberal interpretation of this, and the organization has expanded its work to areas like shipbreaking, which is essentially a land-based industry.

The expansion of cross-border power transmission infrastructures and the regional integration of electricity markets are accelerating on several continents. The internationalization of trade in electric energy is embedded in an even greater transformation: the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energies and the race to net zero emissions. Against this backdrop, this book provides a comprehensive examination of the regulatory framework that governs the established and newly emerging electricity trading relations. Taking the technical and economic foundations as a starting point and thoroughly examining current developments on four continents, the book provides a global perspective on the state of the art in electricity market integration. in doing so, it focuses on the most relevant issues including transit of electricity, quantitative restrictions, market foreclosure and anti-competitive practices employed by the actors on electricity markets. In turn, the book carefully analyzes the regulatory framework provided by the WTO Agreements, the Energy Charter Treaty and other relevant preferential trade agreements. In its closing section, it moves beyond the applicable legal architecture to make concrete proposals on the future design of global trade rules specifically tailored to the electricity sector, which could provide a more reliable and transparent framework for the multilateral regulation of electricity trade.

Transboundary Pollution: Evolving Issues of International Law and Policy provides a comprehensive and perceptive overview of the legal principles that govern pollution internationally and explores the utilization of these principles in practice.Legal principles regarding State responsibility for transboundary pollution are well settled in international law. At issue is how these principles are applied and what mechanisms are developed to regulate specific types of transboundary pollution, including pollution of the marine environment and shared water resources, nuclear pollution and air pollution. Expert contributors come together in this book to discuss all major aspects of transboundary pollution and the practical application of the State responsibility doctrine. Empirical studies of European, Asian and Southeast Asian countries demonstrate regional perspectives of how international law and policy governing transboundary pollution translates into practice. Academics, students and practitioners alike will benefit from the perceptive and discerning insight the book presents into this important issue within international law, environmental law and public policy. Contributors: R. Beckman, A. Boyle, H.C. Bugge, G. Handl, L. Hua, S. Jayakumar, T. Koh, Y. Lyons, S.C. McCaffrey, J. Peel, H.D. Phan, C. Redgwell, N.A. Robinson, L.M. Syarif, A.K-.J.Tan, S. Tay

Climate change has thrust us into a ''no-analog'' future in which climate disasters threaten to cause extraordinary damage, with little precedent to guide policymakers and private actors. Addressing such risks requires a firm grounding in disaster risk reduction, climate change policy, and environmental law. This Research Handbook provides readers with that integrated foundation, investigating topics in international law as well as domestic programs from countries around the world. Because climate disasters affect both government and non-government actors, the Research Handbook covers issues of both public and private law. We know from the scientific literature and recent experience that the laws addressing natural disasters are insufficient to confront disasters amplified by climate change. The Research Handbook acknowledges that the majority of disasters are susceptible in some way to changes in the earth's climate and explores the barriers to, and opportunities for, finding legal solutions to the risks posed by such disasters. It shows that climate change must be considered in order to fully understand disaster risk and the respective legal and policy responses. The Research Handbook also emphasizes the moral responsibility we have to move as quickly as possible to create a carbon-free economy. This work will be of great appeal to legal scholars, practitioners, and policymakers who are interested in environmental law or climate change as it relates to international and domestic law and policy. Contributors include: C.A. Arnold, C. Bakker, M. Burkett, S. Donald, J.D. Echeverria, D.A. Farber, M. Faure, M.B. Gerrard, Q. He, R. Kundis Craig, S. Kuo, D.A. Kysar, R. Lyster, T. Parejo-Navajas, J. Peel, L. Rajamani, S. Shapiro, T. Stephens, L.G. Sun, K. Tracy, R.R.M. Verchick, J. Verschuuren

This book is based on the acknowledgment that climate change is a multifaceted challenge that requires action on the part of all stakeholders, including civil society, and the notion that climate change is at a tipping point with urgent measures needed in the next decade. Against this background, civil society is turning its attention to the courts as a means to directly influence climate action, partly because of the global scepticism towards the progress of global climate action, despite the ongoing implementation of the Paris Agreement. Focusing on the individual, broadly representing civil society, the book offers fresh perspectives on climate change litigation. While most of the literature on climate change litigation examines the same specific jurisdictions, mostly common law countries (US and Australia in particular), this book also considers specific countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America with little or no climate change litigation. It explores the reasons for the lack of litigation and discusses what measures should or could be taken to change this situation and push forward climate action. Unlike other literature on the subject, this book analyses climate change litigation using a scenario-based methodology. Combining rigorous academic analysis with a practical policy-oriented focus, the book provides valuable insights for a wide range of stakeholders interested in climate change litigation. It appeals to civil society organisations around the world, international organisations and law firms interested in climate change litigation.

Politicians and diplomats have for many years proclaimed a human right to water as a solution to the global water crisis, most recently in the 2010 UN General Assembly Resolution "The human right to water and sanitation". To what extent, however, can a right to water legally and philosophically exist and what difference to international law and politics can it make? This question lies at the heart of this book. The book's answer is to argue that a right to water exists under international law but in a more differentiated and multi-level manner than previously recognised. Rather than existing as a singular and comprehensive right, the right to water should be understood as a composite right of different layers, both deriving from separate rights to health, life and an adequate standard of living, and supported by an array of regional and national rights. The author also examines the right at a conceptual level. After disproving some of the theoretical objections to the category of socio-economic rights generally and the concept of a right to water more specifically, the manuscript develops an innovative approach towards the interplay of different rights to water among different legal orders. The book argues for an approach to human rights - including the right to water - as international minimum standards, using the right to water as a model case to demonstrate how multilevel human rights protection can function effectively. The book also addresses a crucial last question: how does one make an international right to water meaningful in practice? The manuscript identifies three crucial criteria in order to strengthen such a composite derived right in practice: independent monitoring; enforcement towards the private sector; and international realization. The author examines to what extent these criteria are currently adhered to, and suggests practical ways of how they could be better met in the future.

This book is dedicated to a topic which has for a long time lacked the attention it deserves within the academic world. It intends to address in a coherent and comprehensive manner the problem of the environmental rights of the child, which are not identical to the ones of adults whose environmental rights have been appraised from a general point of view. In the absence of any international law instrument explicitly granting a child the right to a clean environment, drawing on an extensive and original analysis of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the practice of its monitoring body, this book undertakes an assessment of the extent to which these challenges may be overcome through a greater engagement between international law on the rights of the child and international environmental law. The result is the first comprehensive study on the manner in which these two mutually reinforcing legal regimes can interact to strengthen the protection of children's environmental human rights at stake in the increased strategic environmental and climate litigations at both the national and international level. The book is recommended reading for, amongst others, policy makers, international environmental lawyers and human rights lawyers and practitioners. Additionally, lecturers, students and researchers from a range of disciplines will also gain from seeing how new legal scholarship and intertwined branches of international law contribute to the continual development of the living rights of the human rights conventions. Francesca Ippolito is Associate Professor of International Law in the Department of Political and Social Science of the University of Cagliari, Italy. She holds the Jean Monnet Chair on European Climate of Change - REACT for 2021-2024.

This book examines the development of environmental law in the period since the ground-breaking 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development or 'Earth Summit' in Rio de Janeiro. It demonstrates that a great deal has been achieved in the field of environmental law since the 1990s. However, the extraordinary environmental crises facing humanity in the 21st century indicate a continuing urgent need for the generation of robust policies and frameworks concerning ecological, socio-cultural and economic sustainability, implemented through appropriately innovative legal mechanisms. The book is divided into five sub-themes of sustainability: history, principles and concepts; environmental rights; access to justice and liability issues; natural resources, energy and climate change; and nature conservation. It includes expert legal opinion on developments to date, engaging with key themes from a broad selection of jurisdictions and perspectives. The analyses extend across public and private law to reflect the manifold areas which are rightly and necessarily the concern of environmental and sustainability law. Its contents offer not only critiques of developments to date, but also constructive engagement with matters of pressing concern to all. Written from a global perspective, this book will be an invaluable reference for academics, postgraduate students, practitioners and policy-makers concerned with environmental law and sustainability. Contributors: J. Benidickson, A.H. Benjamin, B. Boer, M.N. Camargos, M.A. Cohen, J.A.F. Costa, A. Daibert, J. de Cendra de Larragan, A. de Garay Sanchez, F. de Salles Cavedon, J.W. Dellapenna, A. du Plessis, W. du Plessis, J.J. Gonzalez, D. Hodas, E. Kasimbazi, R. Kibugi, F.R. Loures, N. Lugaresi, K. Morrow, C. Odidi Okidi, A. Paterson, N.A. Robinson, W. Scholtz, F. Sola, R. Stanziola Vieira, M.B. Tekle, S. Teles da Silva

The Research Handbook on International Water Law surveys the field of the law of shared freshwater resources. In some thirty chapters, it covers subjects ranging from the general principles operative in the field and international groundwater law to the human right to water and whether international water law is prepared to cope with climate disruption. Its comprehensive survey of international water law links international water principles to case studies and examples from specific basins, to bring research into real-world relevancy. Different regional traditions and frameworks of international water law are presented in order to provide a global overview. The work is edited by three scholars and practitioners whose work deals with the law of international watercourses and features perspectives from distinguished experts in the field. This Research Handbook will be a crucial resource for academics and researchers, students, relevant government agencies, and practitioners interested in water law and humanitarian law. Contributors include: L. Boisson de Chazournes, L. Caflisch, M. Curlier, L. del Castillo Laborde, J.W. Dellapenna, G.M. Farnelli, B. Guthrie, J.G. Lammers, R. Larson, C. Leb, D. Magraw, M.M. Mbengue, S.C. McCaffrey, O. McIntyre, M.M. Murcia, N. Odili, D. Padmanabhan, R.K. Paisley, C. Parseghian, G. Reichert, A. Rieu-Clarke, A.F.S. Russell, S.M.A. Salman, S.M. Schwebel, Y. Su, A. Tanzi, A.D. Tarlock, M. Tignino, P. Udomritthiruj, K. Uprety, S. Vinogradov, I.T. Winkler, P. Wouters, D. Ziganshina

Over the past twenty years considerable public attention has been focused on the decline of marine fisheries, the sustainability of world fish production, and the impacts of fishing on marine ecosystems. Many have voiced their concerns about marine conservation, as well as the sustainable and ethical consumption of fish. But are fisheries in danger of collapse? Will we soon need to find ways to replace this food system? Should we be worried that we could be fishing certain species to extinction? Can commercial fishing be carried out in a sustainable way? While overblown prognoses concerning the dire state of fisheries are plentiful, clear scientific explanations of the basic issues surrounding overfishing are less so - and there remains great confusion about the actual amount of overfishing and its ecological impact.
Overfishing: What Everyone Needs to Know(r) will provide a balanced explanation of the broad issues associated with overfishing. Guiding readers through the scientific, political, economic, and ethical issues associated with harvesting fish from the ocean, it will provide answers to questions about which fisheries are sustainably managed and which are not. Ray and Ulrike Hilborn address topics including historical overfishing, high seas fisheries, recreational fisheries, illegal fishing, climate and fisheries, trawling, economic and biological overfishing, and marine protected areas. In order to illustrate the effects of each of these issues, they will incorporate case studies of different species of fish.
Overall, the authors present a hopeful view of the future of fisheries. Most of the world's fisheries are not overfished, and many once overfished stocks are now rebuilding. In fact, we can learn from the management failures and successes to ensure that fisheries are sustainable and contribute to national wealth and food security. Concise and clear, this book presents a compelling "big picture" of the state of oceans and the solutions to ending overfishing.
What Everyone Needs to Know(r) is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press