Part VI Actors, Ch.36 International Institutions

Normative Development ◽

Rules And Standards

This chapter maps the different roles of international institutions involved in the development of international environmental law by considering the initiating roles that some institutions play, the institutional structure of multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs), and the roles of scientific and financial institutions. It charts how MEAs link to each other substantively by focusing on the relationships between global and regional MEAs and the synergies and contestations between global MEAs. These mapping processes result in the identification of patterns that illustrate the different roles and types of links that exist between international institutions. International institutions, together with non-governmental organizations (NGOs), engage in two types of activities in developing international environmental law. First, they engage in normative development. That is the development of rules and standards that are to regulate human activity. Second, they engage in implementing these rules and standards.

The Dynamic Evolution of International Environmental Law

Victoria University of Wellington Law Review ◽

10.26686/vuwlr.v49i4.5343 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 49 (4) ◽

pp. 607

Author(s):

Karen N Scott

Keyword(s):

International Law ◽

21St Century ◽

International Institutions ◽

Environmental Law ◽

Dynamic Evolution ◽

State Responsibility ◽

International Legal System

This article will explore selected innovations within multilateral environmental agreements that have contributed to the dynamic evolution of international environmental law within the context of the traditional rules relating to treaties, international institutions and state responsibility. It will argue that whilst these innovations undoubtedly push and develop the boundaries of these areas of law, they do not represent a significant departure from the traditional principle of consent that underpins international law more generally. But should they? The period of modern international environmental law (from 1972 to date), which from a lawyer's perspective might be described as dynamic and innovative, has simultaneously witnessed significant and persistent environmental change and degradation across the biosphere, atmosphere and hydrosphere. The question for 21st century environmental lawyers is whether international environmental law is fit for the Anthropocene and whether there is sufficient scope for future dynamic evolution within the constraints and structures of the existing international legal system.

Implementation of International Environmental Law

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780197515037.013.28 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Maria Ivanova ◽

Natalia Escobar-Pemberthy ◽

Anna Dubrova ◽

Candace Famiglietti

Keyword(s):

Environmental Law ◽

International Environmental Agreements ◽

National Characteristics ◽

University Of Massachusetts ◽

The University ◽

The Impact ◽

Technical Measures

International environmental law is a key governance instrument for the protection of the environment. Countries take on a range of obligations when they join multilateral environmental agreements. This chapter presents a comparative assessment of the implementation of international environmental law in 13 countries for four agreements dealing with pollution and conservation. It offers an empirical assessment based on the Environmental Conventions Index (ECI) developed at the Center for Governance and Sustainability at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, and compares performance across four key categories: regulation, management, information, and technical measures. The analysis establishes a baseline for assessing the implementation of international environmental law and explaining the impact of national characteristics, policies, and actions on the fulfillment and effectiveness of international environmental agreements.

Equity

The Oxford Handbook of International Environmental Law ◽

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199552153.013.0027 ◽

2008 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Shelton Dinah

Keyword(s):

International Law ◽

Environmental Law ◽

Generational Equity ◽

Perceptions Of Fairness ◽

Sovereign Equality ◽

Potential Impact

If perceptions of fairness or equity affect the level of participation and positive action among heterogeneous states, then they are likely to factor in the long-term success of an environmental regime or agreement. This article assesses the potential impact of equity on international environmental law. First, it examines the various meanings attributed to the term ‘equity’ in international law in general, and in international environmental law in particular; the roles equity has played in multilateral environmental agreements; and how different equitable principles are, or may be, implemented in practice. The article then discusses intra-generational equity and inter-generational equity, sovereign equality and equity, distributive justice in international law, principles for determining equitable allocation, and different ways of implementing principles of equity (substantive rules of equity, procedural rules).

Part VIII Compliance, Implementation, and Effectiveness, Ch.52 Transparency Procedures

10.1093/law/9780198849155.003.0052 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Sparks Tom ◽

Peters Anne

Keyword(s):

International Law ◽

Environmental Law ◽

Multilateral Environmental Agreements

This chapter explores how information obligations on states—to collect, report, or publish—are an important aspect of most modern multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs). These have developed both alongside and as part of a wider ‘turn to transparency’ in international law, resulting in traditional forms of reporting, monitoring, and verification being incorporated into a more extensive set of transparency relationships. The chapter examines transparency as an increasingly important aspect of international environmental law, both as an end in itself and as a means of achieving other substantive goals. It frames transparency in international environmental law within the wider transparency turn. The chapter then looks at the techniques that are employed in customary and conventional environmental law to realize transparency, focusing on the compliance-centred, emancipatory, and advocative functions it performs.

Part I Context, Ch.3 Origin and History

10.1093/law/9780198849155.003.0003 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Sand Peter H

Keyword(s):

Environmental Law ◽

Historical Research ◽

Human Environment ◽

History Of ◽

In Trans ◽

Legal Concepts ◽

Modern Era

This chapter traces the origin and history of international environmental law. The focus of historical research on the emergence of environment-related legal concepts, principles, and institutions has primarily been on the study and comparison of developments at the level of national law. Even so, the interface with international law is easily documented; the emergence of a body of rules of environmental ‘neighbourliness’ has long been observed in trans-frontier relations between states. Most narratives of the historical evolution of international environmental law distinguish three major ‘periods’, ‘epochs’, or ‘phases’: the ‘traditional era’ until about 1970 (that is, preceding the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm); the ‘modern era’ from Stockholm to the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro (UNCED); and the ‘post-modern era’ from Rio onwards. Ultimately, a striking feature of traditional international environmental law was its territoriality. One much-neglected aspect in this context has been the extraterritorial application of multilateral environmental agreements.

Part VI Actors, Ch.38 Non-State Actors

10.1093/law/9780198849155.003.0038 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Angstadt J Michael ◽

Betsill Michele

Keyword(s):

Environmental Law ◽

State Actor ◽

State Actors ◽

Definition Of ◽

Institutional Actors ◽

Rule Making ◽

International Rule

This chapter describes non-state actors (NSAs), which encompass a range of entities that collectively extend international environmental law beyond traditional state authority in numerous regimes. Characterized by considerable breadth and diversity, NSAs exist within the traditional, state-centric treaty architecture while simultaneously contesting its structure. Because diverse institutional actors can satisfy the definition of ‘non-state actor’, the chapter analyses a subset of NSAs: non-governmental organizations (NGOs). It first defines NGOs, identifying some common characteristics that influence their ability to advance international environmental law, and noting fundamental criteria used to distinguish among NGOs. The chapter then discusses three key functions that NGOs perform in contemporary international environmental law: serving as activists engaged in agenda-setting functions; performing diplomacy to shape and facilitate international rule-making processes; and contributing to rule-making, implementation, and enforcement in contemporary global governance. It concludes by forecasting strong continued NGO participation in developing non-treaty international environmental law.

Non-Governmental Organizations and Civil Society

The Oxford Handbook of International Environmental Law ◽

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199552153.013.0033 ◽

2008 ◽

Author(s):

Peter Spiro

Keyword(s):

Civil Society ◽

International Law ◽

Environmental Law ◽

World Politics ◽

International Regulation ◽

Theoretical Approaches ◽

Law Making

Among the features of emerging decision-making structures, the participation of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) may be the least amenable to traditional models of world politics. For political leaders and scholars alike, NGOs' place and legitimacy as independent global actors remains contested. International environmental law making has presented a useful vehicle for the study of NGOs and civil society in this new global context. Along with human rights, international environmental law stands at the forefront of international law making. A relatively new area of intensive international regulation, its institutional features are thus only now being mapped out, and can reflect the evolving role of NGOs in a way that more entrenched regimes cannot. This article examines major theoretical approaches to NGO participation in international law, both generally and with specific application to international environmental law. It also considers their place in liberal theory, focusing on NGOs as stakeholders acting through international institutions and as freelancers acting through the marketplace.

The Development of International Environmental Law at the Present Stage: The Review of Activities, International Treaties and Case Law

Lex Russica ◽

10.17803/1729-5920.2021.173.4.079-087 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 79-87

Author(s):

M. R. Salia

Keyword(s):

Environmental Law ◽

Periodic Review ◽

International Treaties ◽

New Era ◽

Healthy Environment ◽

Environmental Disputes ◽

Nationally Determined Contributions

The international community is experiencing the beginning of a new era in the development of international environmental law, where the rights to healthy environment are protected not only by international intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, States, but also by young activists around the world. Since 2020, States have committed themselves to implementing nationally determined contributions made in accordance with the 2015 Paris Agreement. (The Russian Federation is one of the Parties to this Agreement). The Fifth Montevideo Programme for the Development and Periodic Review of Environmental Law implemented under the auspices of UNEP was also launched in 2020. Thus, the UN is trying to intensify the process of improving and implementing international rules of law of international environmental law into the national legislation of Member States. The review of international and national practices on environmental disputes indicates a trend towards an increase in this type of disputes, which in turn shows an increase in the level of legal culture and legal consciousness of citizens. These are people who are not indifferent to their future and the future of the next generations, to a healthy environment and to a prosperous life on the Earth. It is important to understand that, in accordance with the principles of international environmental law, such as “the environment is the common concern of mankind” and “the relationship between the protection of the environment and peace , development, human rights and fundamental freedoms”, the responsibility for pollution (in broader understanding) is borne by each of us: citizens, companies, States, international organizations, and everyone should be interested in achieving the goal of protecting it.

International Environmental Law in the Anthropocene: Towards a Purposive System of Multilateral Environmental Agreements

Transnational Environmental Law ◽

10.1017/s2047102513000149 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 2 (2) ◽

pp. 285-309 ◽

Cited By ~ 37

Author(s):

Rakhyun E. Kim ◽

Klaus Bosselmann

Keyword(s):

Life Support ◽

Environmental Problem ◽

Environmental Law ◽

Legal Reasoning ◽

Common Denominator ◽

Law System ◽

Strong Candidate

AbstractOur point of analytical departure is that the state of the global environment is deteriorating despite the accumulating body of international environmental law. By drawing on the recent Earth system science concept of interlinked planetary boundaries, this article makes a case for a goal-oriented, purposive system of multilateral environmental agreements. The notion of ‘goal’ is used here to mean a single, legally binding, superior norm – agrundnorm– that gives all international regimes and organizations a shared purpose to which their specific objectives must contribute. A bird’s eye view of the international environmental law system reveals how the absence of a unifying goal has created a condition that is conducive to environmental problemshiftingrather than problemsolving. We argue that a clearly agreed goal would provide the legal system with a point of reference for legal reasoning and interpretation, thereby enhancing institutional coherence across Earth’s subsystems. To this end, this article concludes by observing that the protection of the integrity of Earth’s life-support system has emerged as a common denominator among international environmental law instruments. Accordingly, we suggest that this notion is a strong candidate for the overarching goal of international environmental law.

Enforcement Mechanisms in International Law and International Environmental Law

elni Review ◽

10.46850/elni.2005.001 ◽

2005 ◽

pp. 1-12

Author(s):

Jutta Brunnée

Keyword(s):

International Law ◽

Environmental Law ◽

Theoretical Assumptions ◽

Legal Sanctions ◽

Key Features ◽

Enforcement Mechanisms ◽

Common Misconceptions

This essay aims to launch the proceedings of international law on a high note, and to suggest that many common impressions of it are wrong in general, and particularly wrong in the context of international environmental law. Even more particularly, multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) illustrate the maturation and sophistication of international environmental law. If anything, the diversity and flexibility of compliance approaches under MEAs highlight the limited purchase of simple dichotomies such as “binding vs. non-binding” or “enforcement vs. ineffectiveness”. The essay begins by exploring the concept of “enforcement” in international law in general. It suggests that a concept of enforcement as imposition of legal sanctions, or penalties, is unduly narrow. The essay then canvasses some of the main theoretical assumptions about international law and compliance. An exploration of this theoretical context illuminates the reasons underlying common misconceptions about international law and its enforcement, and helps put in perspective the evolution of approaches to compliance in international environmental law. Finally, against the backdrop of these general considerations, the author examines key features of the approaches to compliance and enforcement in international environmental law and MEAs. The aim is to provide a ‘bigger picture’, a context for the detailed discussions of compliance mechanisms that make up the bulk of the conference proceedings.