This remarkable collection of papers, sponsored by the Centre for International Sustainable Development Law (CISDL), demonstrates that sustainable development serves as a unifying concept with the potential to facilitate much-needed respect for international law and timely implementation of diverse and overlapping international commitments. It builds on the substance of a rich and complex debate at the intersections among economic, social, and environmental law, bringing together a broad cross-section of viewpoints and voices. The authors review recent developments in WTO discussions and negotiations, and in the recent decisions of the WTO Appellate Body, from a sustainable development law perspective. They also survey relevant new developments in trade and economic agreements at regional, inter-regional and bi-lateral levels. The various essays focus on sustainable development aspects of key issues in recent trade negotiations such as the "Singapore Issues" (investment, competition, trade facilitation, and government procurement), intellectual property rights, investment arbitration and the linkage between the WTO and multilateral environmental accords (MEAs). Among the specific topics covered are the following: emerging areas of law and policy in trade and sustainable development; the underlying development agendas in global trade law negotiations; cooperation and potential negotiation on international competition law; overlaps between multilateral environmental accords (MEAs) and the WTO; recent developments in WTO dispute settlement procedures and proceedings; human rights and environmental opportunities from trade liberalisation and increased market access; human rights and environment impact assessment techniques used to analyse trade agreements; and, recent developments in bi-lateral and regional trade agreements. Trade, investment, and competition law practitioners and negotiators in developed and developing countries will find this book of great value, as will development and environment law professionals with responsibility for trade and WTO law related matters.

This book, the first in a series that focuses on treaty implementation for sustainable development, examines key legal aspects of implementing the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) at national and international levels. The volume provides a serious contribution to the current legal and political academic debates on biosafety by discussing key issues under the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety that affect the further design of national and international law on biosafety, and analyzing progress in the development of domestic regulatory regimes for biosafety. In the year of the fifth UN Meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, at the signature of a new Nagoya-Kuala Lumpur Protocol on Liability and Redress, this timely book examines developments in biosafety law and policy.

Beyond the barricades surrounding recent economic meetings, a constructive agenda is being developed on trade and sustainability issues in the Americas. This book brings together a diversity of perspectives and expertise on environment and development issues from governments, civil society and businesses in the Western Hemisphere. The book reviews specific areas where trade, environment and social policies intersect in the Americas, proposing that more integrated laws and policies could strengthen hemispheric progress toward sustainable development. It identifies new means of implementing this agenda, including changes to proposed trade agreements such as the FTAA, and ways to strengthen environmental and social cooperation mechanisms in the region, laying out future directions for law and policy in the region. The volume incorporates a variety of perspectives with policy options and research results from across the Americas. Critical yet constructive, it will appeal to students and scholars interested in the Americas integration process, as well as to development professionals and NGOs on the ground.

Beyond the barricades surrounding recent economic meetings, a constructive agenda is being developed on trade and sustainability issues in the Americas. This book brings together a diversity of perspectives and expertise on environment and development issues from governments, civil society and businesses in the Western Hemisphere. The book reviews specific areas where trade, environment and social policies intersect in the Americas, proposing that more integrated laws and policies could strengthen hemispheric progress toward sustainable development. It identifies new means of implementing this agenda, including changes to proposed trade agreements such as the FTAA, and ways to strengthen environmental and social cooperation mechanisms in the region, laying out future directions for law and policy in the region. The volume incorporates a variety of perspectives with policy options and research results from across the Americas. Critical yet constructive, it will appeal to students and scholars interested in the Americas integration process, as well as to development professionals and NGOs on the ground.

The 2002 New Delhi Declaration of Principles of International Law relating to Sustainable Development set out seven principles on sustainable development, as agreed in treaties and soft-law instruments from before the 1992 Rio 'Earth Summit' UNCED, to the 2002 Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development, to the 2012 Rio UNCSD. Recognition of the New Delhi principles is shaping the decisions of dispute settlement bodies with jurisdiction over many subjects: the environment, human rights, trade, investment, and crime, among others. This book explores the expanding international jurisprudence incorporating principles of international law on sustainable development. Through chapters by respected experts, the volume documents the application and interpretation of these principles, demonstrating how courts and tribunals are contributing to the world's Sustainable Development Goals, by peacefully resolving disputes. It charts the evolution of these principles in international law from soft law standards towards recognition as customary law in certain instances, assessing key challenges to further judicial consideration of the principles, and discussing, for instance, how their relevance for compliance and disputes related to the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change. The volume provides a unique contribution of great interest to law and policy-makers, judges, academics, students, civil society and practitioners concerned with sustainable development and the law, globally.

Saving endangered species presents a critical and increasingly pressing challenge for conservation and sustainability movements, and is also matter of survival and livelihoods for the world's poorest and vulnerable communities. In 1973, a global Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) was adopted to stem the extinction of many species. In 2015, as part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 15) the United Nations called for urgent action to protect endangered species and their natural habitats. This volume focuses on the legal implementation of CITES to achieve the global SDGs. Activating interdisciplinary analysis and case studies across jurisdictions, the contributors analyse the potential for CITES to promote more sustainable development, proposing international and national regulatory innovations for implementing CITES. They consider recent innovations and key intervention points along flora and fauna value chains, advancing coherent recommendations to strengthen CITES implementation, including through the regulation of trade in endangered species globally and locally.

The 2002 New Delhi Declaration of Principles of International Law relating to Sustainable Development set out seven principles on sustainable development, as agreed in treaties and soft-law instruments from before the 1992 Rio 'Earth Summit' UNCED, to the 2002 Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development, to the 2012 Rio UNCSD. Recognition of the New Delhi principles is shaping the decisions of dispute settlement bodies with jurisdiction over many subjects: the environment, human rights, trade, investment, and crime, among others. This book explores the expanding international jurisprudence incorporating principles of international law on sustainable development. Through chapters by respected experts, the volume documents the application and interpretation of these principles, demonstrating how courts and tribunals are contributing to the world's Sustainable Development Goals, by peacefully resolving disputes. It charts the evolution of these principles in international law from soft law standards towards recognition as customary law in certain instances, assessing key challenges to further judicial consideration of the principles, and discussing, for instance, how their relevance for compliance and disputes related to the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change. The volume provides a unique contribution of great interest to law and policy-makers, judges, academics, students, civil society and practitioners concerned with sustainable development and the law, globally.

Economic, technological, social and environmental transformations are affecting all humanity, and decisions taken today will impact the quality of life for all future generations. This volume surveys current commitments to sustainable development, analysing innovative policies, practices and procedures to promote respect for intergenerational justice. Expert contributors provide serious scholarly and practical discussions of the theoretical, institutional, and legal considerations inherent in intergenerational justice at local, national, regional and global scales. They investigate treaty commitments related to intergenerational equity, explore linkages between regimes, and offer insights from diverse experiences of national future generations' institutions. This volume should be read by lawyers, academics, policy-makers, business and civil society leaders interested in the economy, society, the environment, sustainable development, climate change, and other law, policy and practices impacting all generations.

This book, the first in a new series that focuses on treaty implementation for sustainable development, examines key legal aspects of implementing the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) at national and international levels. The volume provides a serious contribution to the current legal and political academic debates on biosafety by discussing key issues under the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety that affect the further design of national and international law on biosafety, and analyzing recent progress in the development of domestic regulatory regimes for biosafety. It also examines the legal, political, economic, and practical challenges and solutions encountered in recent efforts to develop and implement domestic biosafety regulations, with a focus on developing countries. In the year of the fifth UN Meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, at the signature of a new Nagoya-Kuala Lumpur Protocol on Liability and Redress, this timely book examines recent developments in biosafety law and policy.

International economic law guides and shapes globalization and the future of the world economy, our human societies, and the Earth. The rules which facilitate trade and investment could defend the interests of Hermes, Greek god of commerce and thieves, or learn to draw inspiration from Athena, goddess of justice, wisdom, and crafts. This volume explores how trade and investment agreements could promote more sustainable development, rather than increasing the negative social and environmental impacts of economic growth. States and other actors are attempting to integrate social and environmental considerations into trade and investment policies, towards more sustainable development. Analysing their efforts, this volume offers insights into the ways that commitments to sustainability are being operationalized in the texts of economic treaties themselves. Written by a renowned expert jurist and professor of law, this book examines the measures being debated in the WTO and adopted by States in a selection of innovative and flexible regional and bilateral trade and investment accords. With legal examples spanning decades of experimentation and experience, the book illuminates how States and stakeholders are seeking innovative ways to integrate environmental and social considerations into trade and investment agreements. Introducing a ground-breaking systematic approach, the volume considers how, through this integration, international trade and investment law can contribute to the achievement of the world's Sustainable Development Goals.

Sustainable Development, International Criminal Justice, and Treaty Implementation provides a serious and timely perspective on the relationship between two important and dynamic fields of international law. Comprising chapters written by leading academics and international lawyers, this book examines how the principles and practices of international criminal law and sustainable development can contribute to one another's elaboration, interpretation and implementation. Chapters in the book discuss the potential and limitations of international criminalization as a means for protecting the basic foundations of sustainable development; the role of existing international crimes in penalizing serious forms of economic, social, environmental and cultural harm; the indirect linkages that have developed between sustainable development and various mechanisms of criminal accountability and redress; and innovative proposals to broaden the scope of international criminal justice. With its rigorous and innovative arguments, this book forms a unique and urgent contribution to current debates on the future of global justice and sustainability.

Sustainable Development, International Criminal Justice, and Treaty Implementation provides a serious and timely perspective on the relationship between two important and dynamic fields of international law. Comprising chapters written by leading academics and international lawyers, this book examines how the principles and practices of international criminal law and sustainable development can contribute to one another's elaboration, interpretation and implementation. Chapters in the book discuss the potential and limitations of international criminalization as a means for protecting the basic foundations of sustainable development; the role of existing international crimes in penalizing serious forms of economic, social, environmental and cultural harm; the indirect linkages that have developed between sustainable development and various mechanisms of criminal accountability and redress; and innovative proposals to broaden the scope of international criminal justice. With its rigorous and innovative arguments, this book forms a unique and urgent contribution to current debates on the future of global justice and sustainability.