The Art and Craft of International Environmental Law

In countless ways we are affected by international environmental norms: some social, others legal; some quite general, others very specific. For example, the norms limiting the refrigerants used in air conditioners have been agreed upon in legal form internationally, and are mandated and enforced by national governments. The sustainable fishery and forestry standards used by Carrefour and Ikea were developed more informally by environmental groups and businesses, and are applied to producers through supply-chain contracts, without any government involvement. The reluctance to eat tuna fish or own elephant ivory reflects more general social norms, disseminated through education and culture.

How and why do these norms arise? In what ways do they affect behavior? Do they change what states and individuals actually do and, if so, why? How effective are they in solving international environmental problems? In the second edition of The Art and Craft of International Environmental Law, Daniel Bodansky and Harro van Asselt explore these and other questions.

Revisions cover the numerous developments spanning the 13 years since the first edition was published. New chapters address the growing role of environmental NGOs and the increasingly complex architecture of environmental law involving multiple institutions, levels of governance, and actors. Recent research has been incorporated on treaty design and policy implementation and effectiveness, and greater attention has been given to the role of the judiciary in standard-setting, implementation, and enforcement.

A sophisticated yet highly readable introduction to how international environmental law works (and sometimes doesn't work), this book is essential reading for a wide audience.

Daniel Bodansky is a Regents' Professor at Arizona State University's Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law. He served as Climate Change Coordinator at the U.S. State Department from 1999-2001. Prior to joining the ASU faculty in 2010, he was the Ernst and Emily Woodruff Chair in International Law at the University of Georgia Law School. He served on the board of editors of the American Journal of International Law from 2001-2011. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a graduate of Harvard (A.B.), Cambridge (M.Phil.), and Yale (J.D.).

Harro van Asselt is Professor of Climate Law and Policy with the Centre for Climate Change, Energy, and Environmental Law (CCEEL) at the University of Eastern Finland Law School. He is also a visiting researcher with the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development at Utrecht University, the Netherlands. Previously, he worked at the Stockholm Environment Institute, the University of Oxford, and the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, where he received a PhD (cum laude). He is the editor of the Review of European, Comparative & International Environmental Law.