Principles of International Environmental Law

Citation

Sands, P., Peel, J., with Fabra, A., & MacKenzie, R. (2018). Principles of International Environmental Law (4th ed.). Cambridge University Press.

Chapter Summary

The fourth edition has nineteen chapters in four parts (the legal and institutional framework; principles and rules establishing standards; techniques for implementing them; and the linkage with other areas of international law) and about 940 pages of text. Every chapter opens with a chapter outline and ends with a further reading section; the preface says the outlines and reading lists were introduced in this edition to guide readers. The authors state that the book cannot be exhaustive on a field this large, and that this edition strengthens the critical analysis, integrates case law with the central themes set out in Chapters 1 and 19, and adds a new climate change chapter covering the Paris Agreement.

Chapter 1: The Environment and International Society: Issues, Concepts and Definitions

Introduces the environmental challenge and the bases of decision-making: science, economics and other social objectives, including sustainable development. It then places these in the international legal order, covering the functions of international law, sovereignty and territory, and international actors, and defines the main terms.

Chapter 2: History

Traces the field from early fisheries conventions through the creation of the United Nations, the 1972 Stockholm Conference, the lead-up to and outcome of the 1992 Rio conference (the Rio Declaration and Agenda 21), and on to the World Summit on Sustainable Development, Rio+20 and the Sustainable Development Goals.

Chapter 3: Governance: States, International Organisations and Non-State Actors

Surveys the actors: states, the United Nations system and its specialised agencies, regional and subregional organisations, bodies established by environmental treaties, and non-state actors including the scientific community, NGOs, the corporate sector, indigenous communities and the media.

Chapter 4: International Lawmaking and Regulation

Covers the sources: treaties, other international acts, customary law, general principles and subsidiary sources. It ends with an introduction to regulatory approaches, from direct regulation and economic instruments to voluntary approaches and integrated environmental management.

Chapter 5: Compliance: Implementation, Enforcement, Dispute Settlement

Deals with national implementation, enforcement by states, international organisations and non-state actors, and the settlement of disputes, from diplomatic means and non-compliance procedures to arbitration and courts such as the ICJ, ITLOS, the WTO dispute settlement body and human rights courts.

Chapter 6: General Principles and Rules

Examines the principles of the field in turn: sovereignty over natural resources and the responsibility not to cause environmental damage, preventive action, cooperation, sustainable development, the precautionary principle, the polluter pays principle and common but differentiated responsibility.

Chapters 7–8: Atmospheric Protection; Climate Change

Chapter 7 starts from milestones such as the Trail Smelter case and treats transboundary air pollution under the LRTAP Convention, ozone depletion under the Vienna Convention and Montreal Protocol, and outer space. Chapter 8, the new chapter of this edition, explains the climate change problem and follows the regime from the 1992 Convention through the Kyoto Protocol to the Paris Agreement, with sections on post-Paris developments, aviation and shipping emissions.

Chapters 9–11: Freshwater Resources; Biological Diversity; Oceans, Seas and Marine Living Resources

Chapter 9 combines customary law and case law on shared watercourses (including the Gabčíkovo–Nagymaros and Pulp Mills cases) with global and regional rules. Chapter 10 covers the Convention on Biological Diversity and its protocols, CITES, the Ramsar Convention, forests, desertification and species instruments. Chapter 11 covers marine environmental protection, marine living resources (fisheries, whaling, illegal fishing) and marine biodiversity. According to the preface, Ruth MacKenzie revised Chapter 10 and Adriana Fabra Chapter 11.

Chapters 12–13: Hazardous Substances and Activities, and Waste; The Polar Regions: Antarctica and the Arctic

Chapter 12 groups accident prevention, chemicals and pesticides, nuclear activities and other hazardous activities with waste, including the Basel Convention. Chapter 13 treats the Antarctic Treaty regime and the Arctic Council.

Chapters 14–16: Environmental Impact Assessment; Environmental Information and Technology Transfer; Liability for Environmental Damage

Chapter 14 covers environmental impact assessment, Chapter 15 information exchange, access to information and public participation, eco-labelling and technology transfer, and Chapter 16 state liability and civil liability regimes such as those for nuclear installations and oil pollution.

Chapters 17–18: Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law; International Economic Law: Trade, Investment and Intellectual Property

Chapter 17 relates environmental protection to human rights and to armed conflict. Chapter 18 treats trade measures and WTO law, regional trade agreements, investment treaties and intellectual property.

Chapter 19: Future Developments

A short closing chapter on governance challenges, implementation and enforcement challenges and future regulatory development.

Key Concepts

Part I: Framework (Chapters 1–5)

• Sustainable development: introduced in Chapter 1 as one of the bases of decision-making and returned to in Chapter 6.
• Sources of international environmental law: treaties, custom, general principles and subsidiary sources, as set out in Chapter 4.
• Regulatory techniques: direct regulation, economic instruments and voluntary approaches.
• Compliance and non-compliance procedures: the mechanisms in Chapter 5.

Part II: Principles and sectors (Chapters 6–13)

• Precautionary and polluter pays principles: two of the general principles examined in Chapter 6.
• Common but differentiated responsibility: the principle on which Chapter 6 ends.
• Climate regime: the Convention, Kyoto Protocol and Paris Agreement in Chapter 8.
• Shared resources and regimes by sector: freshwater, biodiversity, oceans, hazardous substances, waste and the polar regions.

Parts III–IV: Implementation and linkages (Chapters 14–19)

• Environmental impact assessment: Chapter 14.
• Access to information and public participation: part of Chapter 15.
• State and civil liability: Chapter 16.
• Trade, investment and human rights linkages: Chapters 17 and 18.

Critical Analysis

Strengths

• Systematic structure. The four-part arrangement moves from framework to principles, from principles to sector regimes, then to implementation techniques and to the links with human rights, trade and investment. A reader can locate any topic quickly.
• Reader aids. Chapter outlines and further reading sections, new to this edition, give each chapter a map and a path into the literature; the contents list is detailed to section level.
• Critical and case-based. The authors say they strengthened the critical dimension and integrated case law with themes identified in Chapters 1 and 19. Chapters such as those on freshwater and oceans build around specific arbitrations and decisions.
• Breadth. Besides the main sectors, it covers the polar regions, liability, environmental information and the links with trade, investment and humanitarian law.
• Specialist authorship. The preface names Ruth MacKenzie and Adriana Fabra as the authors of the revised biodiversity and oceans chapters.

Limitations

• Date. The edition was published in 2018 and the preface is dated March 2017, so later developments, especially in climate change after the Paris Agreement's early implementation, are not covered.
• Treaty detail. Much of the text follows treaties and institutions closely, as the section headings by convention and protocol show; the authors acknowledge that the subject cannot be treated exhaustively.
• Size. At about 940 pages it is heavy for a first reading; the climate chapter is one of nineteen and does not replace a specialist climate text.

Where It Fits in the Course

In the environmental law list, this is the treatise on the international side. Environmental Law is an undergraduate overview of UK environmental law, and Environmental Protection, Law and Policy: Text and Materials an undergraduate text-and-materials introduction placing UK and EU rules in science and policy; both are domestic or regional in focus and make sensible first reading for a reader new to the subject. The International Law on Climate Change is a graduate-level study that goes deeper into the climate regime than Chapter 8 here. The Making of Environmental Law examines the development of American environmental law and offers a comparison with a national system built by legislation.

This book is the broadest survey of the international framework and the natural base for a course in international environmental law, with the climate book as a specialist follow-up.

How to Use This Book

The book suits advanced undergraduates, LLM students and researchers in environmental or international law, and practitioners who need a reference on treaty regimes. Some knowledge of public international law, especially the sources of international law, makes Chapters 4–6 easier.

A practical plan:

• Core: Chapters 1, 4, 5 and 6 for the framework and principles.
• By topic: Chapter 8 for climate change, Chapter 7 for atmosphere and ozone, and Chapters 9–13 as the syllabus requires.
• Implementation: Chapters 14–16 for impact assessment, information and liability.
• Linkages and conclusion: Chapters 17–19, and Chapter 2 for history if the syllabus asks for it.

Use the chapter outlines before reading each chapter, and the further reading sections to find cases and articles for essays.