Administrative / Constitutional Law Environmental / Energy Law Law

Earth System Law: Governing Planetary Transformations in the Anthropocene

By Louis J. Kotze
Coming Soon Hart Publishing Available August 2026

Specifications

ISBN-13
9781509994663
Publisher
Hart Publishing
Publication
August 2026
Format
Hardback
Jurisdiction
U.K. ? Countri(es) for reference only

Details

Written by leading experts, this book provides the first comprehensive and critical exploration of Earth system law.

Environmental law, as it stands, does not meet the challenge of governing the many complex planetary transformations of the Anthropocene. Earth system law marks a new legal paradigm-replacing the fragmented, human-centred, state-based approach with an integrated, Earth-centred approach to planetary governance, purpose-built for our turbulent epoch.

The book offers innovative proposals for legal principles, actors, institutions, and ethics designed to safeguard the stability and integrity of Earth's life-support systems. It also delivers the first full stocktake of the Earth system law framework and its scholarship, coupled with a forward-looking research and implementation agenda.

Earth System Law is for all those who are frustrated by the persistent inability of environmental law to address the interconnected governance challenges of the Anthropocene-and for those ready to help shape the next legal frontier. Researchers, students, practitioners, and policymakers alike will find here both the vision and the tools to rethink law for a human-dominated planet.

Table of Contents


Part 1: Introduction
1. Introduction
Louis J. Kotze (Wageningen University and Research, the Netherlands)
2. The Evolution of Earth System Law: Opening Up New Pathways for Legal Innovation
Louis J. Kotze (Wageningen University and Research, the Netherlands), Mike Angstadt (Colorado College, USA) and Rakhyun E. Kim (Utrecht University, the Netherlands)

Part 2: Resituating the Debate on Law, Legal Principles, and Planet Earth
3. Law, Legal Principles, and Planet Earth
Louis J. Kotze (Wageningen University and Research, the Netherlands) and Louise du Toit (University of Southampton, UK)
4. (Past) Reflections on the (Future) Origins of Earth System Law Principles
Michael Leach (Tilburg University, the Netherlands)
5. Earth System Law and The Praxis of Being De-Principled
Emille Boulot (University of Tasmania, Australia), Laura Mai (University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands ) and Shaun Sellers (McGill University, Canada)

Part 3. Alternative Worldviews and New Ethics Shaping the Evolution of Earth System Law
6. The Imperative Need for a New Relational Ethic to Underpin Earth System Law for the Anthropocene
Karen Morrow (Swansea University, UK)
7. Earth Made up of Territories of Life: A Vision for Earth System Law
Geoffrey Garver (McGill University, Canada) and Ivan Dario Vargas Roncancio (York University, Canada)
8. Stain-guarding Earth System Law in the Enshittocene: Back to the Future for Sustainable Development
Michelle Lim (Singapore Management University, Singapore)
9. Kinship as a Metaphor in Earth System Law and Governance
Rosalind Warner (York University, Canada)

Part 4: Innovative Earth System Lawyering and Governance
10. Architectural Principles for Earth System Law: Constitutive Regulation
Cameron Holley (University of New South Wales, Australia), Clifford Shearing (University of Cape Town, South Africa ) and Samantha Moyo (University of Cape Town, South Africa)
11. The "Near Frontier": Seeking Institutional Pathways to Earth System Law
Mike Angstadt (Colorado College, USA)
12. The Earth System Law-Makers
Benoit Mayer (University of Reading, UK)
13. Moving Images, Moving Society: Environmental Cinema and Earth System Law
Benjamin Richardson (University of Tasmania, Australia)
14. The United Times: A Chronopolitan Thought Experiment in Planetary Earth Law
Frederic Hanusch (Justus-Liebig-University, Germany)

Part 5. Conclusion
15. Exploring Future Frontiers
Louis J. Kotze (Wageningen University and Research, The Netherlands), Rakhyun Kim (Utrecht University, The Netherlands) and Frank Biermann (Utrecht Universuty, the Netherlands)
HKD 1,261.00 −3%
HKD 1,300.00

Inclusive of HK delivery

Pre-order now
Delivery Time: around 4-5 weeks
Not yet published? ?
Extra 10 working days if shipping address outside Hong Kong
  • Free HK shipping over HK$1,000
  • International shipping to 35+ countries
Order Form
Save

Recommended

You may also be interested in these books:

More titles from Administrative / Constitutional Law

View all