Natural resources and their effective management are necessary for securing the realisation of human rights. The management of natural resources is linked to broad issues of economic development, as well as to political stability, peace and security, but it is also intimately connected to the political, economic, social and cultural rights of individuals and communities relying on these resources. The management of natural resources often leads to ill-planned development, misappropriation of land, corruption, bad governance, misaligned budget priorities, lack of strong institutional reforms and weak policies coupled with a continued denial of the human rights of local communities. This book argues that human rights law can play an important role in ensuring a more effective and sustainable management of natural resources, putting forward the idea of a human rights-based normative framework for natural resource management. It offers a comprehensive analysis of the different norms, procedures, and approaches developed under human rights law that are relevant to the management of natural resources. Advocating for a less market and corporate approach to the control, ownership, and management of natural resources, this book supports the development of holistic and coherent integration of human rights law in the overall international legal framework governing the management of natural resources.

The modern era is facing unprecedented governance challenges in striving to achieve long-term sustainability goals and to limit human impacts on the Earth system. This volume synthesizes a decade of multidisciplinary research into how diverse actors exercise authority in environmental decision making, and their capacity to deliver effective, legitimate and equitable Earth system governance. Actors from the global to the local level are considered, including governments, international organizations and corporations. Chapters cover how state and non-state actors engage with decision-making processes, the relationship between agency and structure, and the variations in governance and agency across different spheres and tiers of society. Providing an overview of the major questions, issues and debates, as well as the theories and methods used in studies of agency in earth system governance, this book provides a valuable resource for graduate students and researchers, as well as practitioners and policy makers working in environmental governance. 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.

The 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) remains the cornerstone of global ocean governance. However, it lacks effective provisions or mechanisms to ensure that all ocean space and related problems are dealt with holistically. With seemingly no opportunity for revision due to the Conventions burdensome amendment provisions, complementary mechanisms dealing with such aspects of global ocean governance including maritime transport, fisheries, and marine environmental sustainability, have been developed under the aegis of the United Nations and other relevant international organizations. This approach is inherently fragmented and unable to achieve sustainable global ocean governance. In light of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly Goal 14, the IMLI Treatise proposes a new paradigm on the basis of integrated and cross-sectoral approach in order to realise a more effective and sustainable governance regime for the oceans. This volume focuses on the role of the UN Specialized Agencies towards the development of effective and sustainable ocean governance by looking at the more elaborate mechanisms they developed in order to achieve the desired objectives laid down in UNCLOS. From FAO to UNODC, the volume examines how they ensure sustainable development and how much coordination exists among them.

The 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) remains the cornerstone of global ocean governance. However, it lacks effective provisions or mechanisms to ensure that all ocean space and related problems are dealt with holistically. With seemingly no opportunity for revision due to the Conventions burdensome amendment provisions, complementary mechanisms dealing with such aspects of global ocean governance including maritime transport, fisheries, and marine environmental sustainability, have been developed under the aegis of the United Nations and other relevant international organizations. This approach is inherently fragmented and unable to achieve sustainable global ocean governance. In light of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly Goal 14, the IMLI Treatise proposes a new paradigm on the basis of integrated and cross-sectoral approach in order to realise a more effective and sustainable governance regime for the oceans. The volume examines how the IMO, with 171 Member States and 3 Associated Members, has and continues to promote the goals of safe, secure, sound, and efficient shipping on clean oceans. It studies the interface and interaction between UNCLOS and IMO instruments and how IMOs safety, security, and environmental protection conventions have contributed to global ocean governance, including the peaceful order of the polar regions.

The potential conflict among economic and ecological goals has formed the central fault line of environmental politics in the United States and most other countries since the 1970s. The accepted view is that efforts to protect the environment will detract from economic growth, jobs, and global competitiveness. Conversely, much advocacy on behalf of the environment focuses on the need to control growth and avoid its more damaging effects. This offers a stark choice between prosperity and growth, on the one hand, and ecological degradation on the other. Stopping or reversing growth in most countries is unrealistic, economically risky, politically difficult, and is likely to harm the very groups that should be protected. At the same time, a strategy of unguided "growth above all" would cause ecological catastrophe. Over the last decade, the concept of green growth - the idea that the right mix of policies, investments, and technologies will lead to beneficial growth within ecological limits - has become central to global and national debates and policy due to the financial crisis and climate change. As Daniel J. Fiorino argues, in order for green growth to occur, ecological goals must be incorporated into the structure of the economic and political systems. In this book, he looks at green growth, a vast topic that has heretofore not been systematically covered in the literature on environmental policy and politics. Fiorino looks at its role in global, national, and local policy making; its relationship to sustainable development; controversies surrounding it (both from the left and right); its potential role in ameliorating inequality; and the policy strategies that are linked with it. The book also examines the political feasibility of green growth as a policy framework. While he focuses on the United States, Fiorino will draw comparisons to green growth policy in other countries, including Germany, China, and Brazil.

For the last few thousand years, humanity has struggled to achieve sustainable development. Gillespie sees the problem as multi-faceted: a three legged stool of economic, social, and environmental conundrums have stalled the quest for the long term viability of both our species and the ecosystems in which we reside. Gillespie moves from the low life expectancy, excessive deforestation, and wetland drainage of the medieval period, through the species loss, coal burning, free trade, and poor waste management of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and to the more recent concerns of climate change, unsustainable fisheries, and chemical pollutants. By delivering a comprehensive examination of human survival over the past millennium, Gillespie illustrates that the challenges we face are not new - that we now have the means to counter them, is.

This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International licence. It is free to read at Oxford Scholarship Online and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations. Environmental protection is fundamental for the establishment of sustainable peace. Applying traditional legal approaches to protection raises particular challenges during the transition from conflict to peace. In the jus post bellum context, protection of the environment and natural resources needs to be considered in tandem with a broad range of simultaneously applicable normative frameworks, such as human rights, transitional justice, arms control/disarmament, UN law and practice, development, and domestic law. While certain multilateral environment agreements, such as the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage protect the environment; international humanitarian law and international criminal law continue to treat environmental protection largely from an anthropocentric perspective. This book is the first targeted work in the legal literature that investigates environmental challenges in the aftermath of conflict. Addressing these challenges, it brings together academics, policy-makers, and practitioners from different disciplines to clarify policies and practices of environmental protection and key normative frameworks. It draws on experiences and practices in post-conflict settings to specify substantive principles and techniques to remedy and prevent harm.

This accessible and engagingly written book describes how national and international scientific monitoring programmes brought to light our present understanding of Arctic environmental change, and how these research results were successfully used to achieve international legal actions to lessen some of the environmental impacts. David P. Stone was intimately involved in many of these scientific and political activities. He tells a powerful story, using the metaphor of the 'Arctic Messenger' - an imaginary being warning us all of the folly of ignoring Arctic environmental change. This book will be of great interest to anyone concerned about the fate of the Arctic, including lifelong learners interested in the Arctic and the natural environment generally; students studying environmental science and policy; researchers of circumpolar studies, indigenous peoples, national and international environmental management, and environmental law; and policymakers and industry professionals looking to protect (or exploit) Arctic resources.

The most important climate agreement in history, the Paris Agreement on Climate Change represents the commitment of the nations of the world to address and curb climate change. Signed in December 2015, it entered into force on 4th November 2016. Countries are moving into implementation, and efforts at all levels will be needed to fulfill its ambitious goals. The Paris Climate Agreement: Commentary and Analysis combines a comprehensive legal appraisal and critique of the new Agreement with a practical and structured commentary to and social drivers behind it, providing an overview of the pre-existing regime, and tracking the history of the negotiations. It examines the evolution of key concepts such as common but differentiated responsibilities, and analyses the legal form of the Agreement and the nature of its provisions. Part II comprises individual chapters on each Article of the Agreement, with detailed commentary of the provisions which highlights central aspects from the negotiating history and the legal nature of the obligations. It describes the institutional arrangements and considerations for national implementation, providing practical advice and prospects for future development. Part III reflects on the Paris Agreement as a whole: its strengths and weaknesses, its potential for further development, and its relationship with other areas of public international law and governance. The book is an invaluable resource for academics and practitioners, policy makers, and actors in the private sector and civil society, as they negotiate the implementation of the Agreement in domestic law and policy.

The World Ocean Assessment - or, to give its full title, The First Global Integrated Marine Assessment - is the outcome of the first cycle of the United Nations' Regular Process for Global Reporting and Assessment of the State of the Marine Environment, including Socioeconomic Aspects. The Assessment provides vital, scientifically-grounded bases for the consideration of ocean issues, including climate change, by governments, intergovernmental agencies, non-governmental agencies and all other stakeholders and policymakers involved in ocean affairs. Together with future assessments and related initiatives, it will support the implementation of the recently adopted 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, particularly its ocean-related goals. Moreover, it will also form an important reference text for marine science courses.

Transboundary watercourses account for an estimated 60 per cent of global freshwater flow and support the livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people worldwide. Yet the indeterminate status of water rights in many international watercourses presents a problem and many attempts to resolve water rights issue have failed. Knowing how and where negotiations fail is essential if successful resolution is to be achieved. Muserref Yetim's important book seeks to illustrate a means to the peaceful resolution of natural resource based conflicts. Through a detailed study of the Tigris-Euphrates water conflict, involving Turkey, Syria and Iraq, countries of vital security interest to the world at large, the author clarifies the collective action dilemmas confronting Middle Eastern watercourses and reveals the bargaining bottlenecks where negotiations fail. She develops an original framework that explains bargaining failures and proposes conditions for creating a new property rights regime among watercourse states that offers a route to governing their shared water resources in ways that are politically, economically and environmentally sound. In almost all water scarce regions, international water resources are subject to intense unilateral exploitation in a highly competitive fashion. And as demand for freshwater continues to increase, through increasing urbanization and the continuing development of societies, so the issue of how such shared water resources can best be governed is becoming vitally important. Negotiating International Water Rights offers both a timely contribution to a matter of international concern and important insights into resource conflict in countries of vital security interest to the world at large.

Cases of Conflict focuses on times of dispute as important moments in the development of international environmental law. Conflict tests international law-both its content and its relevance become clearer in times of controversy-but conflict can also help shape the law. Drawing from a growing body of scholarship connecting the fields of international relations and international law, Cases of Conflict examines six prominent case studies to demonstrate how transboundary disputes have influenced the development of international environmental law and policy. Embracing their rich detail and real-world messiness, this book looks to develop a better understanding of the true content and potential of international environmental law.

Climate change presents one of the greatest challenges of our time, and has become one of the defining issues of the twenty-first century. The radical changes which both developed and developing countries will need to make, in economic and in legal terms, to respond to climate change are unprecedented. International law, including treaty regimes, institutions, and customary international law, needs to address the myriad challenges and consequences of climate change, including variations in the weather patterns, sea level rise, and the resulting migration of peoples. The Oxford Handbook of International Climate Change Law provides an unprecedented and authoritative overview of all aspects of international climate change law as it currently stands, with guidance for how it should develop in the future. Over forty leading scholars and practitioners set out a comprehensive understanding of the legal issues that surround this vitally important but still emerging area of international law. This book addresses the major legal dimensions of the problems caused by climate change: not only in the content and nature of the international legal frameworks, which need implementation at the national level, but also the development of carbon trading systems as a means of reducing the costs of meeting emission reduction targets. After an introduction to the field, the Handbook assesses the relevant institutions, the key applicable principles of international law, the international mitigation regime and its consequences, and climate change litigation, before providing perspectives focused upon specific countries or regions. The Handbook will be an invaluable resource for scholars, students, and practitioners of international climate change law. It provides readers with diverse perspectives, bringing together interpretations from different disciplines, countries, and cultures.

Armed conflict and military activities have serious adverse impacts on the environment. Modern weaponry, troop movements, landmines, hazardous military waste, and the destruction of forests for military use are a few sources of harm to the environment both during armed conflict and peacetime military activities. Ecological assaults in combat areas are often kept a secret by the government, resulting in even greater humanitarian and environmental harm. Environmental degradation is increasingly being recognized as one of the most significant challenges of the 21st century and its effects are being felt worldwide. Both domestic and international legislations have been inadequate in mitigating the impact of military activities. This book provides details of the environmental destruction wreaked during international and non-international armed conflicts and argues that the existing legal regime for the protection of the environment during armed conflict requires substantial modification. It puts forward the view that though it is inconceivable to impose an absolute ban on environmental damage during military operations, strengthening and clarifying the existing laws protecting the environment in times of conflict, and enforcing environment-friendly practices among military forces could go a long way in protecting natural assets of our earth.

The international community has long grappled with the issue of safeguarding the environment and encouraging sustainable development, often with little result. The 1992 Rio Declaration on Environment and Development was an emphatic attempt to address this issue, setting down 27 key principles for the international community to follow. These principles define the rights of people to sustainable development, and the responsibilities of states to safeguard the common environment. The Rio Declaration established that long term economic progress required a connection to environmental protection. It was designed as an authoritative and comprehensive statement of the principles of sustainable development law, an instrument to take stock of the past international and domestic practice, a guide for the design of new multilateral environmental regimes, and as a reference for litigation. This commentary provides an authoritative and comprehensive overview of the principles of the Declaration, written by over thirty inter-disciplinary contributors, including both leading practitioners and academics. Each principle is analysed in light of its origins and rationale. The book investigates each principle's travaux preparatoires setting out the main points of controversy and the position of different countries or groups. It analyses the scope and dimensions of each principle, providing an in-depth understanding of its legal effects, including whether it can be relied before a domestic or international court. It also assesses the impact of the principles on subsequent soft law and treaty development, as well as domestic and international jurisprudence. The authors demonstrate the ways in which the principles interact with each other, and finally provide a detailed analysis of the shortcomings and future potential of each principle. This book will be of vital importance to practitioners, scholars, and students of international environomental law and sustainable development.

This book explores the means by which economic liberalisation can be reconciled with human rights and environmental protection in the regulation of international trade. It is primarily concerned with identifying the lessons the international community can learn, specifically in the context of the WTO, from decades of European Community and Union experience in facing this question. The book demonstrates first that it is possible to reconcile the pursuit of economic and non-economic interests, that the EU has found a mechanism by which to do so, and that the application of the principle of proportionality is fundamental to the realisation of this. It is argued that the EU approach can be characterised as a practical application of the principle of sustainable development. Secondly, from the analysis of the EU experience, this book identifies fundamental conditions crucial to achieving this 'reconciliation'. Thirdly, the book explores the implications of lessons from the EU experience for the international community. In so doing it assesses both the potential and limits of the existing international regulatory framework for such reconciliation. The book develops a deeper understanding of the inter-relationship between the legal regulation of economic and non-economic development, adding clarity to the debate in a controversial area. It argues that a more holistic approach to the consideration of 'development', encompassing economic and non-economic concerns - 'sustainable' development - is not only desirable in principle but realisable in practice.

The goals of the National Environmental Policy Act are to declare a national environmental policy, provide federal agencies with action-forcing provisions intended to ensure that the goals of the policy are implemented, establish the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) to provide advice to the President on environmental matters and to monitor the state of the environment, and require the President to submit to Congress an annual report on the state of the environment. This book describes information on the number and type of NEPA analyses; costs and benefits of completing those analyses; and frequency and outcomes of related litigation.

Beleaguered by mutual recrimination between rich and poor countries, squeezed by the zero-sum arithmetic of a shrinking global carbon budget, and overtaken by shifts in economic and hence bargaining power between these countries, international cooperation on climate change has floundered. Given these three factors --which Arvind Subramanian and Aaditya Mattoo call the "narrative," "adding up," and "new world" problems --the wonder is not the current impasse; it is, rather, the belief that progress might be possible at all.

In this book, the authors argue that any chance of progress must address each of these problems in a radically different way. First, the old narrative of recrimination must cede to a narrative based on recognition of common interests. Second, leaders must shift the focus away from emissions cuts to technology generation. Third, the old "cash-for-cuts" approach must be abandoned for one that requires contributions from all countries calibrated in magnitude and form to their current level of development and future prospects.

Environmental migration is not new. Nevertheless, the events and processes accompanying global climate change threaten to increase human movement both within states and across international borders. The Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change has predicted an increased frequency and severity of climate events such as storms, cyclones and hurricanes, as well as longer-term sea level rise and desertification, which will impact upon people's ability to survive in certain parts of the world. This book brings together a variety of disciplinary perspectives on the phenomenon of climate-induced displacement. With chapters by leading scholars in their field, it collects in one place a rigorous, holistic analysis of the phenomenon, which can better inform academic understanding and policy development alike. Governments have not been prepared to take a leading role in developing responses to the issue, in large part due to the absence of strong theoretical frameworks from which sound policy can be constructed. The specialist expertise of the authors in this book means that each chapter identifies key issues that need to be considered in shaping domestic, regional and international responses, including the complex causes of movement, the conceptualisation of migration responses to climate change, the terminology that should be used to describe those who move, and attitudes to migration that may affect decisions to stay or leave. The book will help to facilitate the creation of principled, research-based responses, and establish climate-induced displacement as an important aspect of both the climate change and global migration debates.

International Environmental Law is a new textbook written for students, practitioners, and anyone interested in the subject. The overall aim of the book is to provide a fresh understanding of international environmental law as a whole, seen in the light of climate change, biodiversity loss, and the other serious environmental challenges facing the world. The book has also been kept deliberately manageable in size by careful selection of topics and by adopting a cross-cutting synthesis of regulatory interaction in the field. This enables the reader to place international environmental law in the broader context of public international law in general, revealing at the same time that international environmental law is experimental ground for developing new legal approaches towards global governance. To this end, the authors have combined theory and practice. Apart from discussing concepts, rule-making and compliance, the book looks at options for improved coordination, harmonisation and even integration of existing multilateral environmental agreements, analysing how conflicts between various environmental regimes can be avoided or, at least, adequately managed. The authors argue that an appropriate management of international environmental relations must address the North-South divide, which continues to be a major obstacle to global environmental cooperation. Furthermore, the authors emphasise the growing human rights dimension of international environmental law. This book is an ideal 'door opener' for the further study of international environmental law. Focusing on 'international environmental governance' in a comprehensive way, it serves to explain that each institution, each actor, and each instrument is part of a multi-dimensional process in international environmental law and relations.

Water and wastewater professionals spend their careers inside the "green maze" of environmental law. If you have ever felt a bit lost, you are not alone. Now, there is a new guide to help you find your way around the green maze. This book is an easy-to-understand introduction to the complex maze of environmental laws that directly or indirectly affect water and wastewater utilities. Laws and regulations that affect water and wastewater utilities include the Safe Drinking Water Act, Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, Superfund, Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act, Endangered Species Act, and Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response Act. Each of these major pieces of legislation is explained in clear, nonlegal language and is placed in the context of water and wastewater utility regulation. Selected state environmental regulations, riparian water rights, prior appropriation rights, and ordinances are also discussed. Author Joseph Bernosky includes a brief history of environmental regulations, the scope and nature of regulations that affect water and wastewater utilities, overlaps and gaps in the laws, environmental advocacy, public participation, stakeholders' roles and relationships to each other, and future regulatory trends. He does not delve into the specific requirements of individual regulations, e.g., MCLs. This readable guide is ideal for all water and wastewater professionals, legislators and regulators, and anyone who needs to have knowledge of the federal laws affecting the day-to-day workings of water and wastewater treatment utilities.

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses plays a crucial role in protecting and managing international watercourses and other sources of fresh water. Boisson de Chazournes, Mbengue, Tignino, and Sangbana head a team of experts in this Commentary, examining the travaux preparatoires leading to the Convention and the practice that has developed since the adoption of the Convention in 1997. Tackling the rationale and objectives of the provisions, they offer crucial insights to the Convention's impact on the development of a universal regime for shared water resources. Examining cross-cutting topics such as the core water principles, the prevention and settlement of water disputes, the relationship between the Convention and other legal instruments, as well as the role of the ICJ and other judicial means to solve water disputes, this book is crucial to all those who seek a deep understanding of water law.

Environmental law has become an exceedingly important branch of the law in South Africa over the past 15 years. Over the past decade, a number of Acts have been passed which define the essence of South African environmental law, and several landmark environmental law judgments have been handed down by the courts.

This book covers the entire South African environmental law landscape and does so in a comprehensive and succinct manner.

Among the new Acts covered in this book are the National Water Act 36 of 1998, the National Heritage Resources Act 25 of 1999, the Air Quality Act 39 of 2004 , and the Biodiversity Act 10 of 2004.

Contents:
• The Constitution and framework environmental legislation
• International environmental law
• Water law and the environment
• Conservation and biodiversity
• Pollution control and waste management
• Land use and planning
• Implementation and administration of environmental law
• Environmental justice

Today, more than ever before, there is considerable concern about the deterioration of the environment arising from environmental pollution - water, air, noise, radiation and others. For, such pollution has a huge adverse impact on human health, and the hazards it poses are too numerous. There is also a felt-need for environmental protection and management and effective implementation of environmental laws. This comprehensive book, authored by Prof. Sengar, an eminent academic, with his wealth of experience in various areas of environmental law and management, brings these issues into sharp focus.The book highlights problems such as public health and safety, right to carry on trade vis-a-vis duty to protect environment, right to information about hazardous installations, right to clean environment, and ecological balance for sustainable development. It stresses the need for striking a balance between environment and development to bring about sustainable development. Finally, the text shows how important it is to formulate a legal framework for environmental protection.While giving a broad conceptual overview of environmental law, the text explains the major environmental laws, examines the relevant provisions, and traces the origin of constitutional support to environmental protection. It refers to all leading cases on environmental law and highlights the role of judiciary on entertaining as well as restraining public interest litigations (PILs) to stop environmental violations. It provides appendices containing various environmental laws. The accompanying CD-ROM contains text of all relevant environmental laws - both general and specific - to help readers have access to those laws instantly.Primarily intended as a text for students of law (LL.B./BA LL.B./LL.M., MBL) and management (MBA), the book should also prove to be an excellent reference for academics, lawyers, judges, environmental activists, environmental managers and corporates concerned with environmental protection.