Showing papers on "Environmental law published in 2020"

Environmental Principles: From Political Slogans to Legal Rules

Abstract: General Introduction PART I: THE POLLUTER PAYS, PREVENTION AND PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLES: THREE APPROACHES TO ENVIRONMENTAL RISK Part I Introduction Chapter 1 The polluter-pays principle Chapter 2 The principle of prevention Chapter 3 The Precautionary principle Part I Conclusions PART II : THE LEGAL STATUS AND ROLE OF THE POLLUTER-PAYS, PREVENTIE AND PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLES : A SHIFT FROM MODERN TO POST-MODERN LAW Part II Introduction Chapter 4 Theoretical Presentation of Modern and Post-Modern Principles Chapter 5 The evolving function of environmental directing principles in the transition from modern to post-modern law Chapter 6 The legal status of the directory principles of environmental law: from political slogans to normative principles Chapter 7 Environmental directing principles versus free trade Part II Conclusions Apendix I: Table of Materials Bibliography Index

Principles of Property Law

Abstract: Principles of Property Law offers a critical and contextual analysis of fundamental property law concepts and principles, providing students with the necessary tools to enable them to make sense of English land law rules in the context of real world applications. This new book adopts a contextual approach, placing the core elements of a qualifying law degree property and land law course in the context of general property principles and practices as they have developed in the UK and other jurisdictions in response to a changing societal relationship with a range of tangible and intangible things. Also drawing on concepts of property developed by political and legal theorists, economists and environmentalists, Principles of Property Law gives students a clear understanding of how property law works, why it matters and how the theory connects with the real world. Suitable for undergraduate law students studying property and land law in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, as well as postgraduate students seeking an accessible analysis of property law as part of a course in law, land administration, environmental law or development studies.

Working with Inadequate Tools: Legislative Shortcomings in Protection against Ecological Effects of Artificial Light at Night

Abstract: The fundamental change in nocturnal landscapes due to the increasing use of artificial light at night (ALAN) is recognized as being detrimental to the environment and raises important regulatory questions as to whether and how it should be regulated based on the manifold risks to the environment. Here, we present the results of an analysis of the current legal obligations on ALAN in context with a systematic review of adverse effects. The legal analysis includes the relevant aspects of European and German environmental law, specifically nature conservation and immission control. The review represents the results of 303 studies indicating significant disturbances of organisms and landscapes. We discuss the conditions for prohibitions by environmental laws and whether protection gaps persist and, hence, whether specific legislation for light pollution is necessary. While protection is predominantly provided for species with special protection status that reveal avoidance behavior of artificially lit landscapes and associated habitat loss, adverse effects on species and landscapes without special protection status are often unaddressed by existing regulations. Legislative shortcomings are caused by difficulties in proving adverse effect on the population level, detecting lighting malpractice, and applying the law to ALAN-related situations. Measures to reduce ALAN-induced environmental impacts are highlighted. We discuss whether an obligation to implement such measures is favorable for environmental protection and how regulations can be implemented.

BIM And GIS Data Integration: A Novel Approach Of Technical/Environmental Decision-Making Process In Transport Infrastructure Design

Abstract: The European Directive 2014/24/EU and its recent Italian transposition law DM 560/2017 encourage an extensive use of BIM-based practices in transport infrastructure design. Therefore, a shift from the traditional design approach towards a shared and highly integrated model, capable of including the various design phases along with economic, operational and environmental concerns, is observed. In such a framework, this work evaluates the benefits returning from the integration between geospatially-referenced data and the BIM models for a more aware design approach. The major aim of this study is to underline the potential of an interoperable and shared model supplemented by GIS data, in minimizing or definitely removing the possible conflicts that typically arise between the infrastructure design and environmental constraints. Particularly, thanks to both the simultaneous assessment of each environmental component and the evaluation of the different project configurations, this methodology can provide an integrated technical/environmental overview of the design. As a result, it allows for immediately verifying the project to comply with the national minimum environmental criteria, which are mandatory for contractors according to the Italian environmental law n° 221/2015 and the new Italian Public Procurement Code. The proposed approach was finally tested on an airport infrastructure. Preliminary results have shown viability of the data management model for supporting designer’s choices in the various project phases, thereby proving this methodology to be worthy for implementation in infrastructure design procedures.

Effect of Environmental Regulation on Industrial Solid Waste Pollution in China: From the Perspective of Formal Environmental Regulation and Informal Environmental Regulation

Abstract: To address the concern of environmental pollution, it is necessary to study the effect of environmental regulation on industrial solid waste emission reduction in China. This paper aimed to analyze the effectiveness of provincial environmental regulation (both formal and informal) on the industrial solid waste emission reduction. The results show that both the effect of formal and informal environmental regulations on industrial solid waste emission intensity present an inverted "U" shape. The threshold value of per capita GDP as an indicator variable is CNY 16,299 and CNY 15,572 respectively. The effect on pollution emission reduction will appear when the value is higher than the threshold, and the two-way transmission mechanism between formal and informal environmental regulations does exist. When GDP per capita exceeds CNY 27,961, there is a phenomenon of "rebound" in the effect of informal environmental regulation on pollution reduction. Based on the findings, it was suggested that both formal and informal environmental regulation should be promoted to achieve the goal of industrial solid waste emission reduction. The coordination between formal and informal environmental regulation should be considered when the government makes policies. Different environmental regulation policies should be implemented in different regions. Informal regulation should be enriched and further promoted. Environmental law should play an important role in maintaining the public's participation in environmental regulation to prevent the failure of informal environmental regulation.

Earth system law for the Anthropocene: rethinking environmental law alongside the Earth system metaphor

Abstract: Despite its noble intentions and some victories, environmental law has been and continues to be complicit in driving the processes and paradigms that give rise to the Anthropocene. Environmental la...

Lewis Fry Richardson: his intellectual legacy and influence in the social sciences

Abstract: Lewis F Richardson, a physicist by training, remains a towering presence in two academic subjects, meteorology and peace research. Prizes are named for him in both fields. This chapter introduces a collection of articles assessing Richardson’s legacy and his enduring influence in the social sciences. It reviews his citations as an indication of the range of his influence and discusses his impact in five areas of social science: the study of arms races, data collection on deadly quarrels, the stability of the long peace, the role of geography in conflict, and the role of mathematics in peace studies. It also includes a brief discussion of the conscience of a scholar with regard to preparations for war. 1.1 His Life and Work Lewis F Richardson was trained as a physicist, but gained his fame first in meteorology and then in the study of conflict. Although he never gained employment at a leading university, his work in meteorology was widely respected by his contemporaries and has remained among the foundations of the field. His work on conflict was seen as more unorthodox. Certainly, his formal models and quantitative empirics were well ahead of the curve in the discipline of international relations in his lifetime. It was not until seven years after his death that his two major volumes on conflict found a publisher (Richardson, 1960a, b). Since then, Richardson has been honored in various ways. In 1972, British Prime Minister Edward Heath opened a new wing of the Headquarters Building of the My work on this volume was supported by the Gløbius fund and by the Conflict trends project (#402561). Most of the chapters were first presented to two sessions on Richardson at the 59th Annual Convention of the International Studies Association, San Francisco, 4–7 April 2018. I am grateful to Håvard Hegre, Gerald Schneider, and the contributors to this volume for comments on my introduction. © The Author(s) 2020 N. P. Gleditsch (ed.), Lewis Fry Richardson: His Intellectual Legacy and Influence in the Social Sciences, Pioneers in Arts, Humanities, Science, Engineering, Practice 27, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-31589-4_1 1 Meteorological Office named the Richardson Wing. The Department of Mathematics at the University of York has sponsored a Lewis F Richardson lecture series since 2015. Unusually, scientific prizes are named for him in both his main fields. In 1960, the Royal Meteorological Society established the annual LF Richardson Prize for meritorious papers by young authors in one of the journals of the society. Since 1997, The European Geosciences Union has awarded the Lewis Fry Richardson Medal for ‘exceptional contributions to nonlinear geophysics in general’. And from 2001, scholars who have spent most of their academic life in Europe and who have made exemplary scholarly contributions to the scientific study of militarized conflict, have been honored with the Lewis F Richardson Lifetime Award, with Michael Nicholson as the first recipient. As I have experienced on a couple of occasions, if a conflict researcher gets an opportunity to speak to a group of meteorologists (say on the topic of climate change and conflict), a favorable mood can be generated by an early reference to Richardson. Richardson was in many ways a loner. Although he carried out an extensive correspondence and was receptive to criticism of his own work – in fact, his two major volumes contain a number of fictional dialogues with his critics – he generally worked without assistants, and most of his work is single-authored. He often worked under difficult conditions. The extreme case is his work on meteorology while serving as an ambulance driver in France in World War I. In 1917, during the battle of Champagne, he sent his working copy of the manuscript on weather prediction ‘to the rear, where it became lost, only to be re-discovered some months later, under a heap of coal’ (Richardson, 1922: ix). Of course, as befitting a scholar of his generation, he relied very heavily on his wife Dorothy not just for moral support but in the practical work of carrying out experiments and in copy-editing. As is evident from the timeline in the Appendix, Richardson spent most of his professional life in positions where he either worked on practical problems or taught science at the basic level, notably at Paisley Technical College (1929–40). Apparently, Richardson was not the world’s best teacher, but he is described as ‘conscientious and caring’ (Ashford, 1985: 150f). Much of his research was carried out in his spare time. It was only after retirement, for the last 13 years of his life, that he was able to devote himself full-time to research. Richardson’s publications in meteorology, notably Weather Prediction by Numerical Process (Richardson, 1922) and a later article on atmospheric diffusion (Richardson, 1926), remain his most frequently cited items. The 1926 article is recorded with well over 1000 citations on Web of Science, including 42 citations in Ashford (1985: 246ff). www.york.ac.uk/maths/events/lfr/. Ashford (1985: 245), www.rmets.org/our-activities/awards/l-f-richardson-prize. www.egu.eu/awards-medals/lewis-fry-richardson/. http://ksgleditsch.com/richardson_award.html. Ashford (1985: 239f). 2 N. P. Gleditsch

Future proofing the principle of no significant harm

Abstract: The principle of ‘no significant harm’ as a way of addressing transboundary environmental challenges is both inadequately researched and inadequately implemented in many parts of the world. This paper addresses the questions: What is the nature of transboundary harm in the Anthropocene? Is the principle of no significant harm able to address current and pre-empt future transboundary harm in the field of water and environmental law? This special issue has focused on this principle in the arena of water law. This article integrates the findings in the context of a broader understanding of global harm in the Anthropocene. We draw 4 conclusions. First, conceptually harm is moving beyond direct inter-state harm between neighbouring countries to a multi-directional, multi-actor/multi-level harm, which is increasingly creeping and cumulative, with growing spatial and temporal characteristics. It thus requires moving beyond quibbling over what is ‘significant’ harm to recognize the climate emergency, the sixth biodiversity extinction, the huge damage to water systems and to realize that the threshold of ecosystem and human tolerance of damage are reducing rapidly. Second, however, the no-harm principle tends to be better developed in qualifying sovereignty in relation to transboundary harm on rivers than in the broader environmental and development arena as demonstrated by agenda 2030 which reverts to full permanent sovereignty. Third, legal scholarship, however, does provide a wide range of instruments for addressing harm before it occurs, after it has happened, and considering the differentiated economic capacity of the actors. Finally, the larger problem is that it is not individual projects or programmes that cause problems as much as national prioritization of economic growth which has led to externalizing the environment. The no-harm principle will be ineffective if it cannot be used to question the content of ‘growth’-led policies. There is need to future proof the no-harm principle.

Ecosystem Services in U.S. Environmental Law and Governance for the Ecosystem-Based Management Practitioner

Abstract: This chapter provides an overview of ecosystem services issues in United States (US) law and governance for the Ecosystem-Based Management (EBM) practitioner A brief overview summary of a suite of US federal environmental laws where ecosystems services are relevant is presented along with a high-level overview of ecosystem services in federal and state agency regulations as it helps inform ecosystem-based management As with the published science-based literature on ecosystem services, there is also a sizeable law-based literature available on ecosystem services A HeinOnline law journal library focused search identified 1903 legal articles that contained reference to ecosystem services Focusing on a snapshot of key literature, this chapter presents an overview of those articles that contained “ecosystem services” or “ecosystem based management” just in the article’s title From this survey across the breadth of law journals, a suite of ecosystem services topics related to EBM in environmental law are identified and summarized Overall, the goal of this chapter is to present a high-level overview and direct the reader to resources to find more in-depth legal analyses of select ecosystem services topics

Plastic Pollution in Soils: Governance Approaches to Foster Soil Health and Closed Nutrient Cycles

Abstract: Plastic pollution in soils pose a major threat to soil health and soil fertility that are directly linked to food security and human health. In contrast to marine plastic pollution, this ubiquitous problem is thus far scientifically poorly understood and policy approaches that tackle plastic pollution in soils comprehensively do not exist. In this article, we apply a qualitative governance analysis to assess the effectiveness of existing policy instruments to avoid harmful plastic pollution in (agricultural) soils against the background of international environmental agreements. In particular, environmental and fertiliser legislation relevant to soil protection in the European Union and in Germany are assessed. Regulatory weaknesses and gaps of the respective legislation are identified, and proposals for enhanced command-and-control provisions developed. However, the legal analysis furthermore shows that plastic pollution ecologically is also a problem of quantity, which is difficult to solve exclusively through command-and-control legislation. Instead, comprehensive quantity-control instruments to phase out fossil fuels (worldwide and in all sectors) as required by climate protection law can be effective approaches to tackle plastic pollution in environmental media like agricultural soils as well.

Should Law Subsidize Driving

Abstract: A century ago, captains of industry and their allies in government launched a social experiment in urban America: the abandonment of mass transit in favor of a new personal technology, the private automobile. Decades of investment in this shift have created a car-centric landscape with Dickensian consequences. In the United States, motor vehicles are now the leading killer of children and the top producer of greenhouse gases. Each year, they rack up trillions of dollars in direct and indirect costs and claim nearly 100,000 American lives via crashes and pollution, with the most vulnerable paying a disproportionate price. The appeal of the car’s convenience and the failure to effectively manage it has created a public health catastrophe. Many of the automobile’s social costs originate in individual preferences, but an overlooked amount is encouraged—indeed enforced—by law. Yes, the United States is car-dependent by choice. But it is also car-dependent by law. This Article conceptualizes this problem and offers a way out. It begins by identifying a submerged, disconnected system of rules that furnish indirect yet extravagant subsidies to driving. These subsidies lower the price of driving by comprehensively reassigning its costs to non-drivers and society at large. They are found in every field of law, from traffic law to land use regulation to tax, tort, and environmental law. Law’s role is not primary, and at times it is even constructive. But where it is destructive, it is uniquely so: Law not only inflames a public health crisis but legitimizes it, ensuring the continuing dominance of the car. The Article urges a reorientation of law away from this system of automobile supremacy in favor of consensus social priorities, such as health, prosperity, and equity.

The Treadmill of Production and the Treadmill of Law: Propositions for Analyzing Law, Ecological Disorganization and Crime

Abstract: Treadmill of production (ToP) arguments have significant implications for the study of environmental crime. A current limitation of those arguments involves their application to environmental law a...

The analysis of the causes of flood disasters and their impacts in the perspective of environmental law

Abstract: The environment is a combination of two things: resources and hazards. One of the hazards that is a result of environmental changes is the occurrence of natural disasters. Floods are one of the disasters that is feared by people in society. Negative impact of floods is the affected quality of raw water in the flooded area. Polluted water will certainly have a negative impact on the health of the human body. From the explanation above, this article analyzes changes in water quality that occur in flood-affected areas. The utilized method is the empirical legal method, by describing the state of the research subject based on existing conditions and in relation to existing legal regulations. The results obtained from this study showed that irresponsible individuals had committed many violations by building factories on the riverbanks. This causes the river water to overflow and damage buildings, dikes, settlements, and so on. The advice that can be given is to give strict sanctions to people who intentionally or unintentionally violate legal regulations, as well as to build cooperation between society and the government to conserve nature and foster self-awareness to preserve the environment.

Eco-Crimes and Ecocide at Sea: Toward a New Blue Criminology:

Abstract: This essay adopts an interdisciplinary approach to consider the meaning of “eco-crime” in the aquatic environment and draws on marine science, the study of criminal law and environmental law, and t...

Prices versus quantities

Abstract: Within the world of market mechanisms, two parallel ideas have been formative in the developing discourse on environmental policy: a "price instrument" through a Pigouvian tax, and a "quantity instrument" through a Dalesian emissions trading instrument. Over time, these simple theoretical ideas have developed variants out of political and administrative necessity, which have blurred distinctions and sometimes detracted from the environmental and economic advantages of market mechanisms. That said, a juxtaposition of price instruments with quantity instruments is useful for comparing the administrative and welfare implications. This chapter reviews the relative advantages and disadvantages of price and quantity instruments, with a special concern for climate policy.

In and Against the State: The Dynamics of Environmental Activism

Abstract: The emerging and changing roles of environmental activists pose interesting questions for criminological inquiry. On the one hand, environmental activism has become pivotal to the implementation, compliance and regulation of environmental policies. For example, the resources and technologies of environmental non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are increasingly employed by state agencies to help identify, monitor and prosecute environmental crime. In this sense, environmental activism has become a quasi-arm of the state in preventing environmental crime. On the other hand, environmental activists have been targeted by state legislatures and enforcement agencies as “eco-terrorists” and ideological warriors who impede trade, economic prosperity and the aspirations of private enterprise. As such, protecting the environment through protest has become an increasingly dangerous endeavor with harassment, persecution and death of activists occurring at the hands of both states and corporations. In these instances, environmental activists are perceived as a threat to the corporations and states that seek profit through the exploitation of natural resources. Thus, it can be argued that the relationship between those seeking to protect the environment and the state is paradoxical, involving both collaboration and coercion, and dynamism and danger. This article addresses the relationship between environmental activists and government. It examines three different dynamics between activists and states working to develop environmental policies, each with varying levels of trust and cooperation.

Legal personality in Aotearoa New Zealand: an example of integrated thinking on sustainable development

Abstract: This paper aims to set the scene for an emerging conversation on the Rights of Nature as articulated by a philosophy of law called Earth Jurisprudence, which privileges the whole Earth community over the profit-driven structures of the existing legal and economic systems.,The study used a wide range of thought from literature relating to philosophy, humanities, environmental economics, sustainable development, indigenous rights and legal theory to show how Earth Jurisprudence resonates with two recent treaties of Waitangi settlements in Aotearoa New Zealand that recognise the Rights of Nature.,Indigenous philosophies have become highly relevant to sustainable and equitable development. They have provided an increasingly prominent approach in advancing social, economic, environmental and cultural development around the world. In Aotearoa New Zealand, Maori philosophies ground the naming of the Te Urewera National Park and the Whanganui River as legal entities with rights.,Recognition of the Rights of Nature in Aotearoa New Zealand necessitates a radical re-thinking by accounting researchers, practitioners and educators towards a more ecocentric view of the environment, given the transformation of environmental law and our responsibilities towards sustainable development.,This relates to the application of Earth Jurisprudence legal theory as an alternative approach towards thinking about integrated reporting and sustainable development.

The Role of the United Nations Environment Assembly in Emerging Issues of International Environmental Law

Abstract: This article takes a closer look at the scientific, policy and catalytic functions of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and its Assembly (UNEA) and UNEA’s role in addressing emerging issues in international environmental policy and law by examining two concrete examples. The first shows how UNEA was able to contribute to the international environmental law on mercury: UNEA played a catalytic policy role by contributing to the development of international soft law, customary law, and treaty law. Further, UNEA played a policy shaping role by influencing the further development of key international environmental law principles in the negotiations of new environmental norms in other fora. The second example describes UNEA’s unsuccessful attempt to address geoengineering. Building on the two examples, the article identifies factors that support or impede the fulfilment of UNEA’s role in addressing emerging issues of international environmental policy and law.

The Ecosystem Approach in International Marine Environmental Law and Governance

Abstract: An ecosystem approach to the management of human activities in the marine environment began to feature as a normative concept in international instruments in the 1980s, beginning with the pioneering Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources. While an implicit basis for the ecosystem approach can be found in the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention, much of the additional conceptual development at the global level has occurred within the framework of the 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity. The subsequent widespread acceptance of the ecosystem approach has been described as a response to the failure of reactive and fragmented sectoral and zonal approaches to environmental protection and management. A consensus has emerged that a paradigm shift in thinking is needed, whereby traditional modalities of governance are replaced by proactive, integrative and holistic approaches involving adaptive management and greater cooperation between States, international institutions and other stakeholders in order to achieve effective and long-term, coherent implementation of policies across sectors. This chapter will discuss the origins and evolution of the ecosystem approach in international law, which can now be found in a wide range of international and regional instruments, including the regional seas conventions, fisheries management agreements, as well as the ongoing negotiations to develop an internationally legally binding instrument for the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction. Finally, challenges to the operationalization of the concept in practice will be discussed.

Overview of Environmental Jurisprudence within Environmental Ethics

Abstract: Environmental Jurisprudence’s highest achievement is its codification of a change in ethics, and a legal recognition that both individual and governmental agency responsibility extend to the natural world. This article provides an overview of Environmental Jurisprudence as it relates to environmental ethics. It examines both the foundation of Environmental Jurisprudence as well as the concept of human rights. The article also critically discusses international environmental law from the perspective of human rights. This research concludes by arguing that despite the attempt made in the international regime for adding eco-centric values in environmental law, environmental jurisprudence to date has continued with anthropocentric ideas with all concerns for safeguarding the means of human survival.

Localizing Environmental Federalism

Abstract: Local environmental action has gained attention and importance in the face of inaction by the federal government and many states. By taking action when other levels of government are not, these local governments are fulfilling an important federalism function. Environmental federalism theory has long highlighted the potential for local governments to play this gap-filling function, and to fulfill other federalism values. To date, however, environmental federalism theory has not examined closely the legal basis for local governmental action, and the vulnerabilities that surround that local authority. In many states, local authority is easily, and often, preempted by the state. Given the importance of local environmental activity, the looming threat of removal of local ability to act is an important, and as-yet relatively unexamined, aspect of environmental federalism dynamics. This Article proposes a new framework—localized environmental federalism—for better acknowledging the role that local governments play in environmental federalism and environmental governance, and for thinking through the implications of the loss of local authority over the environment in the context of environmental federalism. Notably, this is a theory of localized, not localist, environmental federalism; the framework has no built-in preference for local authority over other actors. Instead, it endeavors to make clear the realities of local environmental governance and how that reality affects environmental federalism conversations. Localized environmental federalism takes as its starting point three central tenets: 1) local governments play a distinct role in environmental federalism; 2) environmental federalism values may be impacted by the vulnerability of local authority; and 3) because local authority varies by state in highly particularized ways, conversations about local environmental governance must become more particularized too. Using that framework for thinking through the role of local governments in environmental federalism, it becomes possible to have nuanced conversations about how, why, and when local actors may be well-suited for environmental action. In a time of pressing environmental concerns, that knowledge has never been more crucial.

Social Justice on Environmental Law Enforcement in Indonesia: The Contemporary and Controversial Cases

Abstract: This paper discusses Social Justice in the context of the Environment, where the basic legal framework underlying the development and protection of Indonesia's environment is contained in the opening of the 1945 Constitution in paragraph 4, which in essence requires the government to utilize natural resources for as much -lots of people's welfare. Thought about the constitutional obligations of the state are further elaborated in Article 33 of the 1945 Constitution, namely the principle of the state, the earth and all the wealth contained therein and the livelihoods of the people controlled by the state to be used for the lives of many people or with the word other countries act as organizers of public interests. A good and healthy environment is the human rights of every Indonesian citizen as stated in Article 28H of the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia.

Can’t see the (mangrove) forest for the trees: Trends in the legal and policy recognition of mangrove and coastal wetland ecosystem services in Australia

Abstract: The ecosystem services concept can deliver improved conservation outcomes, yet it is not uniformly translated into environmental law and policy. Here we examine Australian laws and policies in the context of mangroves and coastal wetlands to assess and analyse the extent to which the ecosystem services concept has been integrated. A number of key themes emerged from our research, including: potential difficulties in finding relevant laws because of (1) inconsistent definitions; (2) the large amount of law and policy, and inadequate integration of ecosystem services because (3) not all ecosystem services provided by mangroves and wetlands are recognised in law and policy; and (4) different ecosystem services are addressed under different legal instruments. We also found that (5) ecosystem services are referenced more often in policy than in law; and (6) this is often in the form of a ‘mention’ rather that regulation. Finally, we also found (7) insufficient spatial protection of mangroves and wetlands; (8) significant degrees of administrative discretion; and (9) a lack of harmonisation across jurisdictions. We anticipate that these findings will be of assistance to law and policymakers and resource managers, as a tool for identifying deficiencies in legal frameworks as a precursor to reform.

Friend or foe? International environmental law and its structural complicity in the Anthropocene’s climate injustices

Abstract: In this paper, we focus on the structural complicity of international environmental law (IEL) in causing and exacerbating climate injustices. We aim to show that although the intentions behind IEL may be well-meaning, it often inadvertently, but also deliberately at times, plays a role in creating, sustaining and exacerbating the many paradigms that drive climate injustice in the Anthropocene. We focus on three aspects: IEL’s neoliberal anthropocentrism; its entanglement with (neo)colonialism; and its entrenchment of the sovereign right to exploit energy resources. We conclude with a call for thoroughgoing, and urgent, reform of IEL.