LibGuides: International Environmental Law: Home

International Agreements

UN Treaty Collection provides the text (UNTS) and status info for many multilateral treaties deposited with the Secretary General.

Hein Online's US Treaties & Agreements Library is an excellent source for treaties in which the U.S. is a party.

Frequently-Cited Treaties & Other Instruments - links and citations for oft-cited int'l agreements; includes section on Environmental Treaties

Environmental Treaties

A number of environment treaties are accessible via the EISIL database in its International Environmental Law category.

The Environmental Treaties and Resource Indicators database (ENTRI) at Columbia provides access to environmental treaty text and other information, including Conference of Parties decisions.

Here are a few examples of environmental agreements, representing the broad range of topics encompassed by international environmental law:

Convention on Biological Diversity

Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matte r

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES)

Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal

Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural & Natural Heritage

United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)

Paris Agreement on climate change

Representative Organizations

Intergovernmental organizations, non-governmental organizations, think tanks and other entities often collect, organize and make available materials. Below are a few such entities:

UNEP

UNDP

FAO

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

EU Environmental Policy

OECD Environment

IUCN

CIEL

UNFCCC
The UNFCCC secretariat (UN Climate Change) is the United Nations entity tasked with supporting the global response to the threat of climate change. UNFCCC stands for United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The Convention has near universal membership (197 Parties) and is the parent treaty of the 2015 Paris Agreement.

Current Awareness/Hot Topics

Bloomberg Law BNA Environment & Energy Reporter - log into your Bloomberg account; sign up for daily updates via email

CIEL Blog- Center for International Environmental Law

E Law News - updates from the Environmental Law Alliance ("a global alliance of attorneys, scientists and other advocates collaborating across borders to promote grassroots efforts to build a sustainabl, just future")

Linkages (Int'l Institute for Sustainable): news and information from international environmental and sustainable development negotiations; multiple relevant listservs; upcoming conferences.

ASIL Insights - concise accounts of int'l law issues raised by late-breaking events

Search for law blogs at Justia Blawg Search

Customary International Law

Globalex Guide to Researching Customary Int'l Law
Part of the excellent Globalex collection, this guide introduces the researcher to titles that provide texts of the pronouncements of states regarding international law, both U.S. and international. There are also recommendations for secondary sources and finding aids helpful in describing state practice and in tracking down additional resources.

Sources of State Practice in International Law by Ralph Gaebler; Alison A. Shea
Call Number: KZ64 .S67 2014 Basement
Descriptive bibliography of both electronic and printed sources of information containing the text of treaties and the record of diplomatic activity of important jurisdictions around the world; includes an up-to-date description of national treaty portals and other valuable Internet-based sources; also provides descriptions of printed sources providing access to treaties and official diplomatic documentation difficult to locate in standard compilations. In addition, this work includes a narrative section for each jurisdiction summarizing issues related to treaty succession and treaty implementation in municipal law.
Restatement, Third, Foreign Relations Law of the United States by Louis Henkin (Editor); American Law Institute Staff
Call Number: KF4651 .R47 1987 Balcony & Sohn Library; also Westlaw and Hein
American viewpoint: § 102 lists customary law as a source of international law; § 103 sets for the types of materials that are evidence of international law

Oxford Reports on International Law - int'l tribunal and domestic court decisions involving international law; search by keywords or browsing (subject/jurisdiction); includes analysis and translation for many decisions

ECOLEX - combines the environmental law information holdings of FAO, IUCN and UNEP. Provides access to environmental law treaties, legislation, cases and literature.

FAOLEX - collection of domestic laws and regulations on food, agriculture and renewable natural resources

International Tribunals

International Court of Justice official site
Includes cases and basic documents, including the Statute of the ICJ.
International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea
Cases, texts and basic documents
European Court of Justice
European Court of Human Rights

KluwerArbitration This link opens in a new window
Database for international arbitration research containing commentaries from expert authors, primary source materials, and comparative practice tools. Account creation must be completed on Law School network.

Examples of International Environmental Law Books at the Law Library

This is a sampling of relevant materials available in the Law Library. Additional available items, including e-books, can be found using our online catalog, GAVEL. In addition to the subject heading of ENVIRONMENTAL LAW--INTERNATIONAL, relevant items may be assigned subjects such as CLIMATIC CHANGES, MARINE POLLUTION, NATURAL RESOURCES, RADIOACTIVE POLLUTION OF THE SEA, SHORE PROTECTION, SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, TRANSBOUNDARY POLLUTION, and WILDLIFE CONSERVATION. For a more flexible search, try a keyword search.

International Law and the Environment by Oxford Editors (Editor); Alan Boyle; Catherine Redgwell; Patricia Birnie; Patricia W. Birnie; Alan E. Boyle
Call Number: K3585.4 .B57 2009 BALCONY
Publication Date: 2009
As conservation of the environment plays an increasingly important role within society, International Law and the Environment continues to be the essential read for students and practitioners alike. International Law and the Environment, while remaining rooted within the substantive law, places legislation on the protection of the environment firmly at the core of its current context. Written by three of the foremost experts in this field, the authors employ sharp and thorough analysis of the laws, allowing them to share their extensive knowledge and experience with the reader. The authors provide a unique perspective on the implications of International regulation, promoting a wider understanding of the pertinent issues impacting upon the law. This edition features extended treatment of Genetically Modified Organisms and biotechnology as well as the implications of ethics and the environment. It also benefits from new material covering the role of the International Maritime Organization and Non-Governmental Organizations, which continue to grow in their influence over legislative provisions. These revisions ensure that not only does International Law and the Environment remain at the forefront of developments but continues to provide the most complete coverage of the growing subject of environmental law.
International Environmental Law: The Practitioner's Guide to the Laws of the Planet by Roger Romulus Martella; J. Brett Grosko
Call Number: K3585 .I5826 2014 Balcony
Until recently, international environmental law was largely the focus of diplomatic discussions, treaty negotiations, and academic debates of interest to a group of passionate and patient attorneys working for governments and international nongovernmental organizations. With clients becoming multinational in nature and faced with a rapidly emerging and confusing regime of international environmental laws, understanding international environmental law is becoming a core skillset for every environmental attorney. International Environmental Law helps attorneys understand the unique ramifications of these laws, regardless of where they practice and whom they represent. Written by attorneys with extensive experience in the area, International Environmental Law provides an analytical framework to help practitioners advise clients, whether from law firms, in house, or within government and nongovernmental organizations. The book s authors provide a logical template for considering the most pertinent issues in international environmental law, including air and climate change, water, chemicals and hazardous materials, site remediation, emergency response, natural resource management, environmental review, and civil and criminal enforcement. The book examines the legal regimes in twenty-six key markets, as well as offering an informed discussion on global and cross-border issues."
The Oxford Handbook of International Environmental Law by Daniel Bodansky (Editor); Ellen Hey (Editor); Jutta Brunnée (Editor); Public International Law Staff; Faculty of Law Staff; Erasmus University Rotterdam Staff
Call Number: K3585 .O96 2007 BALCONY
Publication Date: 2007
The Oxford Handbook of International Environmental Law takes stock of the major developments in international environmental law, while exploring the field's core assumptions and concepts, basic analytical tools, and key challenges. Featuring contributions from distinguished scholars and drawing upon insights from political science, economics and philosophy, it is intended to serve as an indispensable overview of the field.
The Human Right to a Healthy Environment by John H. Knox (Editor); Ramin Pejan (Editor)
Call Number: K3585 .H853 2018 Balcony
The absence of a globally recognized right to a healthy environment has not prevented the development of human rights norms relating to the environment. Indeed, one of the most noteworthy aspects of human rights law over the last twenty years is that UN treaty bodies, regional tribunals, special rapporteurs, and other human rights mechanisms have applied human rights law to environmental issues even without a stand-alone, justiciable human right to a healthy environment. In The Human Right to a Healthy Environment, a diverse set of scholars and practitioners, all of whom have been instrumental in defining the relationship between human rights and the environment, provide their thoughts on what is, or should be, the role of an international human right to a healthy environment. The right to a healthy environment could be a capstone to this field of law, could help to provide structure to it, or could move it in new directions.
State Accountability for Space Debris by Peter Stubbe
Call Number: eBook 2018
In State Accountability for Space Debris Peter Stubbe examines the legal consequences of space debris pollution which, he argues, is a global environmental concern. The study finds that the customary 'no harm' rule and Article IX of the Outer Space Treaty obligate States to prevent the generation of debris and that the international community as a whole has a legitimate interest in their compliance. A breach of these obligations entails the responsibility of a State and compensation must be provided for damage caused by space debris. The author treats responsibility and liability separately and thoroughly scrutinizes both legal regimes with the help of common analytical elements. Finally, Peter Stubbe argues that a comprehensive traffic management system is required so as to ensure the safe and sustainable use of outer space.
Animals, International Law, International Trade, and Morality by Thomas
Call Number: K3620 .K45 2011 BALCONY
Publication Date: 2011
This book provides the first analysis of international and comparative animal law which focuses on the impact of today's globalized economy on animal law. Among the issues covered: contemporary philosophical thought on the relationship between humans and animals; recent scientific research relating to cognitive and other abilities of animals; legal issues relating to factory farming and animal slaughter operations; legal protection of animals during transport; regulatory schemes on animal experimentation; laws on the use of animals in entertainment; regulation of trade in endangered species; international trade issues, including the provisions of GATT relevant to animal protection and the seminal WTO/GATT decisions in the Tuna/Dolphin and Shrimp/Turtle cases; constitutional protection for the interests of animals; and what the future may hold for animal law in the global economy. To ensure the consideration of a full range of legal approaches, the laws analyzed come from a wide variety of countries, including the US, the UK, New Zealand, Germany, Sweden, India, Canada, Australia, and Austria, as well as the EU. Numerous international treaties and conventions relevant to animal treatment are also covered, including the CITES Convention and the GATT Treaty.
Climate Change and Indigenous Peoples by Randall S. Abate (Editor); E. A. Kronk (Editor)
Call Number: K3247 .C55 2013 BALCONY
Publication Date: 2013
This comprehensive volume will appeal to professors and students of environmental law, indigenous law and international law, as well as practitioners and policymakers with an interest in indigenous legal issues and environmental justice.
Climate Change and the Law by Kati Kulovesi (Editor); Michael Mehling (Editor); Erkki J. Hollo (Editor)
Call Number: K3593 .C654 2013 BALCONY
Publication Date: 2012
"Climate Change and the Law" is the first scholarly effort to systematically address doctrinal issues related to climate law as an emergent legal discipline. It assembles some of the most recognized experts in the field to identify relevant trends and common themes from a variety of geographic and professional perspectives. In a remarkably short time span, climate change has become deeply embedded in important areas of the law. As a global challenge calling for collective action, climate change has elicited substantial rulemaking at the international plane, percolating through the broader legal system to the regional, national and local levels. More than other areas of law, the normative and practical framework dedicated to climate change has embraced new instruments and softened traditional boundaries between formal and informal, public and private, substantive and procedural; so ubiquitous is the reach of relevant rules nowadays that scholars routinely devote attention to the intersection of climate change and more established fields of legal study, such as international trade law. "Climate Change and the Law" explores the rich diversity of international, regional, national, sub-national and transnational legal responses to climate change. Is climate law emerging as a new legal discipline? If so, what shared objectives and concepts define it? How does climate law relate to other areas of law? Such questions lie at the heart of this new book, whose thirty chapters cover doctrinal questions as well as a range of thematic and regional case studies. As Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), states in her preface, these chapters collectively provide a review of the emergence of a new discipline, its core principles and legal techniques, and its relationship and potential interaction with other disciplines.
The Law of the Sea and the Polar Regions by Erik J. Molenaar (Editor); Alex G. Oude Elferink (Editor); Donald R. Rothwell (Editor)
Call Number: K593 .L39 2013 SOHN LIBRARY
ISBN: 9004255206
Publication Date: 2013
The Law of the Sea and the Polar Regions: Interactions between Global and Regional Regimes examines regional regimes for the Arctic and Antarctic on among others science, maritime security, marine-protected areas, fisheries & shipping, by means of common research questions; thus enabling overall synthesis and identification of differences, similarities, and trends.
Legal Aspects of Implementing the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety by Marie-Claire Cordonier Segger (Editor); Frederic Perron-Welch (Editor); Christine Frison (Editor)
Call Number: K3925.B56 L45 2013 BALCONY
Publication Date: 2013
This book, the first in a new series that focuses on treaty implementation for sustainable development, examines key legal aspects of implementing the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) at national and international levels. The volume provides a serious contribution to the current legal and political academic debates on biosafety by discussing key issues under the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety that affect the further design of national and international law on biosafety, and analyzing recent progress in the development of domestic regulatory regimes for biosafety. In the year of the fifth UN Meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, at the signature of a new Nagoya-Kuala Lumpur Protocol on Liability and Redress, this timely book examines recent developments in biosafety law and policy.

Research Guides

Search for research guides on the web. Below are examples:

Globalex at NYU collection of research guides on international law and foreign law - overall excellent collection of frequently-updated research guides.

ASIL Electronic Resources guide on International Environmental Law

Georgetown Guide on International Environmental Law

Research Guide on Transboundary Freshwater Treaties and Other Resources

Sustainable Development Law (SDL) Research Guide

Finding Articles

Expand your search for articles beyond Westlaw and Lexis with the resources in our Find Articles guide.

The Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals may be especially helpful for this seminar.

To catch articles pre-publication, make sure to search the Legal Scholarship Network in SSRN.

Examples of relevant books at the Main Library

The Main Library, next door to the Law School, also collects relevant materials. Use their online catalog, GIL, to identify additional print and electronic items. Below are some examples:

Sustainable Development, International Criminal Justice, and Treaty Implementation by Sébastien Jodoin (Editor); Marie-Claire Cordonier Segger (Editor)
Call Number: K3585 .S868 2013 (Main Library 2nd Floor)
Publication Date: 2013
International Criminal Justice and Sustainable Development provides a serious and timely perspective on the relationship between two important and dynamic fields of international law. Comprised of chapters written by leading academics and international lawyers, this book examines how the principles and practices of international criminal law and sustainable development can contribute to one another's elaboration, interpretation, and implementation.
Victims of Environmental Harm by Matthew Hall
Call Number: K5278 .H35 2013 (Main Library 2nd Floor)
Publication Date: 2013
In recent years, the increasing focus on climate change and environmental degradation has prompted unprecedented attention being paid towards the criminal liability of individuals, organisations and even states for polluting activities. These developments have given rise to a new area of criminological study, often called 'green criminology'. Yet in all the theorising that has taken place in this area, there is still a marked absence of specific focus on those actually suffering harm as a result of environmental degradation. This book represents a unique attempt to substantively conceptualise and examine the place of such 'environmental victims' in criminal justice systems both nationally and internationally.
Contemporary Issues in International Law: Environment, International Trade, Information Technology and Legal Education by B. C. Nirmal & Rajnish Kumar Singh, eds.
Call Number: eBook 2018

General Resources on Scholarly Legal Writing

Scholarly Writing for Law Students: Seminar Papers, Law Review Notes, and Law Review Competition Papers.
KF250 .F35 2011 RESERVE

Scholarly Writing: Ideas, Examples, and Execution
KF250 .C528 2012 RESERVE

Georgia Law's Student Handbook, including section on Advanced Writing Requirement.

Online guide to Research Strategies for Seminar Papers from Georgetown Law.

Foreign Environmental Law Resources

ECOLEX
Collected legislation, jurisprudence and international agreements on environmental law from around the world.