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.

This important new monograph offers an innovative new analysis of the Aarhus Convention. Environmental law is dense with monolithic concepts, from environmental democracy to intergenerational justice, from sustainable development to stewardship. Each concept generates its own mythology about what environmental law should aspire to. Sometimes these ideas become so big that we lose hold of their meaning and therefore what we allude to when we describe environmental law in such terms. No more so is this true than in relation to the Aarhus Convention - an ambitious instrument of environmental law that promotes public participation and access to justice in relation to the environment. Since its inception it has been revered in glowing terms, and praised variously for its contribution to citizenship, environmental responsibility and democratic legitimacy. But how are we to know whether these descriptions are mere puffs or genuine statements about the Convention's character? This book digs deep into the foundations of the Aarhus Convention, examining its ambitious potential through the lens of three foundational purposes - environmental rights, democracy and stewardship. In so doing, it contributes to our understanding both of the Convention and our understanding of three important purposes that inhabit environmental law, unravelling and reassembling them to build meaning into our broad-brush descriptions.

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.

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.

Scientists have long been searching for a unified field theory-one answer to all of the questions about the physical universe. In this book, Rhett Larson takes a similar approach to social policy questions. What if we could find a unified social policy theory-the answer to every question from how to prevent war to how to promote gender equality? Most of our most serious global challenges are complex, multi-faceted "wicked problems." But perhaps the first step in solving wicked problems as seemingly distinct as racism and disease epidemics is the same: reform our laws, policies, and priorities to achieve global water security. Global water security means reasonable access for all people to water of acceptable quantity and quality with acceptable costs and risks. Just as the essential element to all life is water, so water is the essential element to solving life's challenges. Virtually every major social challenge-including gender inequality, racial discrimination, terrorism, space exploration, global disease epidemics, mass migrations, and climate change-has a significant and underappreciated water component. Each chapter of this book takes up one of these wicked problems, illustrates the role water plays in that problem, and proposes reforms to address the water aspect of that problem, with the aim of achieving global water security. The goal of this this book is to convince the reader that the answer, or at least one part of the answer, to our most serious problems is the oft-repeated catchphrase: "Just add water."

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 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has become a hugely influential institution. It is the authoritative voice on the science on climate change, and an exemplar of an intergovernmental science-policy interface. This book introduces the IPCC as an institution, covering its origins, history, processes, participants, products, and influence. Discussing its internal workings and operating principles, it shows how IPCC assessments are produced and how consensus is reached between scientific and policy experts from different institutions, countries, and social groups. A variety of practices and discourses - epistemic, diplomatic, procedural, communicative - that make the institution function are critically assessed, allowing the reader to learn from its successes and failures. This volume is the go-to reference for researchers studying or active within the IPCC, as well as invaluable for students concerned with global environmental problems and climate governance. This title is also available as Open Access via Cambridge Core.

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.

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.

In Complexity Economics for Environmental Governance, Jean-Francois Mercure reframes environmental policy and provides a rigorous methodology necessary to tackle the complexity of environmental policy and the transition to sustainability. The book offers a detailed account of the deficiencies of environmental economics and then develops a theory of innovation and macroeconomics based on complexity theory. It also develops a new foundation for evidence-based policy-making using a Risk-Opportunity Analysis applied to the sustainability transition. This multidisciplinary work was developed in partnership with prominent natural scientists and economists as well as active policy-makers with the aim to revolutionize thinking in the face of the full complexity of the sustainability transition, and to show how it can best be governed to minimize its distributional impacts. The book should be read by academics and policy-makers seeking new ways to think about environmental policy-making.

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.

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.

The book focuses on the interactions between international legal regimes related to biodiversity governance. It addresses the systemic challenges by analyzing the legal interactions between international biodiversity law and related international law applicable to economic activities, as well as issues related to the governance of biodiversity based on functional, normative, and geographic dimensions, in order to present a crosscutting, holistic approach. The global COVID-19 pandemic, the imminent revision of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020, and the Aichi Targets have created the momentum to focus on the interactions between the Convention on Biological Diversity and other international environmental regimes. Firstly, it discusses the principles that inspire biodiversity-related conventional law, the soft law that conveys targets for enforcement of the Biodiversity Convention, their structural, regulatory and implementation gaps, the systemic relations arising from national interests, and the role of scientific advisory bodies in biodiversity-related agreements. The second part then addresses interactions in specific conventional frameworks, such as the law of multilateral trade and global public health, and the participation of communities in the management of genetic resources. Lastly, the third part illustrates these issues using four case studies focusing on the challenges for sustainability and marine biodiversity in small islands, the Arctic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea, as a way to strengthen a horizontal and joint approach. The book is primarily intended for academics, researchers, and students interested in international environmental law and policy and in interactions for creating conditions for fair, sustainable, and resilient environmental development. By offering an analysis of instruments and criteria for systemic relations in those areas, it will also appeal to public and private actors at the domestic and international level.

This book is the first effort to develop a broad and deep perspective on the emerging space occupied by "non-state actors" in China in the context of global environmental governance. It will serve as a primer both for scholars seeking to understand China's environmental governance system and for practitioners working with policymakers and administrators within that system. Individual chapters explore what works in achieving social change, domestically as well as globally, and will provide guidance to activists and directors of NGOs as well as scholars.

Although many books focus on law and economics, and environmental economics, this is one of the first to combine the two topics in a fully integrated and comprehensive manner. The authors successfully bridge the gap between the disciplines of environmental law and traditional economics in a lucid and highly accessible style. The Economic Analysis of Environmental Policy and Law covers many of the recent advances in the field and attempts to integrate some of the most crucial legal and economic instruments which, in the authors' view, have not yet been subjected to proper analysis. These include zoning, expropriation, licensing, third party liability, safety regulation, mandatory insurance and criminal sanctions. The authors pay particular attention to the interrelationships of these instruments and their various economic effects. Using a comparative law and economics methodology, they are also able to incorporate environmental law with international policy and investigate the many diverse rules of the legal system and their implementation in different countries. Crucially, the authors do not consider economics as the exclusive determinant in legal rule-making. They also highlight the need for ethical considerations and illustrate the potential limitations of pure economic analysis. The book assumes no prior knowledge of economics and will prove informative and rewarding for students of law and the social and natural sciences, especially those with an interest in environmental policy. With an extensive reference list and detailed notes on further reading material, this book will also serve as a stimulating introduction to the discipline of law and economics for environmental, political and legal practitioners.

This book provides a substantial contribution to understanding the international legal framework for the protection and conservation of cultural heritage. It offers a range of perspectives from well-regarded contributors from different parts of the world on the impact of law in heritage conservation. Through a holistic approach, the authors bring the reader into dialogue around the intersection between the humanities and legal sciences, demonstrating the reciprocity of interaction in programs and projects to enhance cultural heritage in the world. This edited volume compiles a selection of interesting reflections on the role of cultural diplomacy to address intolerances that often govern international relations, causing damage to human and cultural heritage. The main purpose of this collection of essays is to analyse the different cultural paradigms that intervene in the management of heritage, and to advocate for improvements in international laws and conventions to enable better cultural policies of individual nations for the protection of human rights. The editors submit that it is only through open dialogue between the humanities and jurisprudence that the international community will be able to better protect and value sovereignty, and promote cultural heritage for the development of a better world. This collection is relevant to scholars working in areas relating to law, management and policies of cultural heritage conservation and protection.

This book brings together original and novel perspectives on major developments in human rights law and the environment in Africa. Focusing on African Union law, the book explores the core concepts and principles, theory and practice, accountability mechanisms and key issues challenging human rights law in the era of global environmental change. It, thus, extend the frontier of understanding in this fundamental area by building on existing scholarship on African human rights law and the protection of the environment, divulging concerns on redressing environmental and human rights protection issues in the context of economic growth and sustainable development. It further offers unique insight into the development, domestication and implementation challenges relating to human rights law and environmental governance in Africa. This long overdue interdisciplinary exploration of human rights law and the environment from an African perspective will be an indispensable reference point for academics, policymakers, practitioners and advocates of international human rights and environmental law in particular and international law, environmental politics and philosophy, and African studies in general. It is clear that there is much to do, study and share on this timely subject in the African context.

This fifth volume in the book series on Nuclear Non-Proliferation in International Law focuses on various legal aspects regarding nuclear security and nuclear deterrence. The series on Nuclear Non-Proliferation in International Law provides scholarly research articles with critical commentaries on relevant treaty law, best practice and legal developments, thus offering an academic analysis and information on practical legal and diplomatic developments both globally and regionally. It sets a basis for further constructive discourse at both national and international levels. Jonathan L. Black-Branch is Dean of Law and Professor of International and Comparative Law at the University of Manitoba in Canada; a Bencher of the Law Society of Manitoba; JP and Barrister (England & Wales); Barrister & Solicitor (Manitoba); and Chair of the International Law Association (ILA) Committee on Nuclear Weapons, Non-Proliferation & Contemporary International Law. Dieter Fleck is Former Director International Agreements & Policy, Federal Ministry of Defence, Germany; Member of the Advisory Board of the Amsterdam Center for International Law (ACIL); and Rapporteur of the International Law Association (ILA) Committee on Nuclear Weapons, Non-Proliferation & Contemporary International Law.

This insightful book deals with the complexity of linking biodiversity with climate change. It combines perspectives from international, national and local case studies, and also addresses this question using a thematic approach. The book focuses on a number of key topics and examples, including: ecosystem services, human rights, MEA clustering, equity in ABS and REDD, forestation and deforestation, biosecurity, protected areas, mountain biodiversity, the Amazon rainforest, agricultural policy in the EU and patent licensing. Clearly demonstrating linkages between biodiversity law and climate change law and stimulating new ideas for future research, this book will be a valuable reference tool for academics, researchers, students and policy-makers.

This book applies a justice framework to analysis of the actual and potential role of international law with respect to people on the move in the context of anthropogenic climate change. That people are affected by the impacts of climate change is no longer doubted, including with implications for people movement (migration, displacement, relocation, etc.). Climate Change and People on the Move tackles unique questions concerning international responsibility for people movement arising from the inequities inherent to climate change. Corrective and distributive justice provide the analytical backbone, and are explored in a substantial theoretical chapter and then applied to subsequent contextual analysis. Corrective justice supports analysis as to whether people movement in the climate change context could be conceived or framed as harm, loss, or damage which is compensable under international law, either through fault-centred regimes or no-fault regimes (i.e. insurance). Distributive justice supports analysis as to whether such movement could be conceived or framed as a disproportionate burden, either for those faced with movement or those faced with sheltering people on the move, from which duties of re-distribution may stem. This book contributes to the growing scholarship and analysis concerning international law or governance and people movement in response to the impacts of climate change by investigating the bounds of the law where the phenomenon is viewed as one of (in)justice.

The book discusses sustainability and law in a multifaceted way. Together, sustainability and law are an emerging challenge for research and science. This volume contributes through an interdisciplinary concept to its further exploration. The contributions explore this exciting domain with innovative ideas and replicable approaches. It combines a variety of authors, from both the public and the private sectors, and thereby guarantees a broad view that enshrines the more theoretical arguments from the academic side as well as stronger practical applicable perspectives. The book provides space for thoughtful expansions of established theories as well as the hopeful emergence of innovative ideas. Moreover, the combination of three to five contributions into the eleven parts respectively aims toward a compression of like minded thoughts. This should lead to an intensification of exchange of viewpoints from different angles on a similar theme. Readers therefore also have the opportunity to concentrate on single chapters, but receive comprised knowledge and a variety of thoughts for new ideas on a particular theme.

This book proposes that fundamental concepts of institutional law need to be rethought and revised. Contrary to conventional wisdom, international organizations do not need to have members, and the members do not need to be states and international organizations. Private sector entities may, for instance, also be full members. Furthermore, international organizations do not need to possess international legal personality, nor is their autonomy a corollary of their personality. Moreover, the notion of "subject of international law" also needs to be reconsidered and the very concepts and definitions of "intergovernmental organization" and "international organization" need to change and be defined in a wider manner. In this publication the legal implications of membership are analyzed and a new analytical framework for international organizations is proposed. The argument is propounded that the power of creation of new organizations has passed over to international organizations and other entities while an outlook on future development is also presented. Dr. Gerd Droesse is a recognized specialist in institutional law, international administrative law, complex institutional and financial policy matters and corporate governance issues, with over 30 years of experience in working for international organizations in senior and management positions. He was the Legal Counsel/Acting General Counsel of the Green Climate Fund and assisted the World Green Economy Organization as General Counsel in its transition to a new type of intergovernmental organization.

This book offers recent insights into some of the burning issues of our times: climate change, exposure to chemicals, refugee issues and the ecological harm that accompanies conflict situations. It brings together a group of pioneering scholars, mostly legal experts but also thinkers from various scientific disciplines, to discuss concerns from around the globe - from Australia and New Zealand, to Canada and the United States, European countries including Germany, Italy, Britain and the Czech Republic, as well as the African continent. Presenting the latest climate and ecology-related case law, as well as analyses of the conceptual issues that underlie international problems, it covers the extinction of species, the basic role of women and Indigenous peoples in protecting the environment, the failure of today's states to protect the human right to a safe environment and public health, the harm arising from industrial food production, and the problems resulting from a growth-oriented economy. Lastly, the book examines various international legal principles and regulations that have been proposed to defend global ecological rights.

This book presents an important discussion on the implementation of sustainable soil management in Africa from a range of governance perspectives. It addresses aspects such as the general challenges in Africa with regard to soil management; the structural deficiencies in legal, organizational and institutional terms; and specific policies at the national level, including land cover policies and persistent organic pollutants. This fourth volume of the International Yearbook of Soil Law and Policy is divided into four parts, the first of which deals with several aspects of the theme "sustainable soil management in Africa." In turn, the second part covers recent international developments, the third part presents regional and national reports (i.a. Mexico, USA and Germany), and the fourth discusses cross-cutting issues(i.a. on rural-urban interfaces). Given the range of key topics covered, 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 central questions in law and politics with regard to the protection and sustainable management of soil and land - at the international, national and regional level.

This book provides an in-depth assessment of the modern geopolitics of hydrocarbon resources in the territorial waters of the Eastern Mediterranean, highlighting the current conflicts and disputes in the maritime territories of Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, Cyprus, and Turkey. Further, these geopolitical aspects are analyzed within the broader context of the tensions between and competing interests of big powers such as the USA, Russia, and the European Union. To what extent can major powers influence regional actors and guide them toward rational outcomes? To what extent can economic self-interest contain nationalistic impulses? What are the most practical and sustainable ways of promoting win-win scenarios? This book focuses on such questions and presents a number of clear policy guidelines to help the conflict-laden Eastern Mediterranean region gain a more peaceful and sustainable footing for the greater benefit of the peoples living there.