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.
International Environmental Law Books
General Information
The following books have background information about international
environmental law:
Global
Environment and International Law
K3585 .D54 2003 (5th Stacks)
International
Environmental Law
K3585 .K574 2004 (5th Stacks)
International
Environmental Law for the 21st Century
K3585 .N36 2003 (5th Stacks)
International
Environmental Law in a Nutshell, 2nd ed.
K3585.4 .G87 2003 (5th Stacks)
International
Law and the Environment
K3585.4 .B57 2002 (5th Stacks)
Principles
of International Environmental Law
K3585 .S265 2003 (5th Stacks)
Water
Amazon
Sweet Sea : Land, Life, and Water at the River's Mouth GF532.A4 S65 2002(5th Stacks)
American
and International Aquaculture Law
KF1760 .M38 2000 (5th Stacks)
Model
Water Sharing Agreements for the Twenty-First Century
K3496 .M63 2002 (5th Stacks)
The United
Nations Convention on the Law of International Watercourses : a Framework
for Sharing
KZ3700 .T36 2001 (6th Stacks)
Air
International
Environmental Agreements and Domestic Politics: The Case of Acid Rain
KJE6249 I46 2000 (6th Stacks)
International
environmental policy : interests and the failure of the Kyoto process
GE170 .B64 2002 (5th Stacks)
Methyl bromide : update on achieving the requirements of the Clean Air Act and the Montreal Protocol 2004 (pdf)
Earth
and People
Earth
Negotiations : Analyzing Thirty Years of Environmental Diplomacy GE149 .C42 2001 (5th Stacks)
Greening
NAFTA : the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation
KDZ670 .G74 2003 (5th Stacks)
Human
Rights and the Environment : Conflicts and Norms in a Globalizing World
HD75.6 .H86 2002 (5th Stacks)
People,
Plants, and Justice : the Politics of Nature Conservation
GE170 .P45 2000 (5th Stacks)
Stumbling
Toward Sustainability
KF5505.A75 S78 2002 (5th Stacks)
International Environmental Law Articles
Some periodicals in our collection are:
Colorado
Journal of International Environmental Law and Policy
K3 O274 (5th Stacks or HeinOnline)
Georgetown
International Environmental Law Review
K7 E584 (5th Stacks or HeinOnline)
New Zealand
Journal of Environmental Law
K14 E882 (5th Stacks or HeinOnline)
Review
of European Community & International Environmental Law
KJE6242 A13 R48 (6th Stacks or BlackwellSynergy)
Sustainable
Development Law & Policy
K23 .U8 (5th Stacks, HeinOnline or online through American University, Washington College of Law)
Yearbook
of International Environmental Law
K3581.3 Y43 (5th Stacks)
NOTE: We are constantly addition new books and journals to our collection, for additional titles please search the Library's Online Catalog. Try a keyword search using "INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL", or search by the subject "ENVIRONMENTAL LAW INTERNATIONAL."
To find individual articles on a topic search:
Index to Legal Periodicals and Books
Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals
International Environmental Law Websites
ASIL - Guide to International Environmental Law
Atlas of International Freshwater Agreements
Center for International Environmental Law
Electronic Information System for International Law (EISIL) > International Environmental Law
Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide
Environmental Treaties and Resource Indicators (ENTRI)
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
The Book Online
Related Links
International Environmental Law Research Guide prepared by Georgetown University Law Library
Trade and Environmental Database
US POPs (persistant organic pollutants)
World Conservation Union (International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources)
United Nations Resources
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.
Environmental Law 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)
Other treaty research can be conducted by following recommendations in the Hastings Law Library's Treaty Research Guide.
A few of
our books:
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)
Congressional
Research Service Reports
CRS
Reports provide valuable insight into how Congress makes decisions
and are excellent sources for determining historical and current legal
frameworks on domestic and international issues. (Available Hastings
students, faculty, and staff through
the subscription
database page.)To narrow your results, limit your search to one of the environmentally related categories such as:
Air pollution, Energy, Environmental Protection, Marine Resources, Hazardous Substances, Natural Resources, Water Pollution, Water Resources, and sometimes Trade or Transportation.
Some recent
reports published by CRS are:
Safe Drinking
Water Act: Implementation and Issues
dated 5/10/2005
Port
and Maritime Security: Background and Issues for Congress
dated
5/27/2005
Environmental
Protection Issues in the 109th Congress
dated
6/1/2005
Hearings
and other Government Documents
There are many governmental offices working together to create international
environmental legislation. You might need documents from the Environmental
Protection Agency, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the US Department
of Justice, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or the
US Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works just to name a few.
These agencies and committees most likely have websites, but being able to find documents on them might be so straight-forward. If you're having trouble locating a document, try searching again with a search engine like Google™, and use the advanced search option to limit by site or domain.
Search LexisNexis Congressional, which is an online index of (restricted to users on campus).
Last updated September 24, 2008
Prepared by
FCIL Librarian