Addressing one of the most pressing environmental issues, this topical book carefully inspects the current extent of the plastic pollution crisis and observes contemporary approaches to its regulation. By adopting a strong interdisciplinary approach, the book fully encapsulates the key challenges and solutions surrounding this globally applicable problem. Through critical analysis, this insightful book methodically identifies the faults in existing efforts to tackle the problem of plastic pollution such as often-fragmented regulation tactics, proposing potential approaches to policy reform. It utilises stakeholder analysis to offer a study of key participants such as governments and industries and comprehensively surveys the ongoing nature of this provocative issue. This comprehensive book will be crucial for students and scholars of law, economics, politics, and environmental studies endeavouring to further understand the multi dimensional issue of global plastic pollution. It will additionally be valuable for policy and decision-makers seeking to understand the challenges involved in environmental policy regulation.

This book seeks to better understand how International Environmental Law regimes evolve. The authors address throughout the major environmental, economic, and political tensions that have both shaped and constrained the evolution of international environmental policy within regimes, and its expression in international legal rule and norm development. Readers will gain an increased understanding of the growing role played by non-state actors in global environmental governance, including environmental non-government organisations, scientists, the United Nations, and corporations. The authors also look ahead to the future of International Environmental Law, evaluating key challenges and decisions that the discipline will face. The text is clear, concise, and accessible. It is ideally suited to students and professionals interested in International Environmental Law, and individuals who are intrigued by this dynamic area of law.

This book seeks to better understand how International Environmental Law regimes evolve. The authors address throughout the major environmental, economic, and political tensions that have both shaped and constrained the evolution of international environmental policy within regimes, and its expression in international legal rule and norm development. Readers will gain an increased understanding of the growing role played by non-state actors in global environmental governance, including environmental non-government organisations, scientists, the United Nations, and corporations. The authors also look ahead to the future of International Environmental Law, evaluating key challenges and decisions that the discipline will face. The text is clear, concise, and accessible. It is ideally suited to students and professionals interested in International Environmental Law, and individuals who are intrigued by this dynamic area of law.

This book critically examines the phenomenon of low level radioactive waste (LLRW) disposal facility siting across four international democracies. The issue is of growing importance since World War II the level of this waste has increased from the hundreds to the billions. The International Atomic Energy Agency estimates that nuclear power generation facilities alone produce about 200,000 cubic meters of low and intermediate-level waste each year worldwide; waste that needs to be isolated from the public for extended periods of time. Siting LLRW disposal facilities in democracies is beset by two main problems: almost universally negative community response to siting proposals, and, as a result, government s reactive policies. There has been a tendency for democratic countries to adopt a default position of deferring siting decisions for as long as possible due to a fear of public opposition, which only increases the risks associated with radiation.

The authors explore these issues utilizing a linear narrative case study approach that critically examines key stakeholder interactions in order to explain how siting decisions are made. The book incorporates a stakeholder theory approach to allow for a better understanding of the key players roles and how such decisions are made as well as an environmental justice perspective to better understand how some siting decisions negatively impact lower socio-economic classes and indigenous peoples within democratic societies. The four featured countries the United States, Australia, Spain and South Korea represent a broad range of current siting issues. Though the different countries are geographically and culturally diverse, they are all democracies with vibrant civil societies, which mean that siting decisions require negotiation between the siting authority and the host community via representative stakeholders. Most studies of nuclear waste focus on siting at a single location or in a single country, whereas this book seeks to establish an understanding of the political, economic, environmental, legal and social dimensions of siting across multiple countries. Furthermore, the book targets specifically low-level radioactive waste, which has traditionally received far less study by the academic community than high-level waste and spent nuclear fuel. This valuable resource fills a gap in the literature with international comparative research and provides recommendations for future low-level radioactive waste disposal facility siting efforts.

The book should be of interest to students and scholars of environmental law, justice, management and politics, as well as energy and security policy."

The International Atomic Energy Agency estimates that nuclear power generation facilities produce about 200,000 cubic meters of low and intermediate-level waste each year. Vital medical procedures, industrial processes and basic science research also produce significant quantities of waste. All of this waste must be shielded from the population for extended periods of time. Finding suitable locations for disposal facilities is beset by two main problems: community responses to siting proposals are generally antagonistic and, as a result, governments have tended to be reactive in their policy-making. Decision-making and Radioactive Waste Disposal explores these issues utilizing a linear narrative case study approach that critically examines key stakeholder interactions in order to explain how siting decisions for low level waste disposal are made. Five countries are featured: the US, Australia, Spain, South Korea and Switzerland. This book seeks to establish an understanding of the political, economic, environmental, legal and social dimensions of siting across those countries. This valuable resource fills a gap in the literature and provides recommendations for future disposal facility siting efforts. The book will be of interest to students and scholars of environmental law, justice, management, politics, energy and security policy as well as decision-makers in government and industry.