The 2015 Paris Agreement represents the culmination of years of intense negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Designed to curb climate change, it was negotiated by almost 200 countries who came to the table with different backgrounds, perceptions and interests. As such, the Agreement represents a triumph for multilateralism in a period otherwise characterized by nationalist turns. How did countries reach the historical agreement, and what were the driving forces behind it? This book paints a full picture by providing and analysing multifaceted insider accounts from high-level delegates who represented developed and developing countries, civil society, businesses, the French Presidency, and the UNFCCC Secretariat. In doing so, the book documents not only the negotiation of the Paris Agreement but also the dynamics and factors that shaped it. A better understanding of these dynamics and factors can guide future negotiations and help us solve global challenges.

What role could or should the law play in dealing with the climate emergency? In this innovative volume, leading scholars explore fundamental debates at the frontier of climate change law scholarship. They address the key areas of scholarly disagreement about what climate change law is, the legal rules it consists of, and how these rules could be implemented in the real world. The first eleven topics are debated by teams of scholars expressing diametrically opposite points of view on each topic, in traditional debating style; the last seven chapters are presented as an individual author's own reflection on a topic that cannot readily be reduced to a binary debate. Each chapter is written in an accessible and thought-provoking way, emphasizing clear lines of argumentation. The debating-style format is designed to stimulate students to think critically and logically about the law and to fire up debate in and out of class.

Enrolling over 30 million acres, the U.S. Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is the largest conservation program in the United States. Under the guidelines of the CRP, the federal government pays farmers to stop farming their land in the hopes of achieving a variety of conservation goals, including the reduction of soil erosion, improvement of water quality, and creation of wildlife habitat. In Conserving Data, James T. Hamilton explores the role of information in the policy cycle as it relates to the CRP. The author asks how the creation and distribution of information about what is going on across these millions of enrolled acres has influenced the development of the program itself. Of the many CRP stakeholders, each accesses a different set of information about the CRP s operations. Regulators have developed the Environmental Benefits Index as a rough indicator of a field s conservation benefits and adopted that measure as a way to determine which lands should be granted conservation contracts. NGOs have used publicly available data from these contracts to show how CRP monies are allocated. Members of Congress have used oversight hearings and GAO reports to monitor the Farm Service Agency s conservation policy decisions. Reporters have localized the impact of the CRP by writing stories about increases in wildlife and hunting on CRP fields in their areas. Conserving Data brings together and analyzes these various streams of information, drawing upon original interviews with regulators, new data from Freedom of Information Act requests, and regulatory filings. Using the CRP as a launch point, Hamilton explores the role of information, including 'hidden information, ' in the design and implementation of regulatory policy

Nanotechnology promises to transform the materials of everyday life, leading to smaller and more powerful computers, more durable plastics and fabrics, cheap and effective water purification systems, more efficient solar panels and storage batteries, and medical devices capable of tracking down and killing cancer cells or treating neurological diseases. Policy analysts predict a radical change in the industrial sector; at present, the U.S. government spends nearly $2 billion annually on nanotechnology research and development. Yet the nanotechnology revolution is not straightforward. Enthusiasm about nanotechnology s future is tempered by recognition of the hurdles to its responsible development, including the capacity of government to support technological innovation and economic growth while also addressing potential environmental and public health impacts. This is the first volume to engage scholarly perspectives on environmental regulation in light of the challenges posed by nanotechnology. Contributors focus on the overarching lessons of decades of regulatory response, while posing a fundamental question: How can government regulatory systems satisfy the desire for scientific innovation while also taking into account the direct and indirect effects of 21st century emerging technologies, particularly in the face of scientific uncertainties? With perspectives from economics, history, philosophy, and public policy, this new resource illuminates the various challenges inherent in the development of nanotechnology and works towards a reconceptualization of government regulatory approaches."

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) play an increasingly prominent role in addressing complex environmental issues such as climate change, persistent bio-accumulative pollutants, and the conservation of biodiversity. At the same time, the landscape in which they operate is changing rapidly. Markets, and direct engagement with industry, rather than traditional government regulation, are often the tools of choice for NGOs seeking to change corporate behavior today. Yet these new strategies are poorly understood-by business, academics, and NGOs themselves. How will NGOs choose which battles to fight, differentiate themselves from one another in order to attract membership and funding, and decide when to form alliances and when to work separately? In Good Cop/Bad Cop, Thomas P. Lyon brings together perspectives on environmental NGOs from leading social scientists, as well as leaders from within the NGO and corporate worlds, to assess the state of knowledge on the tactics and the effectiveness of environmental groups. Contributions from Greenpeace, Rainforest Action Network, the Environmental Defense Fund, and the World Wildlife Fund describe each organization s structure and key objectives, and present case studies that illustrate how each organization makes a difference, especially with regard to its strategies toward corporate engagement. To provide additional perspective, high-level executives from BP and Ford share their views on what causes these relationships between companies and NGOs to either succeed or fail. For students of the social sciences and NGO practitioners, this book takes an important step in addressing an urgent need for objective study of NGO operations and their effectiveness.

Nanotechnology promises to transform the materials of everyday life, leading to smaller and more powerful computers, more durable plastics and fabrics, cheap and effective water purification systems, more efficient solar panels and storage batteries, and medical devices capable of tracking down and killing cancer cells or treating neurological diseases. Policy analysts predict a radical change in the industrial sector; at present, the U.S. government spends nearly $2 billion annually on nanotechnology research and development. Yet the nanotechnology revolution is not straightforward. Enthusiasm about nanotechnology's future is tempered by recognition of the hurdles to its responsible development, including the capacity of government to support technological innovation and economic growth while also addressing potential environmental and public health impacts. This is the first volume to engage scholarly perspectives on environmental regulation in light of the challenges posed by nanotechnology. Contributors focus on the overarching lessons of decades of regulatory response, while posing a fundamental question: How can government regulatory systems satisfy the desire for scientific innovation while also taking into account the direct and indirect effects of 21st century emerging technologies, particularly in the face of scientific uncertainties? With perspectives from economics, history, philosophy, and public policy, this new resource illuminates the various challenges inherent in the development of nanotechnology and works towards a reconceptualization of government regulatory approaches.

We live in unprecedented times - the Anthropocene - defined by far-reaching human impacts on the natural systems that underpin civilisation. Planetary Health explores the many environmental changes that threaten to undermine progress in human health, and explains how these changes affect health outcomes, from pandemics to infectious diseases to mental health, from chronic diseases to injuries. It shows how people can adapt to those changes that are now unavoidable, through actions that both improve health and safeguard the environment. But humanity must do more than just adapt: we need transformative changes across many sectors - energy, housing, transport, food, and health care. The book discusses specific policies, technologies, and interventions to achieve the change required, and explains how these can be implemented. It presents the evidence, builds hope in our common future, and aims to motivate action by everyone, from the general public to policymakers to health practitioners.

Climate change and other environmental problems are increasingly leading to the displacement of populations from their homelands, whether through drought, flooding, famine or other causes. Worse, there is currently no protection in international law for people made refugees by such means.Following on from her previous explorations of environmental justice as it relates to future generations and indigenous peoples, Laura Westra now turns her attention to the plight of ecological refugees. In Part I, Westra provides an overview of what defines an ecological refugee and their present legal status. Part II goes into greater depth as to who the vulnerable are and what protection they have in international law. Part III looks to the future, advocating a comprehensive approach to the problem. With extensive examples and analysis, this is a compelling treatment that will be indispensable for legal professionals, government and business leaders, academics and students of the role of law in the protection of the rights of refugees.

Deliberative democracy is well-suited to the challenges of governing in the Anthropocene. But deliberative democratic practices are only suited to these challenges to the extent that five prerequisites - empoweredness, embeddedness, experimentality, equivocality, and equitableness - are successfully institutionalized. Governance must be: created by those it addresses, applicable equally to all, capable of learning from (and adapting to) experience, rationally grounded, and internalized by those who adopt and experience it. This book analyzes these five major normative principles, pairing each with one of the Earth System Governance Project's analytical problems to provide an in-depth discussion of the minimal conditions for environmental governance that can be truly sustainable. It is ideal for scholars and graduate students in global environmental politics, earth system governance, and international environmental policy. This is one of a series of publications associated with the Earth System Governance Project. For more publications, see www.cambridge.org/earth-system-governance.

Deliberative democracy is well-suited to the challenges of governing in the Anthropocene. But deliberative democratic practices are only suited to these challenges to the extent that five prerequisites - empoweredness, embeddedness, experimentality, equivocality, and equitableness - are successfully institutionalized. Governance must be: created by those it addresses, applicable equally to all, capable of learning from (and adapting to) experience, rationally grounded, and internalized by those who adopt and experience it. This book analyzes these five major normative principles, pairing each with one of the Earth System Governance Project's analytical problems to provide an in-depth discussion of the minimal conditions for environmental governance that can be truly sustainable. It is ideal for scholars and graduate students in global environmental politics, earth system governance, and international environmental policy. This is one of a series of publications associated with the Earth System Governance Project. For more publications, see www.cambridge.org/earth-system-governance.

Strategic environmental assessment (SEA) is a regulatory requirement for development across Europe, North America, Australasia and elsewhere, yet understanding the legal aspects is challenging. This comprehensive guide provides that understanding in a clear and straightforward way. The introduction considers SEA and the law, explaining what SEA is, why it is needed, how it works and why it is required, as well as examining the role of the law. Part One provides an overview of international law, environmental impact assessment (EIA) and international law, including treaties, customary international law and 'soft law' relevant to SEA. It analyzes the Kiev SEA Protocol and related UNECE conventions, the Espoo Convention on EIA in a Transboundary Context and the Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters. It also analyzes the role of SEA in the conservation conventions, particularly the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, the Convention on Migratory Species, the Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, and the Convention on Biological Diversity.Part Two considers how the European legal system works, including an overview of the current status of European law. It examines the EIA Directive and SEA Directive together with other relevant directives and regulations, such as the Habitats and Wild Birds Directives, the Water Framework Directive, the Public Participation for Plans and Programs Directive, and the Structural Funds Regulations. Finally, the volume draws conclusions about the relationship and comparisons between international and European law generally, and inregulating SEA.

The Sardar Sarovar Project has been one of the most debated development projects of the past several decades at the international level and within India itself. Such is the complexity of the project that it has acquired symbolic status in development debates. This volume brings together all the key documents relating to the project. This includes those pertaining to World Bank loans, the judicial pronouncements of the Supreme Court and documents relating to specific local level issues, in particular environment and rehabilitation. The volume also contains a number of documents unavailable in the public domain. The work includes an introductory section focusing on the history of the project, the involvement of the different actors, the impacts on the local population, and a general analysis of the controversy surrounding it. The volume is completed by a comprehensive bibliography. This compilation provides an easily accessible source for all the main documents relating to this landmark project. It will be a valuable resource for researchers and policy-makers working in the areas of International Environmental Law and International Development Law.

The common ground between religions could be fruitfully promoted in order to call for an effective protection of the climate system. Positioned at a junction of different worlds, this book is a multidisciplinary work on Islamic law, common law and environmental law. Looking at the past, present and future, the author suggests a paradigm shift starting from the common ground in order to propose a better future for environmental law in Muslim countries. As the first book to compare Shari'a and common law in field of environmental protection, it suggests a new path in comparative environmental law by recognizing the contributions of both history and spirituality.

In Reconsidering REDD+: Authority, Power and Law in the Green Economy, Julia Dehm provides a critical analysis of how the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) scheme operates to reorganise social relations and to establish new forms of global authority over forests in the Global South, in ways that benefit the interests of some actors while further marginalising others. In accessible prose that draws on interdisciplinary insights, Dehm demonstrates how, through the creation of new legal relations, including property rights and contractual obligations, new forms of transnational authority over forested areas in the Global South are being constituted. This important work should be read by anyone interested in a critical analysis of international climate law and policy that offers insights into questions of political economy, power, and unequal authority.

The 2019 Chagos Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice is a decision of profound legal and political significance. Presented with a rare opportunity to pronounce on the right to self-determination and the rules governing decolonization, the ICJ responded with remarkable directness. The contributions to this book examine the Court's reasoning, the importance of the decision for the international system, and its consequences for the situation in the Chagos Archipelago in particular. Apart from bringing the Chagossians closer to the prospect of returning to the islands from which they were covertly expelled half a century ago, the decision and its political context may be understood as part of a broader shift in North/South relations, in which formerly dominant powers like the UK must come to terms with their waning influence on the world stage, and in which voices from former colonies are increasingly shaping the institutional and normative landscape.

Earth's climate is in crisis. Climate governance has failed. This book diagnoses climate governance as if it were a sick patient, uncovering the fundamental factors causing the worsening climate crisis. It distils decades of global climate negotiations to reveal the features of international relations that are impeding climate action, and it identifies political obstacles to climate governance across a variety of countries in the Americas, Asia, and Europe. The psychosocial aspects of climate change are explored to show how human nature, overconsumption, and global capitalism conspire to stymy climate action. Remedies are suggested for how to overcome hurdles to effective climate governance internationally and nationally, with ideas provided for individuals to help them align their own interests with those of the global environment. Covering all of the major recent events in climate politics and governance, this is an accessible book for concerned readers who want to understand the climate crisis.

Professor Fisher's analysis reveals the rationality, or rather the lack of it, of current environmental decision-making. It also provides the evidence for an environmental grundnorm to guide legal reasoning. Without it, political and legal decision-makers will not be able to achieve ecologically sustainable development. A timely book on a hugely important issue.' - Klaus Bosselmann, University of Auckland, Australia'I am afraid that an endorsement of this kind, however condense and packed with praise, cannot do justice to Doug Fisher's latest book. A respected and seasoned environmental law scholar, Fisher skilfully reminds us that law is about language and that language is the point of commencement of legal reasoning, also in environmental law and governance. Importantly, language and legal argumentation and reasoning will play a determinative role in our efforts to achieve sustainability. The book's detailed account of the different forms of legal argumentation; the methodology of legal decision-making; and the connection between law, language and legal reasoning in international environmental law and governance, is an invaluable resource for scholars of legal hermeneutics, international lawyers generally, and specifically, for environmental lawyers.'BR>- Louis J. Kotze, North West University, South Africa Legal Reasoning in Environmental Law provides a comprehensive review and analysis of the range of legal reasoning processes to support the understanding, interpretation and application of international, regional and national rules of environmental law. The book considers how rules for environmental governance are designed to accommodate the various competing interests within each of the private and public sectors and also between the two sectors. The author then examines how decisions in particular cases reflect the sources of these rules together with their form, structure and language. He exposes the ways in which reliance upon an extensive range of legal reasoning processes are used to justify the particular decision by interpreting and applying these rules to the case in question. Much has been written about legal reasoning and about environmental law but relatively little about the relationship between the two. This book will strongly appeal to legal scholars for its analysis of intellectual processes, and to legal practitioners for its exposition of how decisions are made. Contents: Preface Part I: Reasoning in a Legal Context 1. Law, Language and Reasoning 2. Forms of Legal Argumentation 3. The Methodology of Legal Decision-making Part II: Legal Reasoning in International Environmental Law 4. Rules of Competence and Limitation: Territorial Resources 5. Rules of Limitation: Common Resources 6. Internationally Accepted Rules: The Normative Framework 7. Internationally Accepted Rules: Implementation Measures 8. Judicially Constructed Rules: Biological Resources 9. Judicially Constructed Rules: Common Resources Part III: Legal Reasoning in Applying Environmental Law 10. Rules in the Form of Human Rights 11. Rules in Instrumental Form 12. Rules in the Form of Constitutional Rights 13. Rules in the Form of Environmental Rights 14. The Structure, Form and Language of Statutory Rules 15. Rules Informing Adjudication 16. Strategic Rules Informing Decisions 17. Strategic Rules Regulating Decisions Part IV: Conclusion 18. Legal Reasoning in Environmental Law Bibliography Index

The role of law in responding to global environmental problems and the interplay between different levels of regulation and governance is becoming increasingly relevant in the field of liability and reparation for environmental damage. This book examines the relationship and reciprocal influences between the EU and the international legal order in a multilevel and comparative perspective, in relation to the ongoing efforts to elaborate effective regimes of liability and reparation for environmental damage. It offers a comparative analysis of legal developments in the field of environmental liability within the EU and at the international law level and addresses questions concerning the impact of such interaction on the development, implementation and enforcement of appropriate responses to environmental damage within the respective legal orders and on a global level. Given the book’s focus and the transnational legal dimension of the issues covered, this volume will be of great interest to legal academics and researchers working in the environmental law field from an EU law and international law perspective, as well as more generally to scholars interested in the study of the relationship between EU and international law. Outside academia, the book will also be of great interest to practitioners wishing to get insights into the application of the law of environmental liability in the EU and at the international law level.

Guaranteeing energy security is one of the most complex challenges of energy law and policy. Energy insecurity threatens economic development, social peace and stability. This book focuses on energy security in the strategically important region of Central Asia. The region holds huge energy reserves, but its energy systems are highly inefficient and unreliable, and thus require urgent reform. However, endemic corruption, discrimination and the strong centralization of power have so far blocked initiatives to reorganize energy supply. The case of Central Asia is uniquely relevant for understanding the informal constraints on energy law and policy. In addition, Central Asian energy insecurity illustrates the impact of geopolitics on the regulation of energy markets. The region is strategically located in Russia's sphere of influence and along China's New Silk Road. Its energy situation highlights the complex interactions amongst energy law, geopolitics and institutions.

This compilation of key materials in international environmental law takes account of the most significant developments in the field that have occurred during the past decade, including in the areas of climate change, chemicals and pesticides, biosafety, and nuclear safety, as well as good governance, compliance and liability. Not only does multilateral environmental law making have wide-ranging repercussions on the way national development policies are drafted and business is conducted, but also environmental issues increasingly interweave with those relating to human rights, trade, agriculture and intellectual property, making familiarity with the key instruments in international law essential for all working in these areas. The book comprises a representative selection of the most important studies in international environmental law, with an editorial introduction to each topic. Its focus on recent trends and cross-sectoral aspects makes it an indispensable tool for students, researchers, practitioners and policy makers in international environmental law and related fields.

Policy Shock examines how policy-makers in industrialized democracies respond to major crises. After the immediate challenges of disaster management, crises often reveal new evidence or frame new normative perspectives that drive reforms designed to prevent future events of a similar magnitude. Such responses vary widely - from cosmetically masking inaction, to creating stronger incentive systems, requiring greater transparency, reorganizing government institutions and tightening regulatory standards. This book situates post-crisis regulatory policy-making through a set of conceptual essays written by leading scholars from economics, psychology and political science, which probe the latest thinking about risk analysis, risk perceptions, focusing events and narrative politics. It then presents ten historically-rich case studies that engage with crisis events in three policy domains: offshore oil, nuclear power and finance. It considers how governments can prepare to learn from crisis events - by creating standing expert investigative agencies to identify crisis causes and frame policy recommendations.

This book is a comprehensive study of differential treatment for developing countries in international environmental law. It offers a compelling analysis of the legal dimension of the relationship between developed and developing countries in the environmental field and beyond. It first critically examines the principle of legal equality of states and then explores the conceptual framework behind the notion of differential treatment in international law and its relevance in bringing about substantive equality. The book examines the development of differentiation in international environmental law, considers its application in various environmental treaties and evaluates the legal status of existing differential norms. It also examines the contribution of differentiation to the implementation of environmental treaties and the extent to which differential treatment fosters the decentralization of international environmental policy making. It is an indispensable resource for all actors involved in environmental law and policy making, scholars and students.

Our oceans are suffering under the impacts of climate change. Despite the critical role that oceans play in climate regulation, international climate law and the law of the sea are developed as two different, largely separate, legal regimes. The main objective of this book is to assess how the law of the sea can be interpreted, developed and applied to support the objectives of the United Nations Climate Regime. By identifying the potential and constraints of the law of the sea regime in supporting and complementing the climate regime in the mitigation of and adaptation to climate change, this book offers a new perspective on the law of the sea and its capacity to evolve to respond to systemic challenges, and its potential to adapt and ensure a resilient and sustainable future.

This book reviews and examines the relevant portions of all international treaties, cases and the national law and practice of states, in relation to international aspects of offshore oil rigs. By doing so, it offers an understanding of the legal regime surrounding oil rigs and formulates an international law framework. It investigates the issues under consideration by analyzing provisions of international law pertaining to all aspects of oil rigs, as well as international treaties and their travaux preparatoires. It also examines the national legislation of major offshore oil and gas producers and defines a framework of customary international entities such as the OSPAR and the petroleum industries of certain major offshore oil producers. Based upon the book's findings, it is clear that in spite of their increasing importance, offshore oil installations are subject to fragmentary and vague legal rules under international law.

In the 1970s the world became aware of a huge danger: the destruction of the stratospheric ozone layer by CFCs escaping into the atmosphere, and the damage this could do to human health and the food chain. So great was the threat that by 1987 the UN had succeeded in coordinating an international treaty to phase out emissions; which, over the following 15 years has been implemented. It has been hailed as an outstanding success. It needed the participation of all the parties: governments, industry, scientists, campaigners, NGOs and the media, and is a model for future treaties. This volume provides the authoritative and comprehensive history of the whole process from the earliest warning signs to the present. It is an invaluable record for all those involved and a necessary reference for future negotiations to a wide range of scholars, students and professionals.