Showing papers on "Environmental law published in 2017"

Environmental Sustainability: A Case of Policy Implementation Failure?

Abstract: For a generation, governments around the world have been committed to sustainable development as a policy goal. This has been supported by an array of new policies ranging from international agreements, to national strategies, environmental laws at many levels of government, regional programs, and local plans. Despite these efforts, decades of scientific monitoring indicate that the world is no closer to environmental sustainability and in many respects the situation is getting worse. This paper argues that a significant contributing factor to this situation is policy implementation failure. A systematic review of the literature reveals that the failure to achieve the intended outcomes of environmental policies is due to economic, political and communication factors. Conflict between the objectives of environmental policies and those focused on economic development, a lack of incentives to implement environmental policies, and a failure to communicate objectives to key stakeholders are all key factors that contribute to the inability to attain environmental sustainability.

The UNECE Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters

Abstract: This background paper is not intended to be exhaustive but to outline a selection of considerations, findings and reports of the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee (hereinafter – the Committee) in regard to item 2 of the agenda of the fifth meeting of the Task Force on Public Participation in Decision-Making under the Aarhus Convention relating to identification and notification of the public concerned, early public participation, the role of private actors and project developers, and due account of comments and outcomes of public participation.

Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage 1972

Abstract: The World Heritage Convention embraces the idea of a common cultural and natural heritage and acknowledges their similarities and equal importance to humankind. It seeks to establish a system of international co-operation and assistance designed to support States Parties to the Convention in their efforts to identify and conserve that heritage. One of the key elements of this strategy is the establishment of the World Heritage List, on which may be inscribed cultural, natural, and mixed cultural and natural properties that meet the criteria of being of outstanding universal value. This chapter explores the process of inscription, the relevant duties of the States Parties, considerations of enforcement and compliance, the roles of the World Heritage Committee and its advisory bodies, protection mechanisms and international assistance, and the function of the List of World Heritage in Danger. It concludes with an outlook on current and future challenges.

Predators and the public trust.

Abstract: Many democratic governments recognize a duty to conserve environmental resources, including wild animals, as a public trust for current and future citizens. These public trust principles have informed two centuries of U.S.A. Supreme Court decisions and environmental laws worldwide. Nevertheless numerous populations of large-bodied, mammalian carnivores (predators) were eradicated in the 20th century. Environmental movements and strict legal protections have fostered predator recoveries across the U.S.A. and Europe since the 1970s. Now subnational jurisdictions are regaining management authority from central governments for their predator subpopulations. Will the history of local eradication repeat or will these jurisdictions adopt public trust thinking and their obligation to broad public interests over narrower ones? We review the role of public trust principles in the restoration and preservation of controversial species. In so doing we argue for the essential roles of scientists from many disciplines concerned with biological diversity and its conservation. We look beyond species endangerment to future generations' interests in sustainability, particularly non-consumptive uses. Although our conclusions apply to all wild organisms, we focus on predators because of the particular challenges they pose for government trustees, trust managers, and society. Gray wolves Canis lupus L. deserve particular attention, because detailed information and abundant policy debates across regions have exposed four important challenges for preserving predators in the face of interest group hostility. One challenge is uncertainty and varied interpretations about public trustees' responsibilities for wildlife, which have created a mosaic of policies across jurisdictions. We explore how such mosaics have merits and drawbacks for biodiversity. The other three challenges to conserving wildlife as public trust assets are illuminated by the biology of predators and the interacting behavioural ecologies of humans and predators. The scientific community has not reached consensus on sustainable levels of human-caused mortality for many predator populations. This challenge includes both genuine conceptual uncertainty and exploitation of scientific debate for political gain. Second, human intolerance for predators exposes value conflicts about preferences for some wildlife over others and balancing majority rule with the protection of minorities in a democracy. We examine how differences between traditional assumptions and scientific studies of interactions between people and predators impede evidence-based policy. Even if the prior challenges can be overcome, well-reasoned policy on wild animals faces a greater challenge than other environmental assets because animals and humans change behaviour in response to each other in the short term. These coupled, dynamic responses exacerbate clashes between uses that deplete wildlife and uses that enhance or preserve wildlife. Viewed in this way, environmental assets demand sophisticated, careful accounting by disinterested trustees who can both understand the multidisciplinary scientific measurements of relative costs and benefits among competing uses, and justly balance the needs of all beneficiaries including future generations. Without public trust principles, future trustees will seldom prevail against narrow, powerful, and undemocratic interests. Without conservation informed by public trust thinking predator populations will face repeated cycles of eradication and recovery. Our conclusions have implications for the many subfields of the biological sciences that address environmental trust assets from the atmosphere to aquifers.

International Environmental Justice : A North-South Dimension

Abstract: This important work satisfies the need for a thorough assessment of environmental justice concerns at the global level. Using three international environmental case studies, the book extends the theory of environmental justice, commonly used in domestic settings, to the international arena of environmental law, policy and politics. Spanning the traditional boundaries between political science, international relations, international law, international political economy and policy studies, this text is intended primarily for scholars of environmental justice, national and international policymakers, businesses, activists and students of international environmental law, public policy and political economy of the third world.

Legal and institutional foundations of adaptive environmental governance

Abstract: National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC) - National Science Foundation [DBI-1052875]

Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, especially as Waterfowl Habitat 1971 (Ramsar)

Abstract: The traditional nature conservation-oriented focus of the Ramsar Convention was not sufficient for gaining general support for wetland conservation, especially in many countries of the south. This lead to the establishment of the Criteria and Wise Use Working Group. The Working Group proposed a new set of Criteria, allowing for socio-economic values to be considered in the evaluation of the importance of wetlands for listing on the Ramsar List, and `Guidelines for implementation of the wise use concept of the Convention'. Since the Montreux Conference in 1990 both site specific and regional case studies from different parts of the world, as well as examples of processes of developing national wetland policies, have been considered under the Wise Use Project. The Working Group has concluded that these case studies are good examples of different approaches towards wise use. However, it is dangerous to take any of them as models for wise use to be adopted elsewhere, on other sites or under other circumstances. One of the outputs aimed for under the Wise Use Project, is an Action Plan for implementing the Wise Use Guidelines of the Convention. The Action Plan is expected to include activities such as pilot projects demonstrating wise use on the ground, studies to increase basic knowledge, technical meetings and institutional cooperation.

Centralizing Trends and Pollution Law Enforcement in China

Abstract: This article analyses centralizing trends that may be able to reduce the negative influence of local protectionism on environmental law enforcement in China. The article finds that as centralizing trends unfolded, enforcement over time has become stricter and more frequent, however with only minor effects in reducing pollution. Moreover it finds a situation of uneven enforcement with richer and more urbanized areas having much stronger and more frequent enforcement than inland areas. Centralizing trends may thus have spurred stronger enforcement, but concurrently allowed for an uneven enforcement. At the same time, the article finds a continued local influence, keeping enforcement too weak to have much effect in reducing pollution and allowing for local interests to shape enforcement into unequal outcomes.

Time and Environmental Law: Telling Nature's Time

Abstract: Disciplined by industrial clock time, modern life distances people from nature's biorhythms such as its ecological, evolutionary, and climatic processes. The law is complicit in numerous ways. It compresses time through 'fast-track' legislation and accelerated resource exploitation. It suffers from temporal inertia, such as 'grandfathering' existing activities that limits the law's responsiveness to changing circumstances. Insouciance about past ecological damage, and neglect of its restoration, are equally serious temporal flaws: we cannot live sustainably while Earth remains degraded and unrepaired. Applying international and interdisciplinary perspectives on these issues, Time and Environmental Law explores how to align law with the ecological 'timescape' and enable humankind to 'tell nature's time'. Lending insight into environmental behaviour and impacts, this book pioneers a new understanding of environmental law for all societies, and makes recommendations for its reform. Minding nature, not the clock, requires regenerating Earth, adapting to its changes, and living more slowly.

Human Rights, Environmental Rights, and the Right to Environment

Abstract: This chapter suggests that although human rights and environmental protection represent separate social values, the overlapping relationship between them can be resolved in a manner which will further both sets of objectives. The goal of international human rights law, as expressed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenants, is "freedom, justice and peace in the world." Like international human rights protection, international environmental law has developed recently, but its ultimate goal is more difficult to define. The relationship between existing human rights and environmental protection has been described several ways. One view sees environmental protection as a prerequisite or precondition to the exercise of fundamental human rights. Another perspective views environmental protection not as a precondition for human rights, but rather as an integral part of their enjoyment. In a more manageable interpretation, "environmental rights" refers to the reformulation and expansion of existing human rights and duties in the context of environmental protection.

Centralizing Trends and Pollution Law Enforcement in China

Abstract: This paper analyses centralizing trends that may be able to reduce the negative influence of local protectionism on environmental law enforcement in China The paper finds that as centralizing trends unfolded enforcement over time has become stricter and more frequent, however with only minor effects of reducing pollution Moreover it finds a situation of uneven enforcement with richer and more urbanized areas having much stronger and more frequent enforcement than inland areas Centralizing trends may thus have spurred stronger enforcement, but concurrently allowed for an uneven enforcement Concurrently the paper finds a continued local influence keeping enforcement too weak to have much effect in reducing pollution, and allowing for local interests to shape enforcement into unequal outcomes

The Status of Climate Change Litigation: A Global Review

Abstract: Over the last decade, laws codifying national and international responses to climate change have grown in number, specificity, and importance. As these laws have recognized new rights and created new duties, litigation seeking to challenge either their facial validity or their particular application has followed. So too has litigation aimed at pressing legislators and policymakers to be more ambitious and thorough in their approaches to climate change. In addition, litigation seeking to fill the gaps left by legislative and regulatory inaction has also continued. As a result, courts are adjudicating a growing number of disputes over actions — or inaction — related to climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts.

2012 Environmental Performance Index and Pilot Trend Environmental Performance Index

Abstract: the 2012 environmental performance index epi ranks 132 countries on 22 performance indicators in the following 10 policy categories environmental burden of disease water effects on human health air pollution effects on human health air pollution ecosystem effects water resources ecosystem effects biodiversity and habitat forestry fisheries agriculture and climate change these categories track performance and progress on two broad policy objectives environmental health and ecosystem vitality each indicator has an associated environmental public health or ecosystem sustainability target the epi s proximity to target methodology facilitates cross country comparisons among economic and regional peer groups the pilot trend environmental performance index trend epi ranks countries on the change in their environmental performance over the last decade as a complement to the epi the trend epi shows who is improving and who is declining over time the 2012 epi and pilot trend epi were formally released in davos switzerland at the annual meeting of the world economic forum on january 27 2012 these are the result of collaboration between the yale center for environmental law and policy ycelp and the columbia university center for international earth science information network ciesin the interactive website for the 2012 epi is at http epi yale edu

Environmental Protection Laws

Abstract: The manufacturing, processing, and use of chemicals and materials in industrial workplaces are often accompanied by environmental, health, and safety hazards and risks. Occupational and environmental factors cause or exacerbate major diseases of the respiratory, cardiovascular, reproductive, and nervous systems and cause systemic poisoning and some cancers and birth defects. Occupational and environmental disease and injury place heavy economic and social burdens on workers, employers, citizens, and taxpayers. Government intervention to address those issues largely takes the form of regulatory standards promulgated under the authority of federal legislation. This article addresses the major regulatory systems (or regimes) designed to protect public and worker health from chemicals discharged from sources that pollute the air, water, ground, and/or workplace in the United States. The European Union and other developed countries use similar approaches.

Constructing the aquatic environment as a legal subject: legal rights, market participation, and the power of narrative

Abstract: In 2010, the Victorian government created the Victorian Environmental Water Holder (VEWH) to be ‘the single voice’ for environmental water rights in Victoria. The VEWH is one of many ‘environmental water managers’ (EWMs) operating around the world. EWMs use a variety of legal forms to establish legal personhood to participate in water markets to acquire and manage water for the aquatic environment. The creation and operation of EWMs raises the question: what happens when the environment is constructed in law as a legal person? I use the example of the EWMs in Australia and the USA to develop a new conceptual framework to understand how the environment is constructed in law, and how the multiple constructions can interact in unintended ways. In particular, I find that there is an apparent paradox in the creation and operation of the EWMs: they are a regulatory tool intended to increase the legibility of the environment to law, and increase the rights and powers of the environment in law, but in doing so, they reframe the environment as a mere participant in a market, which can weaken the cultural narratives that support environmental protection.

Multi-Case Review of the Application of the Precautionary Principle in European Union Law and Case Law.

Abstract: The precautionary principle was formulated to provide a basis for political action to protect the environment from potentially severe or irreversible harm in circumstances of scientific uncertainty that prevent a full risk or cost-benefit analysis It underpins environmental law in the European Union and has been extended to include public health and consumer safety The aim of this study was to examine how the precautionary principle has been interpreted and subsequently applied in practice, whether these applications were consistent, and whether they followed the guidance from the Commission A review of the literature was used to develop a framework for analysis, based on three attributes: severity of potential harm, standard of evidence (or degree of uncertainty), and nature of the regulatory action This was used to examine 15 pieces of legislation or judicial decisions The decision whether or not to apply the precautionary principle appears to be poorly defined, with ambiguities inherent in determining what level of uncertainty and significance of hazard justifies invoking it The cases reviewed suggest that the Commission's guidance was not followed consistently in forming legislation, although judicial decisions tended to be more consistent and to follow the guidance by requiring plausible evidence of potential hazard in order to invoke precaution

The Impact of Climate Change Law on the Principle of State Sovereignty Over Natural Resources

Abstract: ............................................................................................................................. ii OPSOMMING ........................................................................................................................ iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................... v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................................ vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ..................................................................................................... xiv CHAPTER

The Future of the Law of the Sea: Bridging Gaps Between National, Individual and Common Interests

Abstract: It explores the diverse phenomena which are challenging the international law of the sea today, using the unique perspective of a simultaneous analysis of the national, individual and common interests at stake. This perspective, which all the contributors bear in mind when treating their own topic, also constitutes a useful element in the effort to bring today’s legal complexity and fragmentation to a homogenous vision of the sustainable use of the marine environment and of its resources, and also of the international and national response to maritime crimes. The volume analyzes the relevant legal frameworks and recent developments, focusing on the competing interests which have influenced State jurisdiction and other regulatory processes. An analysis of the competing interests and their developments allows us to identify actors and relevant legal and institutional contexts, retracing how and when these elements have changed over time.

Biodiversity-inclusive impact assessment

Abstract: Environmental impact assessment (EIA) is recognized as a critical tool for implementing international biodiversity goals, and is a requirement of international law. This chapter outlines the legal basis for the international obligation to conduct EIAs of activities that could affect biodiversity, including a discussion respecting the conditions under which the international requirements are triggered and to whom those obligations are owed. The specific elements of the obligation are addressed, with attention being paid to implementation challenges associated with both terrestrial and marine biodiversity.

Transatlantic convergence of preferential trade agreements environmental clauses

Abstract: The United States and the European Union include several environmental clauses in their respective preferential trade agreements (PTAs). Building on an exhaustive and fine-grained dataset of PTAs’ environmental clauses, this article makes two contributions. First, it shows that the United States and the European Union have initially favored different approaches to environmental protection in their PTAs. The United States’ concerns over regulatory sovereignty and level playing field have led to a legalistic and adversarial approach, while the European Union's concerns for policy coherence have led to a more procedural and cooperative approach. Second, this article provides evidence that European and American trade negotiators have gradually converged on a shared set of environmental norms. Although the United States and the European Union initially pursued different objectives, they learned from each other and drew similar lessons. As a result, recent American agreements have become more European-like, and European agreements have become more Americanized. This article concludes that U.S. and E.U. approaches, far from being incompatible, can usefully be combined and reinforce each other.

Explaining Environmental Information Disclosure in China

Abstract: In recent years, China has adopted a range of measures for information disclosure or “open government information.” This comes as a surprise in an authoritarian system known more for secrecy and information control. Why do authoritarian leaders embrace such mechanisms, and how do state and society actors respond? This Article examines in particular the emergence of environmental information disclosure in China, and makes two main contributions to the scholarly debate on Chinese law and governance. First, this Article demonstrates how local demand for legal transplant can arise out of diverse (and sometimes competing) societal interests. State, society and international actors saw in information disclosure law a range of possibilities - the prospect of improved environmental performance, greater accountability to citizens, and strengthened state control. This interest convergence among strange bedfellows has enabled the seemingly paradoxical flowering of disclosure law in China. Second, this Article unpacks the social effects of information disclosure law in China’s authoritarian bureaucratic governance setting. Where interests are compatible in practice, disclosure has enabled state and society advocacy, and catalyzed new channels for public supervision in environmental regulation. It has also provided a powerful rights-based way for advocates to frame their actions. Yet for all its promise, information disclosure creates risks for those involved and reveals deep tensions in Chinese governance – between authoritarian and bottom-up approaches to rule, and the overarching policy objectives of social stability and performance. These tensions limit the utility of disclosure in practice, with serious potential consequences (e.g., weakened state legitimacy and a hobbled environment) for state and society actors alike.

Environmental Law and Economics

Abstract: Since the publication of Revesz and Stavins (2007), there have been some significant normative advances in the area of environmental law and economics. For example, the emergence of climate change as the area of central concern for environmental regulation has brought a great deal of attention to the question of how to discount benefits that accrue into the far future and primarily affect individuals not yet born. Also, the rise of behavioral law and economics has created a shift away from exclusive reliance on neoclassical models.But the most significant changes have been on the positive side. In particular, the traditional alignment of interest groups has come close to experiencing an about-face. Conservative, anti-regulatory groups traditionally favored cost-benefit analysis, market-based instruments, and decentralization. Progressive, pro-regulatory groups traditionally opposed these approaches. In recent years, however, the tables have often been turned. These shifts suggest that commitment to principles is secondary to commitment to substantive regulatory outcomes, with groups of both sides of the spectrum availing themselves of whatever argument will better promote their preferences concerning the stringency of regulation.

The national and international drivers of climate change legislation

Abstract: Chapter 2 offers a statistical, top-down review of the key factors that explain the passage of climate change legislation. Successful climate legislation arises from the interplay of domestic and international factors. The chapter finds that a particularly important driver of climate action is the passage of framework laws, which codify the political consensus and create clarity about the future direction of climate policy. In most countries, there is broad agreement among political parties about the direction of travel. The chapter finds no significant difference in the legislative activities of left-wing and right-wing governments outside the Anglo-Saxon sphere. Climate laws are more likely to be passed by strong, unified governments, although in democracies they are unlikely to do so in an election year. Future climate policy is likely to be influenced by the pledges countries have made under the Paris Agreement, although the earlier Kyoto Protocol has had little impact on the number of climate laws passed, once other factors (such as national income) are controlled for.

The Nigerian Tragedy, Environmental Regulation of Transnational Corporations, and the Human Right to a Healthy Environment

Abstract: This chapter examines the environmental damage caused by transnational corporations (TNCs) in the course of oil exploitation activities in Ogoniland and other parts of the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. It analyses the creation of effective mechanisms for the adjudication and enforcement of the right to a healthy environment against both states and TNCs. The chapter summarizes the tragic events which occurred in Nigeria, and details past and current efforts, both international and national, to regulate the environmental practices of TNCs. It demonstrates why existing environmental controls failed to prevent the tragedy in Nigeria, and surveys recent interactions between international human rights law and the protection of the environment. The chapter suggests that the time has come for an international treaty formally recognizing the human right to a healthy environment. It discusses mechanisms for international adjudication and enforcement of international environmental law and the right to a healthy environment against TNCs and states.