This book examines the global regulation of biodiversity politics through the UN UNConvention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the WTO and other international treaties. Using historical-materialist state and regulation theory, it assesses how the discourse and politics of sustainable development have contributed to the internationalisation of the state. The authors argue that sustainable development, far from being a fixed concept, is a conceptual terrain on which different and conflicting symbolisations of and solutions responses to of the ecological crisis struggle for hegemony. Furthermore, it shows that the international multilateral environmental organisations agreements are not at all a means to counteract neoliberal globalisation but, on the contrary, form an integral part of the ongoing transformation process. Focussing on the UN Convention on Biological DiversityCBD, the FAO International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture and the Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) in the World Trade Organisation, this co-authored volume addresses the following issues: state theory, regulation theory and International Political Economy biodiversity protection and valorisation of genetic resources access to genetic resources and sharing of benefits which arise out of its use enforcement of intellectual property rights and their impact on biodiversity. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of international politics, international political economy, environmental studies, development studies and political ecology.

Cases of Conflict focuses on times of dispute as important moments in the development of international environmental law. Conflict tests international law—both its content and its relevance become clearer in times of controversy—but conflict can also help shape the law. Drawing from a growing body of scholarship connecting the fields of international relations and international law, Cases of Conflict examines six prominent case studies to demonstrate how transboundary disputes have influenced the development of international environmental law and policy. Embracing their rich detail and real-world messiness, this book looks to develop a better understanding of the true content and potential of international environmental law.

This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International licence. It is free to read at Oxford Scholarship Online and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations. Environmental protection is fundamental for the establishment of sustainable peace. Applying traditional legal approaches to protection raises particular challenges during the transition from conflict to peace. In the jus post bellum context, protection of the environment and natural resources needs to be considered in tandem with a broad range of simultaneously applicable normative frameworks, such as human rights, transitional justice, arms control/disarmament, UN law and practice, development, and domestic law. While certain multilateral environment agreements, such as the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage protect the environment; international humanitarian law and international criminal law continue to treat environmental protection largely from an anthropocentric perspective. This book is the first targeted work in the legal literature that investigates environmental challenges in the aftermath of conflict. Addressing these challenges, it brings together academics, policy-makers, and practitioners from different disciplines to clarify policies and practices of environmental protection and key normative frameworks. It draws on experiences and practices in post-conflict settings to specify substantive principles and techniques to remedy and prevent harm.

Volume two considers major environmental issues using individual case studies from around the world as illustrations. These case studies explore the causes of international environmental issues and investigate the conflicts that hamper these solutions. The case studies address such problems as intensive farming, overpopulation, deforestation, climate change and waste disposal. Each case study also looks at policy and management of these international environmental issues. The case studies span the globe, encompassing the Western world as well as the former Eastern Bloc and developing countries in Africa and South East Asia. - A critical and analytical look at contemporary environmental issues - Aimed to provide a body of knowledge to social and natural scientists - A multi-disciplinary approach

A comprehensive tour d'horizon of the debate on the environment and security, focusing on the various policy options for building peace and preventing environmental conflict. Experts from the areas survey the key environmental challenges in Eastern and Central European states and those of the former Soviet Union, extending the debate to such regions as the Balkans, the Black Sea and Central Europe. This is the first time such extensive case study research has been reported for these regions. Both practical and theoretical approaches to the debate are presented, within a multi-disciplinary framework, the contributors ranging from academic experts involved with peace and conflict research to actual policy makers active in the fields of environmental and security policy. Readership: Experts already working in the relevant disciplines, both academic and governmental, as well as those seeking an introduction to the various policy fields. A graduate-level study text, excellent survey for policy makers and an academic contribution to ongoing studies.

Many environmental problems cross national boundaries and can be addressed only through international cooperation. In this book Robert Darst examines transnational efforts to promote environmental protection in the USSR and in five of its successor states—Russia, Ukraine, and the Baltic republics of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania—from the late 1960s to the present. The core of the book is a comparative study of three key issues: nuclear power safety, transboundary air pollution, and Baltic Sea pollution. Although expectations were high that the end of the Cold War and the breakup of the Soviet Union would lead to increased East-West environmental cooperation, the opposite has been true. Russia and the other successor states have generally agreed to address such problems only when paid to do so. Darst finds that post-Cold War environmental cooperation has been most successful when there is an overlap between the environmental and economic interests of the successor states and those of their Western neighbors, and when the foundation for cooperation was laid during the Cold War period. The book is based on extensive original field research, including interviews with diplomats, government officials, scientists, and environmental activists in the successor states and Western Europe. Its findings underscore the importance of the domestic and international political context in which international environmental policy making occurs. It also deepens our understanding of the opportunities and dangers of positive inducements as a tool of international environmental policy.

Over the last two decades, environmental problems have been increasingly identified as potential sources of international instability or even direct threats to international peace and security. This phenomenon has been reflected in the growing proportion of multilateral environmental treaties which include dispute settlement clauses. At the same time, and increasingly since the beginning of the 1990s, international adjudication is going through a renaissance as more and more cases are submitted to an expanding number of international judicial fora. This unique study takes a pragmatic approach to determine under which conditions international adjudication, as currently structured, can effectively tackle the challenge of environmental degradation and the ensuing international disputes. It illustrates how multilateral environmental treaties have provided for the settlement of disputes that may arise from their implementation, with special attention given to so-called non-compliance procedures. Ten environmental disputes which have been the subject of international adjudication are examined in detail, explaining the origins of the dispute, how and why the case was brought before that particular jurisdiction, the proceedings, the judgement, and the aftermath of the case. To assess the effectiveness of adjudicative means, famous cases are revisited, including the Bering Sea Fur Seals, Trail Smelter, Lake Lanoux, Nauru Phosphates, Nuclear Tests, Danube, Meuse River, and Southern Bluefin Tuna cases, and the impact the judgements had on the original environmental problems examined.

Exploring the intersection of the 'domestic' and the 'international' in environmental politics, this book presents seven original case studies which show how the internationalization of environmental protection efforts is altering policy-making processes, policy outcomes, and the effectiveness of policy implementation. The authors argue that while new norms and institutions for the global environment are emerging which are changing policy-making processes at the national and regional levels, sub-state politics continues to influence strongly the nature of national responses to international environmental problems. The volume examines climate change politics in China, Japan, and Germany; ozone layer protection in the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, and Germany; East-West environmental cooperation and the former Soviet Union; Zimbabwe and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species; biodiversity politics in the United States and United Kingdom; and environmental protection within the European Union.

This volume examines the environmental issues currently under debate in the international arena. The text approaches the topic at a conceptual level, and from an interdisciplinary viewpoint. It analyses the roles of key players in environmental policy, the nation state, non-governmental organizations and the business community. It continues with an examination of the importance of international relations (trade, east, west, north, south), and goes on to consider the prospects for sustainable development and social changes required for sustainable development to become a reality.

Does a connection exist between environmental degradation, resource scarcity and violent conflicts? Global environmental changes, such as climate change and sea level rise, shortage of fresh water and rapid soil degradation increasingly highlight the dimensions of environmental change in foreign and security policy. To reverse these negative environmental consequences over the long term, comprehensive and preventive policy approaches are urgently required. This state-of-the-art book contains numerous articles by renown German-speaking experts from different scientific disciplines as well as international and European political advisors and diplomats. Together they discuss the complex causes of environmentally induced conflicts and the political and societal mechanisms for conflict prevention.