International Environmental Law

Written for students, practitioners and academics, this textbook is an ideal introduction to the subject of international environmental law. The book enables the reader to place international environmental law in the 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, and have provided a fresh understanding of international environmental law as a whole, seen in the light of climate change, biodiversity loss, and other serious environmental challenges facing the world. Apart from discussing concepts, rule-making, and compliance, the book looks at options for improved coordination, harmonization, and even integration of existing multilateral environmental agreements, analyzing how conflicts between various environmental regimes can be avoided or, at least, adequately managed. The book also emphasizes the growing human rights dimension of international environmental law. This book is an ideal 'door opener' for further study. Focusing on international environmental governance in a comprehensive way serves to explain that each institution, each actor, and each instrument is part of a multi-dimensional process in international environmental law and relations.