In this publication, a number of recognized practitioners and scholars undertake to explore the realities and the conceptual underpinnings of environmental compliance mechanisms. In a relatively short period of time, such mechanisms were introduced in a wide range of new and existing environmental regimes. Yet, little is known about their function in practice and their implications. This is puzzling when considering, that the new mechanisms considerably depart from traditional patterns of counteraction and dispute settlement. Instead they build on partnership and cooperation and include a wide range of possible reactions, which range from those having coercive power to supportive measures. Quite a number of those mechanisms and their functioning are explained in the publication in order to lay ground for some cross-cutting analysis, which covers inter alia reporting, inspection and monitoring, supportive financial incentives and the interrelationship between compliance mechanisms and the principle of state responsibility and dispute settlement. Finally the role of non-governmental organizations is addressed. Practitioners and scholars in international environmental affairs and international law more generally will benefit significantly from the inside views and thorough reflection as provided for in this book.

This book explores how compliance with international environmental law has changed over time, offering a critical analysis of its current shifting patterns. Beginning with an overview of compliance with international environmental law, the book goes on to explore in detail: compliance in the different legal regimes instituted by Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs), the addition of new subjects of international law, the legal relations between developed and developing countries, and the emergence of new compliance mechanisms in global environmental law. The analysis takes two key developments into consideration: the evolution in forms of compliance and non-state involvement in compliance with international environmental law. In the final section, three case studies are provided to demonstrate how these changes have occurred in selected areas: climate change, biodiversity and water resources. Throughout the book, topics are illustrated with extracts from specific international environmental law jurisprudence and relevant international environmental law instruments. In doing so, the book offers a comprehensive analysis of compliance with international environmental law, providing original insights and following a clear and systematic structure supported by reference to the sources. This book will be of interest to professionals, academics and students working in the field of compliance with international environmental law.

Non-Compliance Procedures and Mechanisms and the Effectiveness of International Environmental Agreements Editors Tullio Treves, Laura Pineschi, Attila Tanzi, Cesare Pitea, Chiara Ragni, Francesca Romanin Jacur A project of the Universities of Milan, Bologna and Parma co-? nanced by the Italian Ministry of University and Research T. M. C. ASSER PRESS The Hague Foreword iv Published by T. M. C. ASSER PRESS P. O. Box 16163, 2500 BD The Hague, The Netherlands T. M. C. ASSER PRESS’ English language books are distributed exclusively by Cambridge University Press, The Edinburgh Building, Shaftesbury Road, Cambridge CB2 2RU, UK, or, for customers in the USA, Canada and Mexico: Cambridge University Press, 100 Brook Hill Drive, West Nyack, NY 10994-2133, USA The publication of this book was supported by the ? nancial contribution of the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MIUR) and of the Universities of Milano, Bologna and Parma, within the framework of a research project of national interest (PRIN 2005, n. 2005124407). ISBN 978-90-6704-273-4 All rights reserved. © 2009, T. M. C. Asser Press, The Hague, The Netherlands, and the Authors This publication is protected by international copyright law. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior wr- ten permission of the copyright owners.

Despite the growing recognition of the importance of environmental issues for nation-state security, current research on international environmental security is insufficient. Although scholars in the field of International Relations believe that there is an appropriate role for international relations theory in analyzing global environmental concerns, the existing literature is predominantly descriptive or prescriptive rather than analytical. This study attempts to remedy this problem by conducting an empirical analysis of nation-state behavior in the international environmental realm.

International Environmental Law is a new textbook written for students, practitioners, and anyone interested in the subject. The overall aim of the book is to provide a fresh understanding of international environmental law as a whole, seen in the light of climate change, biodiversity loss, and the other serious environmental challenges facing the world. The book has also been kept deliberately manageable in size by careful selection of topics and by adopting a cross-cutting synthesis of regulatory interaction in the field. This enables the reader to place international environmental law in the broader context of public international law in general, revealing at the same time that international environmental law is experimental ground for developing new legal approaches towards global governance. To this end, the authors have combined theory and practice. Apart from discussing concepts, rule-making and compliance, the book looks at options for improved coordination, harmonisation and even integration of existing multilateral environmental agreements, analysing how conflicts between various environmental regimes can be avoided or, at least, adequately managed. The authors argue that an appropriate management of international environmental relations must address the North-South divide, which continues to be a major obstacle to global environmental cooperation. Furthermore, the authors emphasise the growing human rights dimension of international environmental law. This book is an ideal 'door opener' for the further study of international environmental law. Focusing on 'international environmental governance' in a comprehensive way, it serves to explain that each institution, each actor, and each instrument is part of a multi-dimensional process in international environmental law and relations.

The international community has generated several hundred multilateral environmental agreements, yet it has been far less successful in developing means to ensure that contracting parties honour them in practice. The subject of law enforcement has traditionally attracted relatively little attention amongst international policy-makers at the formation stage of a multilateral environmental accord. Commonly, the question of how to secure collective adherence to environmental treaty regimes might well only be considered in depth at a much later stage of an environmental agreement’s evolution, if at all. At the same time, the significance of the issue of enforcement has gradually received more considered attention by states and international institutions. Providing an analysis of the nature, extent and current state of the international legal framework concerned with enhancing effective implementation of international environmental law, this book considers the scope and impact of international rules of law whose remit is to require or promote compliance by states with their international environmental legal obligations.

This volume presents a comprehensive coverage of the challenges in ensuring effective compliance and enforcement in environmental law from the international to the local level. It will make a significant contribution to the growing body of literature in this area and be of interest to practitioners, scholars and administrators alike. The IUCN Academy of Environmental Law is proud to join with Edward Elgar in the publication of this seminal work as the first in a new series based on the annual Colloquia of the Academy. Compliance and enforcement are critical elements of assuring that international environmental treaties and domestic environmental laws actually produce desired environmental outcomes. This timely work provides a comprehensive worldwide perspective on how to assure compliance with and enforcement of environmental laws more effectively. Bringing together both leading academics and environmental professionals from 15 countries, the book addresses a range of key issues including the enforcement of multilateral agreements, compliance strategies and tools, the role of courts and citizens, protection of natural resources, and compliance issues related to economic instruments. Publisher's note.