Drafting Legislation For Sustainable Soils

"IWMI-International Water Management Institute.

The 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development placed a responsibility on States to protect the local, regional and global environment, especially problems shared by the whole community such as soil degradation. The knowledge of the severe degradation situation of the world's soils and of the poor state of the soil legislation led the IUCN to pass a Soil Resolution at its World Congress in October 2000 for the IUCN Environmental Law Program to develop legal guidelines, explanatory material and investigate a global legal instrument for the sustainable use of soils, while paying particular attention to the ecological needs of soil and their ecological functions for the conservation of biodiversity and the maintenance of human life. This book discusses an ecological-based rationale for new international, national and regional legislation and institutional frameworks for sustainable soil, and a basis for the preparation of the instruments.

This state-of-the-art Dictionary defines terms employed in international agreements, national legislation and scholarly legal studies related to comparative and international environmental law and the emerging law of climate change. In acknowledgement of ChinaÕs growing role in this arena, each term also includes its pinyin translation in order to facilitate access to the Mandarin variants. The international community is developing increasingly complex environmental provisions and participating in a number of international treaties and agreements related to environmental law and regulation. The complicated and highly specific nature of environmental law has led to the development of localized terminology that is not easily understood outside its country of origin. Jointly prepared by scholars in China and the US, the Dictionary provides a linguistic bridge between English and Chinese speakers as well as an essential reference for those interpreting and applying international environmental law, multilateral environmental agreements, and domestic laws that implement these treaties. Students, scholars and practitioners in the area of environmental law will find this groundbreaking Dictionary an invaluable addition to their libraries.

This book presents an important discussion on future options for sustainable soil management in Africa from various perspectives, including national soil protection regulations, the role of tenure rights, the work of relevant international institutions such as the UNCCD and FAO, and regional and international cooperation. This first volume of the new subseries Regional Perspectives to the International Yearbook of Soil Law and Policy includes contributions by African and international experts alike. Given the range of key topics covered, the book offers an indispensable tool for all academics, legislators and policymakers working in this field. The “International Yearbook of Soil Law and Policy – Regional Perspectives” series discusses central questions in law and politics that concern the protection and sustainable management of soil and land in different regions of the world.

This Handbook is the first comprehensive account of comparative environmental law. It examines in detail the methodological foundations of the discipline as well as the substance of environmental law across countries from four vantage points: country studies from all continents, responses to common problems (including air pollution, water management, nature conservation, genetically modified organisms, climate change and energy, chemicals, waste), foundational components of environmental law systems (including principles, property rights, administrative and judicial organisation, command-and-control regulation, market mechanisms, informational techniques and liability mechanisms), and common interactions of environmental protection with the broader public, private, and criminal law contexts. 0The volume brings together the foremost authorities in this field from around the world to provide a concise, self-contained, and technically rigorous account of environmental law as a single overall system.

This book presents an important discussion on the implementation of sustainable soil management in Africa from a range of governance perspectives. It addresses aspects such as the general challenges in Africa with regard to soil management; the structural deficiencies in legal, organizational and institutional terms; and specific policies at the national level, including land cover policies and persistent organic pollutants. This fourth volume of the International Yearbook of Soil Law and Policy is divided into four parts, the first of which deals with several aspects of the theme “sustainable soil management in Africa.” In turn, the second part covers recent international developments, the third part presents regional and national reports (i.a. Mexico, USA and Germany), and the fourth discusses cross-cutting issues(i.a. on rural-urban interfaces). Given the range of key topics covered, the book offers an indispensible tool for all academics, legislators and policymakers working in this field. The “International Yearbook of Soil Law and Policy” is a book series that discusses central questions in law and politics with regard to the protection and sustainable management of soil and land – at the international, national and regional level.

The book describes the complex and variable laws addressing site contamination, reviewing existing international, regional and national law of relevance to site contamination. It also offers detailed case studies of national approaches to the issue, and goes on to explore avenues for promoting the development of comprehensive domestic laws on site contamination, with a focus on the role of international law and actors. A detailed discussion analyzes such variations as a binding international legal instrument, a non-binding instrument, and a model framework for site contamination management. The text includes recommendations regarding the key elements needed for regulating site contamination at the national level. The author also offers an appropriate and feasible timetable for international action to promote better national law and policy regarding contaminated sites.

The IUCN Academy of Environmental Law Research Studies' third colloquium brought together more than 130 experts from 27 nations on nearly every continent. This book brings together a number of papers presented there and offers a global perspective on biodiversity conservation and the maintenance of sustainable cultures.