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Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law (COL) Students
ECOLEX
ECOLEX has environmental treaties, national legislation, and national and international judicial decisions, searchable by subject, keyword, and country. This site is operated by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, and the UN Environment Programme.
FAOLEX
FAOLEX, by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, is a comprehensive and up-to-date legislative and policy database and one of the world's largest online repositories of national laws, regulations and policies on food, agriculture and natural resources management.
Treaty Organization Websites
A Guide to EU Environmental Law (Josephine van Zeben and Arden Rowell, 2021)
This treatise distills European Union environmental law and policy into a practical guide for a nonlegal audience, as well as for lawyers trained in other jurisdictions. The first part explains the basics of the European legal system, including key actors, types of laws, and regulatory instruments. The second part describes the EU’s overarching legal strategies for environmental management and delves into how the EU addresses the specific environmental issues of pollution, ecosystem management, and climate change.
The Art and Craft of International Environmental Law (Dan Bodansky & Harro van Asselt, 2024)
This book introduces the concepts and history behind international environmental law, and goes into detail on how it arises. International rules can arise as customary norms develop and become accepted by enough of the world's countries, or directly through international negotiations. The book discusses the key players in the processes and the obstacles to cooperation and states' adherence to commitments. It also asks whether these systems have been effective.
Birnie, Boyle & Redgwell’s International Law and the Environment (Alan Boyle, Catherine Redgwell & Patricia W. Birnie, 2021)
This work introduces the sources of international law then delves into details of international environmental governance, including rights and obligations of states and nonstate actors, along with specific issues including climate change, nuclear energy, toxic substances, marine pollution, international watercourses, biodiversity, and global trade.
Green Crimes and International Criminal Law (Regina Menachery Paulose ed., 2022)
This collection explores green crimes--violations of law that harm wildlife, ecosystems, and humans directly--in the international context. Green crimes are not only a present but future human rights concern. The book explores novel legal systems to help protect the environment.
Implementing International Environmental Law and Policy: An Interactive Approach to Environmental Regulation (Joanna Miller Smallwood, 2024)
This book critiques existing multidisciplinary theories of environmental law and then brings together international and domestic legal theories to highlight their symbiotic relationship. It also stresses the importance of interactions between domestic and international legal and policy processes.
International Climate Change Law (Daniel Bodansky et al., 2017)
This book introduces the general concepts of international environmental law and how it operates. Then, it delves into an explanation of the international efforts to combat climate change, including the Paris Agreement and Kyoto Protocol, detailing the operation of specific provisions of the legal instruments. It provides a broad perspective on international law, including subnational governance and the effects of non-climate treaties.
International Environmental Law in a Nutshell (Lakshman D. Guruswamy & Elizabeth Leigh Neville, 2022)
This study aid provides an overview of the sources of international environmental law, including treaties, custom, and judicial decisions, and explains how the law becomes effective. Specific environmental topics include biodiversity, climate change, pollution, population, desertification, and nuclear damage. The guide to the many acronyms of international environmental law is particularly helpful. It is also available on West Academic (available on campus or with an ASU West Academic account).
The Oxford Handbook of International Environmental Law (Lavanya Rajamani, Jacqueline Peel, 2021)
This Handbook discusses the key principles underpinning international environmental law, its relevant actors and tools, and rules applying in its substantive sub-fields such as climate law, oceans law, wildlife and biodiversity law, and hazardous-substances regulation. It also explores the intersection of international environmental law with other areas of international law, such as those concerned with trade, investment, disaster, migration, armed conflict, intellectual property, energy, and human rights.
Research Handbook on International Environmental Law (Malgosia Fitzmaurice, Marcel Brus, & Panos Merkouris, 2021)
This wide-ranging and comprehensive Handbook examines recent developments in international environmental law and the crossover effects of this expansion on other areas of international law, such as trade law and the law of the sea.
The below-listed journals are found on HeinOnline (available on campus or with ASURITE). Find more international and foreign environmental journals in the HeinOnline Law Journal Database.
China Oceans Law Review
This Chinese-English bilingual journal features a compilation of research focusing on ocean-related laws and policies, and it is jointly run by several universities and institutes that specialize in maritime law and studies.
Eastern and Central European Journal on Environmental Law
This Netherlands-based journal summarizes the environmental issues facing certain European countries as well as commentary on international and foreign regulatory issues. Electronic access is available from 1995 to 2022.
International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law
The International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law addresses all aspects of of marine and coastal law, including legal issues concerning coastal countries and the non-jurisdictional high seas.
Journal of International Wildlife Law and Policy
Recognizing that the large-scale loss of species will have profound implications from both a utilitarian and moral perspective, the Journal of International Wildlife Law & Policy's mission is to address legal and political issues concerning the human race's interrelationship with and management of wildlife species, their habitats, and the biosphere. This is a hybrid open-access journal, which means that select articles are available without a subscription through Taylor & Francis Online.
New Zealand Journal of Environmental Law
The New Zealand Journal of Environmental Law was founded in 1997 with the assistance of the New Zealand Law Foundation and the Faculty of Law of the University of Auckland. It is intended to provide an outlet for longer analytical and comparative legal writing in the environmental and natural resources law area.
Ocean and Coastal Law Journal
This Maine-based journal is dedicated to facilitating discourse on legal issues related to domestic and international use of the sea and seashores. Volumes include articles by practitioners and scholars, as well as comments and case notes written by students addressing issues of marine resource regulation, alternative energy development, boundary delimitation, coastal zone management, marine environmental protection, and other topics of importance in the field of ocean and coastal law. You may also access this journal on its website.
Sustainable Development Law & Policy
Sustainable Development Law & Policy is a student-run initiative at American University Washington College of Law. It publishes articles and essays that focus on reconciling the tension between environmental sustainability, economic development, and human welfare. It embraces an interdisciplinary focus to provide a fuller view of current legal, political, and social developments and timely information and analysis of important issues relating to sustainable-development law and policy. You may also access this journal on its website.
Transnational Environmental Law
Transnational Environmental Law is a peer-reviewed journal for the study of environmental law and governance beyond the state. It approaches legal and regulatory developments with an interest in the contribution of non-state actors and an awareness of the multi-level governance context in which contemporary environmental law unfolds. It has a broad disciplinary focus open to scholarly contributions covering a wide range of environmental issues and the evolving dynamics between environmental law and other legal disciplines. The journal provides open access to select articles on its website.
Center for International Environmental Law
CIEL focuses on climate change, energy sustainability, regulation of toxic chemicals, and human rights issues around the world. It provides reports on its impact as an organization, as well as on environmental topics such as plastics, resource extraction, and resource trade, complete with statistical information.
Earth System Governance
This organization is dedicated to researching global environmental issues and providing information to the public while exploring systems of governance. It provides research materials on environmental and related topics such as the social impact of environmental stewardship, and it provides a news service.
Global Environment Facility
It provides data on the results that environmental spending achieves, with a list of specific projects and the impact that environmental efforts have on countries around the globe. Researchers can also track information on a variety of topics, such as restoration of particular environmental media and related social and economic issues.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is a scientific body established by the United Nations Environment Programme and the World Meteorological Organization to assess climate change.
International Renewable Energy Agency
IRENA promotes adoption of renewable energy systems such as wind, solar, and ocean power in countries throughout the world. It provides a wealth of resources on the development of renewable systems, including production capacity progress, cost studies, locations of potential resources, studies of the benefits of sustainable energy. It provides statistics and focused data on particular countries or regions of the world.
International Union for the Conservation of Nature
The IUCN unites governmental and non-governmental organizations in more than one hundred sixty countries to protect the natural world. It includes commissions dedicated to public education; ecosystem management; the intersections of environmental, economic, and social policy; species survival; adjusting environmental laws; and studying protected areas. The IUCN also provides annual reports on environmental issues such as climate change, forest management, water resource management, and World Heritage sites.
OECD – Climate Change
OECD has research and analysis by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development relating to climate change.
Sustainable Governance Indicators
Examines countries around the world for not only performance in safeguarding the environment, but also promoting economic health and social equity.
United Nations Division for Sustainable Development
This U.N. website has information, documents, and publications relating to issues contained in Agenda 21, the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation, the Barbados Programme of Action for Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States, and the Commission on Sustainable Development. National information by country includes information submitted biennially in national reports by member states to the Commission on Sustainable Development.
United Nations Environment Programme
The U.N. Environment Programme website provides a wide range of resources, including technical guidelines, clearing-houses, trainer manuals, databases, publications and other useful tools produced by UNEP for governments, policy makers, civil society, private sector and the public at large.
United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization
The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization website has statistical databases and agriculture and food security databases organized by country and thematic area, a virtual library, including FAO publications and meeting documents, and the text of conventions, agreements, and treaties deposited with FAO.
United Nations Climate Action
This U.N. group's website provides an online inventory of U.N. System activities on climate change and links to the websites of U.N. partners on climate change.
The World Bank Environment Page
The World Bank Environment page has information and publications on certain areas affecting World Bank operations in the environmental field.
World Health Organization – Climate Change
The WHO works to identify policy options to help prevent, prepare for and respond to the health effects of climate change, and supports Member States in selecting and implementing response strategies.
World Meteorological Organization
The World Meteorological Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations dealing with meteorology, operational hydrology, and related geophysical sciences.
United States Global Change Research Program
This U.S. program coordinates federal research on changes in the global environment. USGPR was created in 1989. From 2002-2008, the USGPR was known as the U.S. Climate Change Science Program. The Program's website gives information on the government agencies it works with and provides access to its publications and various research resources.
U.S. Department of Energy, Office of International Affairs
The role of the Office of International Affairs of the Department of Energy is to deliver unbiased advice to the Department of Energy’s leadership on existing and prospective energy-related policies. The Office’s website provides information on its services and initiatives.
U.S. Department of Justice: Foreign Law
The United States government has collected links to sources of foreign law, including environmental regulation.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: International Cooperation
Summarizes the domestic efforts to coordinate on transboundary pollution issues and with specific foreign governments such as China, Canada, and the geographical regions of the earth, along with global initiatives such as mercury reduction and ocean stewardship.
Arab Forum for Environment and Development
This non-governmental organization provides reports on sustainable development of natural resources in the Arab region.
Australian Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water
This Australian government agency gathers information on the island continent and its efforts to protect Australia's environment and water resources.
European Commission: Climate Action
The European Commission website on climate action has information about the European Union’s international and domestic climate change activities. The site also has a number of studies on various aspects of climate change.
European Environment Agency (EEA)
The EEA is an agency of the European Union that provides environmental information to EU bodies and EU member countries.
Friends of the Earth International
This non-governmental organization promotes sustainability in regions around the world, including North America, Africa, and Latin America. It provides publications on subjects such as food sovereignty, environmental justice, and human rights.
Rainforest Foundation US
This non-governmental organization works to preserve the natural environments of Brazil, Peru, Panama, and Guyana, and providing information on climate change and the tension between natural resource development and nature preservation.
CIEL Blog
The Center for International Environmental Law's blog updates frequently with breaking environmental news from around the world on topics such as garbage disposal and the progress of sweeping "Green New Deal"-style reforms.
Climate Law: Sabin Center for Climate Change Law
This blog provides updates on domestic, foreign, and international efforts to address climate change.
EJIL:Talk!
The European Journal of International Law provides an environmentally focused resource touching on issues relevant to particular countries as well as global challenges such as climate change.
EurekAlert!
This nonprofit group provides news releases for the public from universities, governments, and corporations worldwide on international environmental and health issues.
European Law Blog: Environmental Law
This blog written by legal experts and academics provides detailed commentary on the impact of regulatory efforts on regional environmental goals.
IUCN: News & events
This website of the International Union for Conservation of Nature provides updates on global and foreign environmental regulatory efforts.
Legal Planet: Environmental Law
Legal Planet is a collaboration between faculty at UC Berkeley School of Law and UCLA School of Law. This blog provides commentary on emerging and ongoing environmental and climate-policy issues.