International Environmental Law and Policy
This course examines how society manages — and sometimes fails to manage — environmental issues that fall beyond the authority or capability of a single national government.
In particular, the course will address:
* the legal, policy, and philosophical issues relating to international norms whose purpose is to protect the environment or regulate activities that adversely affect the environment;
* the role of various instruments used to address international environmental problems, including multilateral treaties and nonbinding declarations;
* cross-cutting principles of international environmental law (such as the precautionary principle) as well as specific regulatory mechanisms to address climate change, biological diversity, the marine environment, and transboundary movement of hazardous substances;
* the utility and limits of the existing agreements and institutions that seek to protect the global environment;
* the relationship between international environmental law, sustainable development, and human rights;
* the relationship between international environmental law and national law; and
* how various actors and institutions participate in the development, implementation, enforcement, and evolution of international environmental norms.