Environmental Laws are the standards that governments establish to manage natural resources and environmental quality. The broad categories of “natural resources” and “environmental quality” include such areas as air and water pollution, forests and wildlife, hazardous waste, agricultural practices, wetlands, and land-use planning. In the United States, some of the more widely known environmental laws are the clean air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the National Environmental policy Act, and the Endangered Species Act. The body of environmental law includes not only the text of these laws but also the regulations that implement and the judicial decisions that interpret this legislation.
This book examines some of the ways in which international environmental law is responding to global environmental change and suggests new directions for the field. It also addresses new directions in international environmental law and to a lesser extent, in international institutions. To accomplish this, it looks at the challenges posed by issues of global environmental change and sustainable development and at historical experience. |
