The precautionary concept has become intrinsic to international environmental policy, especially with the adoption, in 1992, of the Rio Declaration at UNCED. Principle 15 of that Declaration provides that: "In order to protect the environment, the precautionary approach shall be widely applied by States according to their capabilities. Where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent environmental degradation." The challenge facing the international community is how to attain truly precautionary environmental policies. This challenge is one of changing perceptions as much as of changing institutions or technical mechanisms. It is a challenge to our way of viewing the world as much as to our views of the role of science, or the burden of proof. It also raises a question as to the role of legal and other regulatory instruments in implementing the precautionary principle. This question, however, lends itself to a multifaceted and multidisciplinary approach. After an introduction to the origins and development of the precautionary principle, 12 chapters explore a selection of themes relevant to the implementation of the principle. Where the relationship between international, national and local policies is concerned, a new concept is introduced: glocalization. The book concludes with a synthesis of the opportunities for, and constraints on, the implementation of the precautionary principle, as identified by the various authors.

At the time of the 1972 Stockholm UN Conference on the Human Environment, the concept of sustainable development and the subject of international environmental law were virtually unknown. Since then, the importance of the subject has burgeoned, as has the number and complexity of the legal instruments that seek to address the threats posed to the planet by humankind. Deforestation, marine pollution, climate change, loss of biodiversity and similar concerns are now familiar - and still unresolved - problems. This research review discusses a selection of key articles on the seminal issues of sustainable development and international environmental law, providing the reader with a solid understanding of the breadth and texture of the legal issues involved.

It is now more than ten years since the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (LOSC) came into force and more than twenty years since it was concluded in December of 1982 after more than nine years of negotiations. The famous "package deal" that it represented addressed many of the problematic issues that previous conventions had been unable to settle. This collection of essays, by leading academics and practitioners, provides a critical review of the LOSC and its relationship to and interface with the wide range of developments which have occurred since 1982. The individual chapters reveal a number of core themes, including the need to maintain the integrity of the LOSC and its centrality to oceans regulation; the tension between regional global regimes for oceans governance and the struggle to reconcile these within the LOSC; the gradual consolidation of authority over oceans space; the difficulty of adapting some of the more dated provisions of the LOSC to deal with unforeseen contemporary issues of oceans use; and the consequent development of the general obligations of the LOSC through binding and non-binding agreements. They clearly indicate the potential impact and role of post-LOSC agreements and institutions in developing the law of the sea and resolving some of the outstanding substantive issues. From this it is clear that the future of the Law of the Sea will involve an understanding of the wider legal environment within which it operates.

The first protocol to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was adopted in Kyoto in 1997 and entered into force in February 2005. It is a unique international law instrument which sets legally binding targets for the reduction of emissions of greenhouse gases which contribute to climate change. The targets are unprecedented in an environmental agreement and will involve substantial financial commitment in virtually all industrialized country parties to the protocol. The Kyoto Protocol is also the first international agreement to include economic instruments which are designed to involve private sector entities and assist parties to meet their targets. These economic instruments, known as the Kyoto or flexible mechanisms, are Joint Implementation (JI), the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), and International Emissions Trading. The Kyoto Protocol defined these mechanisms but did not set out the details necessary for their operation. After protracted negotiations, detailed rules were finalized at the Seventh Session of the UNFCCC Conference of the Parties held in Marrakech in 2001. The Marrakech Accords run to almost 250 pages but still leave many important practical issues unaddressed. As the 2008-2012 commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol draws close more and more projects under CDM and JI are being developed to take advantage of the Kyoto mechanisms and the key issues and problems are now becoming more apparent. Drawing on the emerging body of expertise in this complex area, this book conveys a knowledge of what is becoming known as 'Carbon Finance'. It thereby aims to contribute to the development of the market for carbon emission reductions - one of the objectives of the Kyoto mechanisms.

Since 2005 the carbon market has grown to nearly $100 billion per annum. This new book examines all the main legal issues which are raised by this explosion of what is now called carbon finance. It covers not only the Kyoto Flexibility Mechanisms but also the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) that is in the process of reform and other national and voluntary schemes. The Parties to the 1992 UN Framework Convention are in the process of negotiating a successor regime to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol whose commitment period ends in 2012. As scientists predict that the threat of dangerous climate change requires much more radical mitigation actions, the negotiations aim for a more comprehensive and wide ranging agreement which includes new players - such as the US - as well as taking account of new sources (such as aircraft emissions) and new mechanisms such as Reducing Emissions through Deforestation and Degradation (REDD). This volume will cover the legal aspects of these
This volume builds on the success of the editors' previous volume published by OUP in 2005: Legal Aspects of Implementing the Kyoto Protocol Mechanisms: Making Kyoto Work, which remains the standard work of reference for legal practitioners and researchers on carbon finance and trading under the Kyoto Protocol.

Written by judges of the International Court of Justice and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea and other leading experts in International Law this collection of essays deals with the most recent developments in international environmental law since the UN Rio Conference on Environment and Development in 1992. It focuses on sustainable development, natural resources, Antarctica, the protection of marine environment, and the revolution in international fisheries law.

Printed on Demand. Limited stock is held for this title. If you would like to order 30 copies or more please contact [email protected] purpose of this guide is to facilitate the ratification or acceptance of the 1993 FAO Compliance Agreement and the 1995 UN Fish Stocks Agreement. It presents an outline of some of the most important provisions contained in the two agreements. The book also includes a 'tool kit' of the various approaches used by some countries that have already enacted national legislation to meet the obligations and objectives set forth in these agreements.