2 June 2021
In a landmark special issue of EPL, noted scholars lay out their vision for a complete overhaul of regulatory processes, approaches, and instruments for the protection of the global environment
[Uploaded by Carmel McNamara, IOS Press]
Amsterdam, NL – On the eve of the 50th anniversary of the 1972 Stockholm conference that created the United Nations Environmental Programme, it is clear that the global environmental situation has only deteriorated. In “Our Earth Matters: Pathways to a Better Common Environmental Future,” an extended special issue of Environmental Policy and Law (EPL), leading scholars from more than five continents call for an honest introspection of what has been attained over the last 50 years relating to regulatory processes and laws and explore future trajectories with new ideas and frameworks for environmental governance in the 21st century.
EPL special issue – Our Earth Matters: Pathways to a Better Common Environmental Future; “We need to accept with all humility our sacred duty for the care, maintenance and trusteeship of planet Earth for a better common environmental future,” Bharat H. Desai, PhD, Editor-in-Chief
“Our objective is to fire the imaginations of scholars and decision-makers to re-examine current approaches and to explore the future, with new tools, ideas, ecological frameworks, and new international environmental institutions,” explains Guest Editor Bharat H. Desai, PhD, LLM, Professor of International Law and Jawaharlal Nehru Chair in International Environmental Law, Centre for International Legal Studies, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India.
Contributors to the first section of the special issue review some of the structural problems of environmental law in the Anthropocene era, an era of significant human impact on the environment, and predict what frameworks and solutions will be necessary in the future. “Nations are not acting as if they are governing in the Anthropocene epoch, not yet,” warns Nicholas A. Robinson, JD, Pace University School of Law, New York; Executive Governor, International Council of Environmental Law. “More than just air pollution and the loss of natural resources, future policies must cope with threats from cyber wars, nuclear war, genetic mutations, and artificial intelligence. International law will have to be more ambitious, taking advantage of cutting-edge science.”
The next section explores international law-making processes, outlining current shortcomings and proposing possible frameworks for the future. Observing that current approaches seek to minimize economic impact at the expense of environmental protection, Jorge E. Viñuales, PhD, LLM, University of Cambridge, notes that, “The scale and urgency of the unfolding environmental crisis has made the critique of this hierarchy (economy over environmental protection) more powerful.”
Since the 1960s, the United Nations General Assembly has been the central enterprise for the protection of the global environment. The special issue suggests that it is high time the UN system recalibrates itself for the vagaries of scientific assessments and the political realities of the future. A new environmental charter is proposed to rejuvenate the founding values of the international system and restore faith in international environmental governance.
The third section, focusing on problematic situations, highlights how State sovereignty is a major stumbling block for effective environmental conservation and sustainable development. The modern international law movement makes States responsible for adapting regulations and securing compliance. Existing multilateral treaties may serve as an organizational principle for planetary management of natural resources. Writing about the direct and indirect impacts of armed conflicts on the natural environment, Peter Maurer, PhD, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Geneva, writes that States can integrate legal protections for the environment into their armed forces’ doctrines, and humanitarians must commit resources and expertise to help those coping with the environmental consequences of conflict.
“We all have our part to play as we face this existential threat,” Dr. Maurer states. “Perhaps the biggest challenge ahead is the shift in in mindset and mechanics needed from States, humanitarian organizations, and those engaged in hostilities.”
Other contributions address sector-specific environmental problems including climate skepticism; transnational environmental crimes; soil protection and global food security; the impending global water crisis; ocean biodiversity, and a call for new approaches.
In a concluding section, contributors look to the future at international environmental governance structures and reforms that will be necessary to meet current and future challenges. It has become clear that the changes in attitudes and social structures called for at the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment have not taken place and that now time is even more limited to make necessary, far-reaching changes.
Contributor Anna Sundström, MA, Secretary General, Olof Palme International Centre, Stockholm, comments, “Together, we face humanity’s greatest challenge. Together we must fix it. The need for international action remains even more acute.”
International governance is proposed to deal with the practical challenges of repairing environmental conflict. Contributions suggest reviving the United Nations Trusteeship Council, dormant since 1994, with a mandate for the environment and the global commons and turning the United Nations Environment Programme into a specialized agency to elevate its status and equip it with the necessary competence and financial stability. International and national courts and tribunals could become the new “environmental sentinels,” and a specialized International Environmental Court could serve as a global watchdog.
“The 50th Anniversary of the 1972 Stockholm Conference next year calls for honest introspection on what we have attained during the past 50 years,” says Dr. Desai. “This special issue is a modest effort to challenge the connoisseurs of international law and diplomacy to look ahead at this time of perplexity in the 21st century.”
On World Environment Day, June 5, 2021, an exclusive free online event featuring a panel of high-profile experts will explore the issues raised in “Our Earth Matters,” discussing pertinent questions about how we might move ahead to forge pathways to a better environmental future.
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NOTES FOR EDITORS
Our Earth Matters: Pathways to a Better Common Environmental Future
Environment Policy and Law
Extended Special Issue
Volume 50, Issue 6 (Parts I & II) and Volume 51, Issues 1-2 (Parts III & IV)
Guest Editor: Bharat H. Desai, PhD, LLM
Dr. Desai was recently named Editor-in-Chief of Environmental Law and Policy.
All content can be accessed via: environmentalpolicyandlaw.com/our-earth-matters#issue.
Limited-Edition Book
These important contributions to the environmental landscape will also be co-published by IOS Press in a limited-edition standalone book: Our Earth Matters: Pathways to a Better Common Environmental Future. Information and ordering details are available at: environmentalpolicyandlaw.com/our-earth-matters#book.
Free Webinar
Many of the authors who contributed to the special issue and book will take part in a webinar on World Environmental Day to discuss what urgent regulatory processes, approaches, and instruments are needed for the protection of the global environment.
June 5, 2021, 2:00 PM (CEST) / 8:00 AM (EDT) / 05:30 PM (IST)
Introduction by: Bharat H. Desai, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
Session 1: “Prognoses with discussions around the review of global environmental change,” chaired by Edith Brown Weiss, University Professor, Georgetown University, Washington, DC
Session 2: “Prospects will focus on actions that can be taken,” chaired by Nicholas A. Robinson, Pace University School of Law, New York
Webinar information: environmentalpolicyandlaw.com/our-earth-matters#webinar
Registration: bit.ly/EPL-webinar-reg
Contact
For additional information, contact Carmel McNamara, IOS Press (c.mcnamara@iospress.nl). Journalists who wish to interview the Guest Editor or authors should contact Bharat H. Desai (+91-9990352162 or desai@jnu.ac.in).
About Environmental Policy and Law
Environmental Policy and Law (EPL) is an international, interdisciplinary journal that facilitates an understanding of environmental policy and law issues not only by drawing upon and contributing to the environmental social sciences, but also by linking the health, natural, and computer sciences. The journal provides an exchange of information and experience on all legal, administrative, and policy matters relevant to the human and natural environment in its widest sense. It covers all aspects included in the concept of sustainable development. environmentalpolicyandlaw.com
About IOS Press
IOS Press is headquartered in Amsterdam with satellite offices in the USA, Germany, India and China and serves the information needs of scientific and medical communities worldwide. IOS Press now publishes more about 90 international peer-reviewed journals and about 70 book titles each year on subjects ranging from computer science, artificial intelligence, and engineering to medicine, neuroscience, and cancer research. iospress.com
