Rethinking the Central Role of Nation-States in International Environmental Law

What is it about?

The article argues that international environmental law could be more effective in addressing global environmental challenges, such as climate change and the loss of wildlife, if it reflected more than the interests and responsibilities of national governments and harnessed the energy, passion, expertise and creativity of local governments, private business, scientists, and environmental advocates.

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Why is it important?

The article is written to reflect on the fifty year anniversary of the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment, which is widely recognized as the beginning of the modern field of international environmental law. The article questions the fundamental approach of international environmental law at a time when we need innovations to address the increasingly severe threat of global environmental change.