International Environmental Law Research Guide
In the 30+ years since the U.N. Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm in 1972, international environmental law has grown significantly. The main sources for this body of law are treaties and customary international law. Some of the customary international law concepts or principles (those generally accepted by nations) in regards to environmental law are:
- State Responsibility - states may be held accountable for their actions
- Freedom of the High Seas - including freedom of fishing, subject to conservation obligations
- State Sovereignity - of the natural resources within its jurisdiction
- Self-defense - the state's right to defend, such as against an impending asteroid collision
- Duty to Cooperate - states must cooperate to protect the environment
This guide to international environmental law resources available in the Hastings Law Library and on the Internet is by no means extensive but it will get you started on your research.
Current Awareness
International Environmental Law blogs and podcasts
ASIL Insights Online is available on the ASIL Web site, and as a free monthly email service. Contains concise essays outlining the international law issues behind current events.
Georgetown International Environmental Law Review Blog
Environmental Law Professors' Blog
Legal Planet: Environmental Law and Policy
Weblinks
Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL)
Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide (E-LAW)
Environmental Law Institute (ELI)
International Environmental Law Research Centre (IELRC)
International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD)
Finding Books
The following subject searches may be useful in the Hastings classic catalog or Encore. Combining search terms using advanced search may yield further results.
Subject searches can also be conducted through the San Francisco Public Library catalog, Google Books, Google Scholar and FirstSearch.
You can also try this list of suggested books (PDF).
Sample subject searches:
- Environmental Law.
- Environmental law, International
- Environmental Law International Cases
- Environmental policy
- Environmental Law International Economic Aspects
- Climatic changes -- International cooperation
- Global warming -- International cooperation
- Environmental policy -- International cooperation
- Environmental risk assessment -- International cooperation
- Sustainable Development International Cooperation
- Air -- Pollution -- Government policy -- International cooperation
- Global warming -- Economic aspects
- Water rights (International law)
- International rivers and International lakes
- Research handbooks in international law series
- Environmental Law International Periodicals
Course Reserve Lists
Climate Change: Law and Business, Prof. Takacs
Borrow Books Through Inter-Library loan
For a wider selection of available books, search to see if other libraries have books you can borrow through inter-library loan. If the book you want is not in the Hastings Library, or you would like to locate other books on your topic, use FirstSearch, a database containing information about books from most of the libraries in the English-speaking world. Search the WorldCat database to find book; click on the ILL icon at the top of the page to request the book.
Finding Articles
Online Journal Sources
Check Lexis, Westlaw, Legal Scholarship Network, Hein Online and BNA for journal articles. They may be good sources for your research on international environmental law.
- Lexis full-text law reviews
- Westlaw full-text law reviews
- Legal Scholarship Network (LSN)
- Hein Online
- BNA Environment Reporter
- Environmental Law Reporter
- Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals
- International Law in Domestic Courts
- Proquest Research Library
- JSTOR (Available through the San Francisco Public Library)
About Legal Periodical Indexes
Unlike Lexis and Westlaw full-text law review databases, legal periodical indexes include almost every U.S. law review article from 1980 to present, but provide only the article title or abstract. One advantage to seaching these indexes is that it allows you to search more journal articles. Another advantage is when you recive too many irrelevant results from your full-text searches. If this is the case, an index search may give you better results since you are not searching the full-text of each article. Also, if you are intereste din historical reserch, articles published between 1918 and 1980 are only searchable using an index. Select "Legal Periodicals Retro" when searching the Index to Legal Periodicals & Books for these older articles.
- Index to Legal Periodicals & Books online database (also Lexis: LAWREV:ILP or Westlaw: ILP)
- Legal Resource Index. Lexis: LRI, Westlaw: LRI or the LegalTrac Internet database
- Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals
- San Francisco Public Library (SFPL) Periodical Finder or SFPL journal indexes
San Francisco Public Library Non-Law Journals
If an article you have found is not in a law-related journal, and not in one of the non-law online resources at Hastings, you may want to search the online databases collection at the San Francisco Public Library. You can check to see if the journal issue you want is accessible from one of the databases provided by the San Francisco Public Library (SFPL), by searching their Periodical Finder. Or you can search through the various SFPL journal indexes. Any resident of California may apply for a SFPL Library card to get online full-text access.
Retrieve Articles Using Inter-Library Loan.
If you are unable to find the article using UC Hastings and SFPL resources, you can search for an article using FirstSearch. Search the ArticleFirst and/or ECO databases, and then click on the ILL icon at the top of the page to request the article.
International Environmental Law Resources
Websites
ASIL - Guide to International Environmental Law
Atlas of International Freshwater Agreements
Center for International Environmental Law
EISIL - Electronic Information System for International Law > International Environmental Law
Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide
ENTRI - Environmental Treaties and Resource Indicators
Yearbook on International Co-operation on Environment and Development
LexisNexis Congressional Digital Collection: Environmental Law
Natural Resources WebLinks: University of Denver College of Law
International Environmental Law and Policy: A Comprehensive Reference Source
International Environmental Law Research Guide prepared by Georgetown University Law Library
Trade and Environmental Database
The United Nations has coordinated the majority of international environmental policy-making, and many of the documents can be found at its website, or at those of its agencies. Also try the Hastings United Nations Internet Resources guide.
United Nations Law Collection from HeinOnline.
US POPs (persistant organic pollutants)
World Conservation Union (International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources)
Treaties
The best place to find significant international environmental treaties is through the International Environmental Law category of EISIL (Electronic Information System for International Law)
HeinOnline Treaties and Agreements Library
Treaties and International Agreements Online - searchable full text database of 11,000+ US Treaties and International agreements and 1500 bilateral tax treaties where the US is not a party. Covers 1783 to the present, restricted to on-campus users.
United Nations Treaty Series - full-text searching of over 50,000 bilateral and multilateral treaties, and includes other UNTS databases as well. The texts of treaties and subsequent actions are in their authentic language(s), along with a translation into English and French, as appropriate. Covers 1946 through March 2003.
Other treaty research can be conducted by following recommendations in the Hastings Law Library's Treaty Research Guide.
A few books at Hastings:
Environment and Statecraft : the Strategy of Environmental Treaty-making
KZ1318 .B37 2003 (6th Stacks)
International, EC and US Environmental Law : a Comprehensive Selection of Basic Documents
K3583 .I565 2002 (5th Stacks)
The Marine Mammal Commission Compendium of Selected Treaties, International Agreements, and Other
Relevant Documents on Marine Resources, Wildlife, and the Environment
K3483 M37 2000 (5th Stacks)
Foreign Environmental Law Resources
Foreign Law Guide: a comprehensive index and research guide to current sources of codes and basic legislation in jurisdictions of the world.
Hastings research guides: foreign law guide and guide to foreign and international legal information on the internet.
GlobaLex Research Guides (by country and subject).
GLIN - Global Legal Information Network. Best for very old and obscure foreign laws.
LLMC Digital- another source for historical foreign law.
WorldLII - World Legal Information Institute.
Last updated November 22, 2011
Prepared by
FCIL Librarian