The Future of Environmental Law: Ambition and Reality

Environmental law is evolving from negotiating and prescribing environmental policies to enforcing time-bound, measurable and achievable goals in order to secure a sustainable future. This pertinent and thought-provoking book analyses the legal instruments that have been successful in working towards requisite targets for ecological sustainability.

Featuring contributions from leading scholars, this insightful book discusses the future challenges and innovative applications of environmental law to assist in achieving sustainability goals in an efficient and timely manner. Chapters focus on topics such as the role of international environmental law in the interpretation of human rights, the legal dimension of sustainability, and the proliferation of offshore renewable energy in European seas. The book concludes by analysing some key international case studies, including the issue of salinization from a legal perspective in the Netherlands, and the relevance of groundwater for the development of the Brazilian semiarid region.

Providing a comparative environmental law outlook which is both ambitious and realistic, this book will be essential reading for students, scholars, and researchers in environmental law, public international law, responsible consumption, and sustainable cities and communities. This book will also be of interest to policy makers and government officials working towards the sustainable development goals.