Back to IndexINTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL LAW
RESEARCH GUIDE
OVERVIEW:
International law is one of the fastest growing areas in th environmental field.
Greater public awareness in the worlwide community of the many shared environmental problems involving air and water pollution, and conservation of species and land concerns, led to the 1972 Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment. This conference led to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), which has supported and encouraged negotiations for many multilateral environmental agreements. They also generate reports and documents which provide information on the development of international environmental law.
More recently, the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) was held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, which produced the Rio Declaration, calling for voluntary cooperation on global environment issues. The result has led to a variety of treaties and agreements on such issues as global warming and protection of the ozone layer, examples of which are the Montreal Protocol in 1988 and the Kyoto Protocol in 2002.
As a result of the global awareness and treaty efforts, many companies and associations have provided systems to manage performance and compliance with environmental regulations. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) oversees these environmental management systems (EMS). The EPA in the United States has an EMS program which focuses on compliance with EPA regulations. The World Bank has environmental standards requirements which its borrowers and related lenders must adhere to for environmental protection.
International environmental law involves extensive treaty research, finding documents, and making sure they are up to date. Nations which implement the accords of the treaties use their own legislation to provide regulations. The uniqueness of foreign legal systems and language translation add to the complexity of this research. Websites of international organizations can provide much information in this area, and Lexis and Westlaw have extensive libraries for international environmental law materials.
A. RESEARCH GUIDES:Loyola Online Catalog:Environmental law, International:
Access to Environmental Justice: A comparative study/ edited by Andrew Harding.
K 3585 .A253 2007Birnie, Patricia W.
International law and the environment/ by Patricia W. Birnie, Alan E. Boyle.
K 3585.4 .B57 1993Documents in International Environment Law (Philippe Sands et. eds., 2004)
Guruswamy, Lakshman D., 1939-
International environmental law in a nutshell / by Lakshman D. Guruswamy ; with Kevin L. Doran.
K3585.6 .G87 2007Kiss, Alexandre Charles, 1925-
Guide to International environmental law / Alexandre Kiss and Dinah Shelton.
K 3585 .K5695 2007Sands, Philippe,
Principles of international environmental law / Philippe Sands
K 3585 .S265 2003United Nations Treaty Collection
http://untreaty.un.org/English/access.asp
Full-text multilateral treaties are found at Research Quick Links -Loyola Online Catalog. Treaty status is also available, for all treaties are required to be registered with the Secretary-General of the United NatioInternet Research Guides:
American Society of International Law ( ASIL)-International Environmental Law
http://www.asil.org/resource/env1.htmElectronic Information System for International Law (EISIL)-
A website created by the American Society of International law on a variety of topics. International Environmental Law
is included and many links are given to primary sources, other websites and research guides.International Environmental Law Research Guide-Georgetown Law LibraryB. TREATIES:
http://www.ll.georgetown.edu/intl/guides/InternationalEnvironmentalLaw.cfmGlobalex - Basic Guide to International Environmental Legal Research
http://www.nyulawglobal.org/globalex/index.html#United Nations Documentation: Research Guide: Environment
http://www.un.org/Depts/dhl/resguide/specenv.htm
CIESIN: The treaty database is part of the Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) within the Earth Institute at Columbia University.C. GUIDES FOR TREATY RESEARCH:
http://www.ciesin.org/
Environmental Treaties and Resource Indicators (ENTRI)
http://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/entri/
A comprehensive source for environmental treaties, documents and status information. Treaties in this area govern many topic areas of environmental law. The most well-known of the multilateral treaties are found here.ECOLEX
http://www.ecolex.org/index.php
Along with the World Conservation Union (IUCN), UNEP has established this “global gateway” for access to all materials, ranging from multilateral treaties, documents, court decisions to other types of literature.Multilaterals Project
http://fletcher.tufts.edu/multilaterals.html
The Fletcher School of Diplomacy at Tufts University began the project in 1992 to provide access to environmental multilateral agreements, it now includes other topical areas of international law.United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=43&ArticleID=4373&l=en
See: INTERNATIONAL LAW WEB PAGESD. ORGANIZATIONS- IGO’S AND NGO’S - IL WEB PAGES
See: Northwestern University - International Documents Collection
It provides links to IGO's, some NGO's, foreign governments and many international documents.Europa - Activities of the European Union: EnvironmentE. INTERNET SITES:
Website includes European Commission, Parliament, Priniciples and documentation. Environmental topics are presented.The World Conservation Union - IUCN
Members are focused on conservation and sustainable development; resources include position papers, reports documents and guidelines.International Maritime Organization - IMO
Information resources link provides access to resources on current topics, IMO Conventions, current awareness, etc.
Comprehensive site on all aspects of the shipping industry and environmental protection of the seas.North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation - CEC
The United States, Canada and Mexicoin, in connection with NAFTA, to address environmental concerns; publications include laws, treaties, agreements, databases, and links to related documents.Department of Sustainable Development - DSD
A department of the Organization of American States (OAS) it supports members in policies, programs, and projects which integrate environmental action goals along with socio-economic goals.United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
Agency of the UN which seeks to develop worldwide environmental development. Includes annual reports, newsletters, periodicals and related links.World Bank Group - Environment
The organization supports efforts to meet environmental challenges, as it recognizes the importance for equitable and sustained economic growth. Provides strategies, programs and projects, along with related links in this endeavor.Friends of the Earth International
World's largest "grassroots environmental network", it seeks to campaign on world's most urgent environmental issues. Publications on numerous environmental topics.Greenpeace
Activist group that works on worldwide environmental issues.The Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL)F. FOREIGN LAW SOURCES
http://www.ciel.org/Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) A center within Columbia University's Earth Institute,
the website provides access to data sets and maps.Columbia Earthscape: an Online Resource to the Global Environment Links to papers and conferences, other web sites, etc.
Globelaw
http://www.globelaw.com/
International Environmental and Transnational Law site; includes topics and a few national legal resources.Hieros Gamos
http://www.hg.org/environ.html
Comprehensive portal for environmental resources.World Legal Information Institute - World LII
http://www.worldlii.org/catalog/317.html
Its purpose is to provide" free access to worldwide law." Includes databases for countries of the world, as well as regions.Includes subject of international law as well.Environmental law research involves not only finding multilateral agreements and treaties, but it may also involve locating the laws of foreign nations. Access to the background on foreign legal systems of countries and the implementation of environmental terms through regulation may be important.
European Union Environmental Agency The EEA is official environmental agency of the European Union. Comparable to the
EPA in the U.S. Major information source with links to other web sites and documents.ECOLEX - is an excellent portal for beginning research into international environmental law, and it includes information about national legislation and court decisions.
FAOLEX - Food and Agriculture of the United Nations - a database that has a collection of national legislation of foreign countries relating to the topic.Foreign country legal systems can be further researched through the following websites, which can also be accessed through the INTERNATIONAL LAW WEB PAGES on my web site: www.loyno.edu/~beisen/
Key resources for resarching foreign law information:Foreign Law Guide - Loyola Online Catalog - Research Quick LinksLibrary of Congress - Guide to Law Online
Martindale-Hubbell International Law Digest - Reserve KF 190 .H813
Available on LexisNexis