The Impact Of Environmental Law

This cutting-edge book invites readers to rethink environmental law and its critical role in ensuring a sustainable future for all. Illustrating narratives of successful developments in environmental law, contributors draw out key lessons and practices for effective reform and highlight opportunities by which we can respond to environmental challenges facing the planet.

Derived from the renowned multi-volume International Encyclopaedia of Laws, this book provides ready access to legislation and practice concerning the environment in Canada. A general introduction covers geographic considerations, political, social and cultural aspects of environmental study, the sources and principles of environmental law, environmental legislation, and the role of public authorities. The main body of the book deals first with laws aimed directly at protecting the environment from pollution in specific areas such as air, water, waste, soil, noise, and radiation. Then, a section on nature and conservation management covers protection of natural and cultural resources such as monuments, landscapes, parks and reserves, wildlife, agriculture, forests, fish, subsoil, and minerals. Further treatment includes the application of zoning and land-use planning, rules on liability, and administrative and judicial remedies to environmental issues. There is also an analysis of the impact of international and regional legislation and treaties on environmental regulation. Its succinct yet scholarly nature, as well as the practical quality of the information it provides, make this book a valuable resource for environmental lawyers handling cases affecting Canada. Academics and researchers, as well as business investors and the various international organizations in the field, will welcome this very useful guide, and will appreciate its value in the study of comparative environmental law and policy.

Environmental Laws and Their Enforcement is a component of Encyclopedia of Social Sciences and Humanities in the global Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS), which is an integrated compendium of twenty one Encyclopedias. The volume on Environmental Laws and Their Enforcement deals, in two volumes , with a myriad of issues of great relevance to our world such as: Sustainable Development and National Governance; History of Environmental Law; International Environmental Law; Constitutional Law; International Binding Mechanisms; Laws Governing Freshwater and Ground Water Pollution; Forestry; Biodiversity Conservation and Endangered Species Protection; International Guidelines and Principles; Compliance Models for Enforcement of Environmental Laws And Regulations; International Environmental Law; Life Support Systems: Law and Policy; The Principle of Sustainable Development in International Development Law; Environmental Pollution Regulations; Social Concerns for Environmental Exposures to Toxic Substances; Regulation of Air and Pollutants. These volumes are aimed at the following five major target audiences: University and College Students, Educators, Professional Practitioners, Research Personnel and Policy Analysts, Managers, and Decision Makers and NGOs.

This volume examines the impact of globalization on international environmental law and the implementation of sustainable development in the Global South. Comprising contributions from lawyers from the Global South or who have experience in the Global South, this volume is organized into three parts, with a thematic inquiry woven through every chapter to ask how law can enable economies that can be sustained, given the limited carrying capacity of the earth. Part I describes and characterizes the status quo of environmental and economic problems in the Global South during the process of globalization. Some of those problems include redistribution of environmental burden on the public through over-reliance on the state in emerging economies and the transition to public-private partnerships, as well as extreme uncontrolled economic expansion. Building on Part I, Part II takes an international perspective by presenting some tools that are in place during the process of globalization that lead to friction and interfaces between developed and developing economies in environmental law. Recognizing the impossibility of a globalized Northern economy, the authors in Part III present some alternatives through framework ideas of human and civil rights, environmental rights, and indigenous persons’ rights, as well as concrete and specific legal tools to strengthen justice and rule of law institutions. The book gives new perspectives to familiar approaches through concrete examples by professional practitioners and theoretical discourse by academic researchers, and can thereby form the basis for changes in practices, as well as further discussions and comparisons. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of environmental law, sustainable development, and globalization and international relations, as well as legal professionals and practitioners.

The central idea animating environmental impact assessment (EIA) is that decisions affecting the environment should be made through a comprehensive evaluation of predicted impacts. Notwithstanding their evaluative mandate, EIA processes do not impose specific environmental standards, but rely on the creation of open, participatory and information rich decision-making settings to bring about environmentally benign outcomes. In light of this tension between process and substance, Neil Craik assesses whether EIA, as a method of implementing international environmental law, is a sound policy strategy, and how international EIA commitments structure transnational interactions in order to influence decisions affecting the international environment. Through a comprehensive description of international EIA commitments and their implementation with domestic and transnational governance structures, and drawing on specific examples of transnational EIA processes, the author examines how international EIA commitments can facilitate interest coordination, and provide opportunities for persuasion and for the internalisation of international environmental norms.

Most books on environment law focus on the law first, and then look at how environmental problems are dealt with in relation to the law. Taking a fresh approach, Environmental Law from the Policy Perspective: Understanding How Legal Frameworks Influence Environmental Problem Solving examines environmental problems first, followed by an examination of legal frameworks and how they impact environmental issues. This approach provides a clearer understanding of the relationship between the law and environment by examining environmental issues from an applied perspective. By first focusing on environmental problems without constraining the analysis to a particular legal framework, this book fosters a more holistic discussion of environmental issues that include scientific, social, economic, and political contexts. It examines how laws affect the adaptation of policy, how policy is legitimized into statutory law, and how the law is impacted in practice. The text then underscores how interpretation of the law affects its application to different factual settings. Written by an environmental law expert who teaches environmental law to those not trained in legal theory, the book provides insights into the way environmental issues are "ingested" into a legal process. The author demystifies environmental law as a concept by applying it through the lens of environmental problem solving. Once you have a clear picture of the role legal frameworks have in managing environmental issues, you will be able to take a deeper policy-oriented approach to environmental problems.