This book explores how public and private actors can interrelate to achieve also by means of law a sustainable development which is beneficial for the environment, society and the economy. The Role of Law in Governing Sustainability assesses the structure, functions and perspectives of law in the wider governance frameworks of sustainable development. It provides latest and in-depth insights from each of the three dimensions of sustainable development and the relations among them. Latest political developments on global and regional level related to the environmental, social and the economic dimensions are provided as well as in-depth case studies. Thereby the book explores how international and national laws and governance can help us move towards a more sustainable future. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of environmental law, global governance and sustainable development.

The book discusses sustainability and law in a multifaceted way. Together, sustainability and law are an emerging challenge for research and science. This volume contributes through an interdisciplinary concept to its further exploration. The contributions explore this exciting domain with innovative ideas and replicable approaches. It combines a variety of authors, from both the public and the private sectors, and thereby guarantees a broad view that enshrines the more theoretical arguments from the academic side as well as stronger practical applicable perspectives. The book provides space for thoughtful expansions of established theories as well as the hopeful emergence of innovative ideas. Moreover, the combination of three to five contributions into the eleven parts respectively aims toward a compression of like minded thoughts. This should lead to an intensification of exchange of viewpoints from different angles on a similar theme. Readers therefore also have the opportunity to concentrate on single chapters, but receive comprised knowledge and a variety of thoughts for new ideas on a particular theme.

This book investigates how sustainability informs the universal principles used in domestic and international law. It calls for the acceptance of sustainability as a recognized legal principle which could be applied to the entire legal system rather than just environmental law and regardless of its international or domestic levels. To this end, the book makes a contribution to a theory of global law by discussing whether, as a universally shared concern, environmental protection and the principle of sustainability should contribute to the 'greening' of the fundamental principles of law and governance. The book will be a valuable resource for students, researchers and policy makers working in the areas of environmental law and governance.

In a dramatic departure from its voluntary origins, corporate social responsibility (CSR) is rapidly shifting to hold multinational companies accountable for more than traditional shareholder performance. This CSR movement is embracing new environmental, social and governance (ESG) frameworks that both promote global sustainability goals and enhance accountability for negative impacts businesses can have on ‘planet and people’. This collection of essays by leading businesspeople, international civil servants, legal practitioners, academics, and other experts offers a forward-looking and pragmatic perspective that illuminates the major themes in this movement towards increasingly sustainable, transparent and accountable business practices. The collection shows how CSR has evolved to account for societal pressures, environmental, climate change and human rights impacts, international policy imperatives and the practical challenges of regulating commercial activity that transcends borders. The chapters offer an in-depth examination of current issues including: international frameworks and multistakeholder initiatives catalysing foundational change; the shifting emphasis on corporate imperatives to avoid harm to third parties; trends in CSR, focused on assuring the planet's future sustainability and social stability; regulatory initiatives around the globe, including Europe, North America, Asia and Africa; and extended accountability for activities of corporate group members and supply chains. The pressure and business case for companies to incorporate CSR into corporate governance is intensifying with each quarter, shareholder meeting, and regulatory agenda. The integration of CSR and new ESG frameworks into multinational corporate strategy and operations is key to sustainable business models that can generate long-term value for the organization and all stakeholders. Their acceptance as cornerstones of 21st century business practice appears inevitable. Taking full account of the imperative for companies and their lawyers to grapple with the practical and legal challenges in this area, this volume is an invaluable and pragmatic addition to the practitioners’ toolbox at this important juncture in an ever-more dynamic field.

This important volume steps beyond conventional legal approaches to sustainability to provide fresh insights into perhaps one of the most critical global challenges of our time. Offering analysis of sustainability at land and sea alongside trade, labour and corporate governance perspectives, this book articulates important debates about the role of law. From impacts on local societies to domestic sustainable development policies and major international goals, it considers multiple jurisdictional levels. With original, interdisciplinary research from experts in their legal fields, this is a rounded assessment of the complex interplay of law and sustainability—both as it is now and as it should be in the future.

This book proposes a holistic transdisciplinary approach to sustainability as a subject of social sciences. At the same time, this approach shows new ways, as perspectives of philosophy, political science, law, economics, sociology, cultural studies and others are here no longer regarded separately. Instead, integrated perspectives on the key issues are carved out: Perspectives on conditions of transformation to sustainability, on key instruments and the normative questions. This allows for a concise answer to urgent and controversial questions such as the following: Is the EU an environmental pioneer? Is it possible to achieve sustainability by purely technical means? If not: will that mean to end of the growth society? How to deal with the follow-up problems? How will societal change be successful? Are political power and capitalism the main barriers to sustainability? What is the role of emotions and conceptions of normality in the transformation process? To which degree are rebound and shifting effects the reason why sustainability politics fail? How much climate protection can be claimed ethically and legally e.g. on grounds of human rights? And what is freedom? Despite all rhetoric, the weak transition in energy, climate, agriculture and conservation serves as key example in this book. It is shown how the Paris Agreement is weak with regard to details and at the same time overrules the growth society by means of a radical 1,5-1,8 degrees temperature limit. It is shown how emissions trading must – and can – be reformed radically. It is shown why CSR, education, cooperation and happiness research are overrated. And we will see what an integrated politics on climate, biodiversity, nitrogen and soil might look like. This book deals with conditions of transformation, governance instruments, ethics and law of sustainability. The relevance of the humanities to sustainability has never before been demonstrated so vividly and broadly as here. And in every area it opens up some completely new perspectives. (Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker, Club of Rome, Honorary President) Taking a transdisciplinary perspective, the book canvasses the entire spectrum of issues relevant to sustainability. A most valuable and timely contribution to the debate. (Prof. Dr. Klaus Bosselmann, University of Auckland, Author of “The Principle of Sustainability”) This books breathes life into the concept of sustainability. Felix Ekardt tears down the barriers between disciplines and builds a holistic fundament for sustainablility; fit to guide long-term decision-making on the necessary transformation and societal change. (Prof. Dr. Christina Voigt, Oslo University, Dept. of Public and International Law)

This book deals with some aspects of the future shape of the socio-economic order which would be founded on sustainability principles and the role of law therein, instead of on the prevailing capitalist economic order. The volume elaborates in particular on how innovation, a crucial aspect of free-market capitalism and its laws which constitute the current socio-economic order, could result in a more sustainable economy which, in turn, could lead to a more sustainable society. Moreover, the book analyses current developments in financial and economic law and evaluates their perks, risks and sustainability levels. The book contains no less than 11 chapters in which a variety of experts share their state-of-the-art insights regarding specific domains of socio-economic life. As such, the book deals with topics that are at present fully under debate in societies, such as student credit and the dangers it entails, cryptocurrencies and how the law tries to regulate this basically private law instrument, groups of companies under Belgian (company) law, a proposal for improving the international monetary system, and seeds and intellectual property rights, besides various other similar themes. The book forms the latest volume of the book series Economic and Financial Law & Policy – Shifting Insights & Values, and fully complies with the series’ goal of critically examining the legal methods and mechanisms that shape the global free markets and proposing alternatives to them. The book will hereby prove a valuable instrument for all researchers investigating these matters, besides policymakers and their advisers as well as all lawyers active in the field of economic law who look for a new perspective on the subject matters dealt with.