Environmental And Energy Law

Despite bringing prosperity, industrialisation generally leads to increasing levels of pollution which has a detrimental impact on the environment. In response, legislation which seeks to control or prevent such impact has become common. Similarly, climate change and energy security have become major drivers for the regulatory regimes that have emerged in the energy field. Given the global or regional scope of many environmental problems, international cooperation is often necessary to ensure such legislation is effective. The EU and the UK have contributed to the development of the environmental and energy law regimes currently in force, spanning across international, transnational and national levels. At the same time, practical responses to environmental and energy problems have largely been the focus of engineers, scientists and other technical experts. Environmental & Energy Law attempts to bridge the knowledge gap between legal developments designed to achieve environmental and/or energy-related objectives and the practical, scientific and technical considerations applicable to the same environmental problems. In particular, it attempts to convey a broad range of topical issues in environmental and energy law, from climate and energy regulation, technology innovation and transfer, to pollution control, environmental governance and enforcement. In addition the book outlines key sector specific legal regimes (including water, waste and air quality management), focusing on issues or topics that are particularly relevant to both environmental and energy lawyers, and engineering, science and technology-oriented professionals and students. In this vein, the book guides the reader on some basic practical applications of the law within scientific, engineering and other practical settings. The book will be useful to all those working or studying in the environmental or energy arena, including law students, legal professionals, engineering and science students and professionals. By adopting a multi-disciplinary approach to environmental and energy law, the book embraces all readerships and helps to address the often thorny problem of communication between scientists, engineers, lawyers and policy-makers.

This comprehensive volume of the Elgar Encyclopedia of Environmental Law provides an overview of the major elements of energy law from a global perspective. Based on an in-depth analysis of the energy chain, it offers insight into the impacts of climate change and environmental issues on energy law and the energy sector. This timely reference work highlights the need for modern energy law to consider environmental impacts and promote the use of clean energy sources, whilst also safeguarding a reliable and affordable energy supply.

The area of law concerning energy and the environment is a dynamic one. Decisions are constantly being made at all levels, from international summits to local courts of law, which then filter down and affect law-makers, law students and ultimately members of the public. Energy Law and the Environment is the first book to consider the interrelationship between energy law and the legal environmental imperatives for the industrial sector including current issues and future developments. This is not a book solely for academics - it has been written to be accessible to both lawyers and non-lawyers alike. The importance of the subject matter and its place in the context of the sustainable development of the energy sector, which underpins all economic development, should make it essential reading for both those working in the energy sectors and those concerned with the effects that the sector has on the global environment. It can also be used as a text for courses at undergraduate and graduate level on both energy law and environmental law.

Unsustainable practices worldwide in energy production and consumption have led to a plethora of environmental problems. Until recently environmental law largely overlooked the relevance of energy production and consumption; energy was seen to be of little significance to the advancement of sustainable development. This has changed since 2000 with the global concern attached to climate change, the publication by the United Nations of the World Energy Assessment and the detailed consideration given to this issue at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in 2002. Australia has been seen to be lagging behind the other major industrialised nations of the world in addressing sustainable energy issues. This book was first published in 2006.

To date, U.S. law has largely served as an obstacle to an honest assessment of our preparedness to face the climate change challenge. Given that society has become comfortable amidst mild climatic conditions, and given a pervasive reluctance to change, extreme and abrupt climatic changes will hit hard. Our current legal structure maintains a dangerous status quo and it is time to unleash the potential of communities and the private sector to produce innovative solutions. This book, the fourth in a series by the Environmental Law Collaborative, addresses disruption from a variety of influences and perspectives. Some essays consider the disruptive effects of environmental changes on human and ecological safety, security, and well-being, suggesting that the impacts of climate changes are not accounted for in the current legal system. Some identify key changes needed to respond to climatic challenges, social inequities, and dwindling grey and green resources. Others deconstruct social, political, and professional frameworks to understand how such influences might be used to disrupt the current regime, or even ones where expectations are being disrupted with the endorsement of law. Taken together, these essays provide an understanding of the cause, effect, and opportunity that environmental disruption presents in the climate change era.

The book addresses the most pertinent theoretical and practical issues affecting the broad topic of harmonisation in the fields of environmental and energy law in a comprehensive and critical manner. In this respect, it constitutes a timely and meaningful contribution to the ongoing debate on the conceptual underpinnings, legal techniques and sector-specific problems concerned, while enriching the debate and promoting a more enhanced, coordinated regime to tackle environmental and energy issues in the European Union. Environmental legislation is often incoherent and fragmented, creating hurdles to its effective application. Consequently, rule makers need to resort to harmonisation, which is seen as referring to a number of techniques and instruments that all aim to clarify rules and establish a more coherent and solid legal framework. The book examines the merits of this approach within the context of the European Green Deal and the increasing urgency of the environmental and climate crisis, as well as the obstacles encountered and the questions arising from these complex processes. By bringing together more than fifteen renowned experts in the fields of European environmental and energy law, this book aims to dissect the most critical aspects of and obstacles in the process of strengthening coordination and, ultimately, effectiveness of the existing legal regimes in the field of environmental and energy law in the European Union while sparking further research in the field. Harmonisation in EU Environmental and Energy Law is highly recommended reading for legal scholars specialising in European environmental and energy law, as well as practitioners working in these fields.

'The phenomenon of anthropogenic climate change has become of critical importance to all countries. However, while the majority of developing countries contribute the least to global greenhouse gas emissions, they will generally bear the major burden of the social, environmental and economic impacts of climate change imposed upon them by developed countries. This cutting-edge book contains outstanding contributions by scholars from around the world on the need to expand the range of legal and policy mechanisms and strategies required to bridge the gaps between the north and the south to achieve global climate justice.' - Ben Boer, University of Sydney and former Co-director of the IUCN Academy of Environmental Law This timely book examines the legal and policy challenges in international, regional and national settings, faced by developing countries in mitigating and adapting to climate change. With contributions from over twenty international scholars from developing and developed countries, the book tackles both long-standing concerns and current controversies. It considers the positions of developing countries in the negotiation of a new international legal regime to replace the Kyoto Protocol and canvasses various domestic issues, including implementation of CDM projects, governance of adaptation measures and regulation of the biofuels industry. Through a unique focus on the developing world, this book makes a significant contribution to understanding current challenges and future directions of climate law.