This expanded and updated Research Handbook delivers an authoritative and in-depth guide to the conceptual foundations of environmental law. It offers a nuanced reflection on the underlying principles by exploring issues such as human rights, constitutional rights, sustainable development and environmental impact assessment within the context of environmental law. Perceptive contributions examine the emerging roles played by a range of concepts, values and objectives in environmental governance. The nature of these emerging concepts and their relationship with traditional rights and duties, which are typically reactive in nature, is of particular significance. New and revised chapters thoroughly examine the concepts at the heart of environmental law including sustainability, protection and climate change law. This second edition further illuminates key aspects of environmental governance through the lens of their underlying dimensions: the form, structure and language of international, regional and national instruments; the function of norms, objectives and standards; and the relevance of economic analysis and of integrated policy formulation. This discerning new edition will be an ideal read for all students and researchers in environmental law and governance. Furthermore, it will be essential reading and a valuable resource for policymakers, legal drafters and those wanting to understand the foundations of the modern environmental legal system.

Table of Contents:
Contents: PART I INTRODUCTION 1 The jurisprudential structure of environmental law 2 Douglas Fisher 2 A normative approach to environmental governance: sustainability at the apex of environmental law 23 Klaus Bosselmann 3 From protection to restoration: a challenge for environmental governance 45 Afshin Akhtar-Khavari and Anastasia Telesetsky 4 Transnational environmental law: the birth of a contemporary analytical perspective 71 Caiphas B. Soyapi and Louis Kotzé 5 Economic approaches to environmental governance: a principled analysis 94 Michael Faure 6 Human rights and the environment: a tale of ambivalence and hope 123 Anna Grear 7 A constitutional human right to a healthy environment 141 Nicholas Bryner 8 Rights of nature: a critique 164 Peter Burdon and Claire Williams PART II THE DEVELOPING INTERNATIONAL LAW REGIME 9 The development of international environmental law by the International Court of Justice 184 Tim Stephens 10 The relative normativity of international environmental law 205 Niko Soininen and Seita Romppanen 11 The principle of sustainable development as a legal norm 228 Jonathan Verschuuren 12 The concept of the common heritage of mankind 252 Prue Taylor PART III CONCEPTUAL APPROACHES TO THE ACHIEVEMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL GOALS 13 Environmental policy integration: the importance of balance and trade-offs 277 Jørgen K. Knudsen and William M. Lafferty 14 The role played by policy objectives in environmental law 301 Chris McGrath 15 The functions of rights of property in environmental law 318 David Grinlinton 16 Environmental impact assessment: ‘setting the law ablaze’ 339 Elizabeth Fisher 17 The precautionary principle in environmental governance 361 Annecoos Wiersema 18 The status of environmental principles in environmental law 381 Eloise Scotford 19 The conceptual foundations of climate change law 406 Benoit Mayer 20 The judicial development of ecologically sustainable development 427 Brian J. Preston Index