Environmental Law and Sustainability After Rio

This book examines the development of environmental law in the period since the ground-breaking 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development or 'Earth Summit' in Rio de Janeiro. It demonstrates that a great deal has been achieved in the field of environmental law since the 1990s. However, the extraordinary environmental crises facing humanity in the 21st century indicate a continuing urgent need for the generation of robust policies and frameworks concerning ecological, socio-cultural and economic sustainability, implemented through appropriately innovative legal mechanisms. The book is divided into five sub-themes of sustainability: history, principles and concepts; environmental rights, access to justice and liability issues; natural resources; energy and climate change; and nature conservation. It includes expert legal opinion on developments to date, engaging with key themes from a broad selection of jurisdictions and perspectives. The analyses extend across public and private law to reflect the manifold areas which are rightly and necessarily the concern of environmental and sustainability law. Its contents offer not only critiques of developments to date, but also constructive engagement with matters of pressing concern to all. Written from a global perspective, this book will be an invaluable reference for academics, postgraduate students, practitioners and policy-makers concerned with environmental law and sustainability.