Access to justice in environmental matters has been a topic for increasing legal discourse and law-making in international, European Community (EC) and national arenas. The 1998 Aarhus Convention provides new norms of international law, inspired by the 1992 Rio Declaration. EC law on access to justice is being drafted and changes can be observed in the laws of the European Union (EU) members states. This timely book presents the state-of-the-art of access to justice in environmental matters in the European Union. It provides a thematic and comparative introduction of the topic, followed by thorough descriptions of EC law and the law of each EU member state. The chapters are written in English or French with a summary in the other language. L'accandegrave;s andegrave; la justice en matiandegrave;re d'environnement a fait l'objet de plus en plus de dandeacute;bats juridiques et de dandeacute;veloppements l'andeacute;gislatifs en droit international, communautaire et national. La Convention d'Aarhus de 1998 dandeacute;finit de nouvelles normes de droit international, faisant suite andagrave; la Dandeacute;claration de Rio de 1992. Le droit communautaire en matiandegrave;re d'accandegrave;s andagrave; la justice est en voie d'andeacute;laboration et dandeacute;jandagrave; des changements peuvent andecirc;tre observandeacute;s dans les lois nationales des andEacute;tats membres de l'Union europandeacute;enne. Cet ouvrage, qui arrive en temps opportun, prandeacute;sente l'andeacute;tat actuel de l'accandegrave;s andagrave; la justice en matiandegrave;re d'environnement dans l'Union europandeacute;anne. Une introduction thandeacute;matique et comparative du sujet est suivie par une description approfondie du droit communautaire et du droit national de chaque andEacute;tat membre de l'Union europandeacute;enne. Les chapitres sont randeacute;digandeacute;s soit en franandccedil;ais soit en anglais, accompagnandeacute;s respectivement d'un randeacute;sumandeacute; dans l'autre langue.

The adoption of the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-sharing to the Convention on Biological Diversity in 2010 is a major landmark for the global governance of genetic resources and traditional knowledge. The way in which it will be translated into practice will however depend on the concrete implementation in national country legislation across the world. Implementing the Nagoya Protocol compares existing ABS regimes in ten European countries, including one non-EU member and one EU candidate country, and critically explores several cross-cutting issues related to the implementation of the Nagoya Protocol in the EU. Gathering some of the most professional and widely acclaimed experts in ABS issues, this book takes a major step towards filling a gap in the vast body of literature on national and regional implementation of global commitments regarding ABS and traditional knowledge.

Governments, companies, environmental associations and citizens all over the European Union (EU) are struggling with large scale projects. On the one hand large scale projects can contribute to economic development, on the other hand they often also raise environmental concerns. Because of their size and potential impact, large scale projects usually lead to heavy debates and quickly become of great symbolic value. Consequently, large scale projects are excellent examples of the difficulty to balance economic development with environmental protection. The types of large scale projects, planned as well as 'under construction' in the EU, are very diverse. One can think of all kinds of infrastructure projects (motorways, railways, waterways, stations, ports, airports, ...), building projects (offices, housing projects, sports stadiums, redevelopment of brownfields, ...), waste projects (incineration, landfill, ...), energy projects (electricity and gas networks, wind farms, biogas installations, heat networks, extraction projects, ...), climate projects (CDM projects, ...), water projects, etc. In order to promote the legal thinking about all kinds of environmental and planning law aspects of large scale projects, Hasselt University and KU Leuven, Campus Brussels jointly hosted from 10 to 12 September 2014 the second European Environmental Law Forum (EELF) Conference, with as central topic Environmental and Planning Law Aspects of Large Scale Projects". The conference focused more specifically on the following aspects: -The role of spatial and environmental planning -Permitting and review procedures -Critical sectoral regimes -Horizontal measures. This book offers a selection of the contributions presented at the EELF Conference. They have all been submitted to two double-blind peer reviews. The book is subdivided into six main themes: 1. General 2. Public participation 3. Environmental impact assessment 4. Water 5. Nature 6. Land use."

A concise, clear, and legally rigorous introduction to international environmental law and practice covering the very latest developments.

This book is the third volume in the European Environmental Law Forum (EELF) book series. The EELF is a non-profit initiative of environmental law scholars and practitioners from across Europe aiming to support intellectual exchange on the development and implementation of international, European and national environmental law in Europe. One of the activities of the EELF is an annual conference. This book is comprised of fifteen contributions presented at the Third EELF Conference in Aix-en-Provence, hosted by the Central European Research Infrastructure Consortium, at Aix-Marseille University, September 2015. The central topic of the book is the effectiveness of environmental law. The impressive development in environmental law has not always been matched by corresponding improvements in environmental quality. The threats to our environment and, by extension, to our health have never been so numerous or serious. But paradoxically, the effectiveness of environmental law has been a long-neglected issue. This book offers a fruitful and stimulating dialogue between practitioners and academics, from varied countries and varied fields, combining empirical and theoretical approaches. The contributions go from classical-but still necessary-tools (control, criminal, administrative, civil sanctions, liability rules, strengthening of the regulatory structure, and the role of judges), to more innovative ones (public participation, effectiveness of instrument mixes, collaborative governance, hybrid governance, and private environmental enforcement). (Series: European Environmental Law Forum, Vol. 3) Subject: Environmental Law, European Law]

This ground-breaking volume provides analyses from experts around the globe on the part played by national and international law, through legislation and the courts, in advancing efforts to tackle climate change, and what needs to be done in the future. Published under the auspices of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law (BIICL), the volume builds on an event convened at BIICL, which brought together academics, legal practitioners and NGO representatives. The volume offers not only the insights from that event, but also additional materials, sollicited to offer the reader a more complete picture of how climate change litigation is evolving in a global perspective, highlighting both opportunities, and constraints.

Many countries around the world are engaged in decentralization processes, and most African countries face serious problems with forest governance, from benefits sharing to illegality and sustainable forest management. This book summarizes experiences to date on the extent and nature of decentralization and its outcomes - most of which suggest an underperformance of governance reforms - and explores the viability of different governance instruments in the context of weak governance and expanding commercial pressures over forests. Findings are grouped into two thematic areas: decentralization, livelihoods and sustainable forest management; and international trade, finance and forest sector governance reforms. The authors examine diverse forces shaping the forest sector, including the theory and practice of decentralization, usurpation of authority, corruption and illegality, inequitable patterns of benefits capture and expansion of international trade in timber and carbon credits, and discuss related outcomes on livelihoods, forest condition and equity. The book builds on earlier volumes exploring different dimensions of decentralization and perspectives from other world regions, and distills dimensions of forest governance that are both unique to Africa and representative of broader global patterns. The authors ground their analysis in relevant theory while drawing out implications of their findings for policy and practice.

Provides a pan-African synthesis of community-based natural resource management (CBNRM), drawing on multiple authors and a wide range of documented experiences from Southern, Eastern, Western and Central Africa. This title discusses the degree to which CBNRM has met poverty alleviation, economic development and nature conservation objectives.

The world has changed radically since 1989, when the General Assembly declared the period from 1990 to 1999 as the United Nations Decade of International Law. During that time, the international community claimed some major achievements as reflected by the adoption of conventions and treaties. This publication presents a collection of essays from legal advisers of States and international organizations, all of whom are among those committed to promoting respect for international law. Their contribution provides a practical perspective on international law, viewed from the standpoint of those involved in its formation, application and administration.

In recent decades, the various strands of the food movement have made enormous strides in calling attention the many shortcomings and injustices of our food and agricultural system. Farmers, activists, scholars, and everyday citizens have also worked creatively to rebuild local food economies, advocate for food justice, and promote more sustainable, agroecological farming practices. However, the movement for fairer, healthier, and more autonomous food is continually blocked by one obstacle: land access. As long as land remains unaffordable and inaccessible to most people, we cannot truly transform the food system. The term land-grabbing is most commonly used to refer to the large-scale acquisition of agricultural land in Asian, African, or Latin American countries by foreign investors. However, land has and continues to be “grabbed” in North America, as well, through discrimination, real estate speculation, gentrification, financialization, extractive energy production, and tourism. This edited volume, with chapters from a wide range of activists and scholars, explores the history of land theft, dispossession, and consolidation in the United States. It also looks at alternative ways forward toward democratized, land justice, based on redistributive policies and cooperative ownership models. With prefaces from leaders in the food justice and family farming movements, the book opens with a look at the legacies of white-settler colonialism in the southwestern United States. From there, it moves into a collectively-authored section on Black Agrarianism, which details the long history of land dispossession among Black farmers in the southeastern US, as well as the creative acts of resistance they have used to acquire land and collectively farm it. The next section, on gender, explores structural and cultural discrimination against women landowners in the Midwest and also role of “womanism” in land-based struggles. Next, a section on the cross-border implications of land enclosures and consolidations includes a consideration of what land justice could mean for farm workers in the US, followed by an essay on the challenges facing young and aspiring farmers. Finally, the book explores the urban dimensions of land justice and their implications for locally-autonomous food systems, and lessons from previous struggles for democratized land access. Ultimately, the book makes the case that to move forward to a more equitable, just, sustainable, and sovereign agriculture system, the various strands of the food movement must come together for land justice.