A Basic Guide to
International Environmental Legal Research
by Heidi Frostestad
Kuehl
Published May 2006
Heidi
Frostestad Kuehl is Research and Instructional Services Librarian at
Pritzker Legal Research Center, Northwestern University School of Law, Chicago, IL. She holds a Law degree from Valparaiso University School of Law with a
specialization in International Trade and Development and a Master's Degree in
Library and Information Science from the University of Iowa.
I. Introduction
II. General Starting Points & List of Key
Abbreviations
III. Treaty Research
A. Sub-Topics
for International Environmental Law
B. Essential
Indexes and Finding Aids for Treaty Research
IV. National Laws - Foreign Nations
V. Searching Library Catalogs
VI. Lexis and Westlaw
VII. Periodicals
VIII. Comprehensive Internet Sites
IX. Environmental Organizations, Institutes, and
Statistics
X. Environmental Law Blogs and Current Awareness
Tools
International
environmental law is an ever-changing, constantly expanding, and intriguing
topic for international legal research. When decisions and collaborations
occur between nations across international boundaries and treaties or
agreements are made to cooperate for environmental concerns, disputes inevitably
transpire because of trade implications for the respective nations, safety
concerns and cleanliness of environmental resources among shared borders, or
problems with enforcement mechanisms for liability under agreements or treaty
provisions relating to the environment. The vastness of this area of international
law includes the environmental sub-issues of population, biodiversity, global
climate change, ozone depletion, preserving the Antarctic regions, movement of
toxic and hazardous substances, land or vessel-based pollution, dumping,
conservation of marine living resources, trans-boundary air and water
pollution, desertification, and nuclear damage, among others. To begin
research in international environmental law, a researcher should have a basic
understanding of international law and authority: for example, knowledge of treaty
research and an awareness of the types of international agreements and their effect
in nations of the world as result of reservations, understandings, or
declarations. As noted in this research guide, the number of international environmental
treaties is manageable by sub-topic, so identification of the appropriate
sub-topic or category of international environmental law is essential to
narrowly tailor research and avoid getting bogged down in the wealth of
information. Like many areas of international law, regulation and
implementation of the treaty terms are at the national level. Thus, some
knowledge and research of foreign laws in the countries of focus for a research
problem is necessary for thorough research and analysis. This guide will
provide an overview of the key terms, general starting points by sub-topic of
international environmental law and correlating treaties and agreements, a
summary of the essential websites and secondary sources for international environmental
legal research, and an approach for researching the primary law of foreign
jurisdictions for this topic. Finally, an overview of the prominent
international organizations and correlating documentation produced for
international environmental law and blogs for current awareness in this field
will be provided for a comprehensive overview.
Like
other areas of specialized international law, international environmental law
follows the same sources and categories of law as primary authority under
Article 38 of the Statute of the I.C.J. Those include treaties, custom,
general principles recognized among nations, decisions, and other secondary
authority such as the writings of prominent scholars in the field. Therefore,
a researcher should start with identifying the applicable treaties in force and
analyzing those nations which are parties to the agreement. After determining
all applicable treaties based on the facts of the research question, then the researcher
can uncover national laws, which might accordingly follow the treaty terms or
deviate. Because foreign legal research can be difficult, it is often wise to
consult a comprehensive secondary source on the topic, such as a treatise or
law journal article. Before even approaching the treaties, though, it is
helpful to decipher the tricky acronyms that emerge when studying international
environmental law, especially in the context of the treaties and agreements.
Historically, the timeline of treaties that are often identified as monumental
in the formation of international environmental law include: the Stockholm
Conference (1972), UN Convention on the Law of the Sea ("UNCLOS") (1982), World
Conference on Environment and Development (1987), UN Conference on Environment
and Development (1992), and the World Summit on Sustainable Development
(2002). A helpful overview of international environmental law is provided in International
Environmental Law in a Nutshell by Lakshman D. Guruswamy (West 2003) for
those researchers unfamiliar with this area of international law. As discussed
below, there are also many sub-categories of treaties based on the type of
environmental concern or prevention of certain types of deterioration or liabilities
for pollution. Here are some of the most commonly-used abbreviations and
acronyms for treaty research in international environmental law (however, keep
in mind that it is not a comprehensive list):
- "Agenda
21" - Programme of Action for Sustainable Development (Agenda 21)
- "Aarhus Convention" - Convention on Access to Information, Public
Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental
Matters
- "Basel Convention" - Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary
Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal
- "Basel Ban Amendment" - Protocol on Liability and Compensation for Damage
Resulting from Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes
- "Biodiversity
Convention" - Convention on Biological Diversity
- "Bunkers
Convention" - International Convention on Civil Liability for Bunker
Oil Pollution Damage
- "Cartagena Protocol" - Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the Convention on
Biological Diversity
- "CBD"
- Convention on Biological Diversity
- "CCAMLR"
- Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic
Marine Living Resources
- "CCSBT"
- Convention for the Conservation of Southern
Bluefin Tuna
- "CITES"
- Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild
Fauna and Flora
- "CLC"
- Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage
- "Climate
Change Convention" - United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change"
- "Kyoto Protocol" - Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention
on Climate Change
- "LRTAP"
- Geneva Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution
- "Montreal Protocol" - Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the
Ozone Layer
- "NAAEC"
- North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation
- "OLDEPESCA"
- Agreement Instituting the Latin American Organization for Fisheries
Development
- "OSPAR
Convention" - Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment
of the North-East Atlantic
- "Paris Convention" - Paris Convention on Third Party Liability in the Field
of Nuclear Energy
- "POPs"
- Persistant Organic Pollutants
- "Rio Declaration" - Rio Declaration on Environment and Development
- "Stockholm Convention" - Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic
Pollutants
- "UNCCD"
- United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification
- "UNCLOS"
- United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
- "UNEP"
- United Nations Environment Programme
- "UNFCCC"
- United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
- "Vienna Convention" - Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer
- "Wetlands
Convention" - Convention on Wetlands of International Importance
especially as Waterfowl Habitat
A. Sub-Topics for International Environmental Law
Because
of the many possible sub-topics available for international environmental law,
it is helpful to have a table of categories and correlating agreements. The
following table is a table of agreements and websites for research based on the
eight sub-topics of hazardous waste, nuclear waste, ocean and marine sources,
ozone and protection of the atmosphere, pollution, protection of species and
wildlife, sustainable development, and trade and the environment. When
available, I have linked to sources of the original .pdf document available
online.
*
- U.S. has signed and ratified the treaty.
**
- Dates referenced are the date of signature of the treaties.
B. Essential Indexes and Finding Aids for Treaty Research
There
are numerous treaty indexes for historical U.S. treaties, as well as world
treaty series. In some instances, these treaty indexes are available in print
and online. For international environmental law, it is most helpful to consult
indexes containing world treaties, such as the United Nations Treaty Series,
and other unique online collections of world treaties. In the United States and depending on other jurisdictions for research, a researcher would also
need to consult Treaties in Force and Treaty
Actions. The following list of indexes and helpful online
collections is not exhaustive, but includes comprehensive portals for research:
- ECOLEX
- This website created by the United Nations Environmental Programme and
the World Conservation Union provides a wonderful portal to searching for
bibliographic information of treaties by sub-topic of international
environmental law, as well as national legislation and court decisions.
- EISIL
(Electronic Information System for International Law) - This
digitization and indexing of prominent documents and agreements in
international law includes a section on "International Environmental Law" and
provides comprehensive coverage of all treaties and agreements by
sub-topic. Further, this project cites to the legal citations under "More
Information" and links to an available online source for the full-text
treaties.
- ENTRI (Environmental Treaties and Resource Indicators) -
This collection contains a unique treaty locator by sub-topic of
environmental law or title of the treaty. It is extremely helpful for
locating full-text treaties, signatories and parties to the treaties,
dates of the agreements and entry into force.
- EUR-Lex - This is the
comprehensive website of the European Union and official documents.
Through a simple search or search within treaties, researchers can locate
the main provisions for international environmental law.
- European Treaty Series (Council of Europe)
- This digitized collection provided by the Council of Europe includes
links to full-text agreements for international environmental law, as well
as charts of ratification and signature and lists of reservations,
understandings, and declarations.
- Multilaterals Project at Fletcher School
(Tufts University) - In this online multilateral collection,
the project includes numerous agreements relating to international
environmental law in full-text format. However, the original documents
are not digitized, so the researcher must be careful to consult a
facsimile for reservations, understandings, and declarations to determine
effect.
- SICE - Trade Agreements - This site includes a nice
compendium of links to full-text trade agreements by nation. The
collection includes references to international environmental trade
agreements, such as the North American Agreement on Environmental
Cooperation.
- UNBISNet
- This United Nations Bibliographic Information System is essential for
locating UN documentation by keyword or subject search for environmental
law. In most cases, the system also links to full-text documents in a
variety of languages and provides essential bibliographic information for
research.
- UN-I-QUE - The United Nations file is helpful to search
for ready-reference to documents in international environmental law and
bibliographic information. However, full-text links are not often
provided and this system is not meant to be a substitute for research in UNBISNet
(above).
- United
Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) - Through a portal of
images on the frontpage of this United Nations branch for the environment,
users can locate the full-text of environmental conventions, protocols,
and agreements by sub-topic. In addition, the portals provide helpful
background information about the negotiation of the treaties and related
issues and reports, if applicable.
- United Nations Treaty Series (Recueil des traités) and Multilateral Treaties Deposited with the Secretary-General
- Available with a subscription through the United Nations website, this
collection has all multilateral treaties deposited with the
Secretary-General and is searchable by topic or title of the treaty. The
treaties are presented in .Pdf format, so it is especially helpful for
facsimiles of the original treaty documents.
- WorldLII
- Through this initiative to digitize legal materials of nations of the
countries of the world, researchers can locate applicable environmental treaties,
especially for Australia, Hong Kong, and the South Pacific.
- WTO Legal Texts - This portal
includes the 1986-94 Uruguay Round negotiations by the World Trade
Organization, which includes decisions pertaining to trade and the
environment.
In
addition to locating the appropriate treaties and agreements for research in
international environmental law, a researcher then needs to uncover any
national laws of the foreign nations involved in a research question.
Therefore, the following sources can help provide background information about
the legal systems of countries of the world or links to the national laws of
foreign nations. The following list provides essential resources for
uncovering national laws for international environmental law:
- Cornell's Legal Information Institute: WorldLaw - An
excellent portal for locating available codes and legislation of nations
or regions of the World. This site also provides links to general international
environmental legal materials.
- ECOLEX
- This website created by the United Nations Environmental Programme and
the World Conservation Union provides a wonderful portal to searching for
bibliographic information of treaties by sub-topic of international
environmental law, as well as national legislation and court decisions.
- European Commission: Legislation Reports for Energy -
Search for key legislation by country or keyword and links to Green Papers
and White Papers for this subject.
- FAOLEX
- Focusing on food, agriculture, and renewable natural resources, this
collection of laws provides excellent bibliographic information about the
national laws of countries of the world as well as full-text of most
legislation included in the database.
- Foreign and Country Information (Northwestern
Univ. - Pritzker Legal Research Center): An excellent portal
for accessing available research guides for countries of the world and
laws by country or region or subject of research.
- Foreign
Law Guide: Current Sources of Codes and Basic Legislation of the World
- This substantial work and research guide to locating the codes and
legislation of nations of the world by Reynolds and Flores is a crucial
resource to consult when researching the international environmental laws
of individual countries and understanding their legal systems.
- Global Legal
Information Network (GLIN) - Provided by the Law Library of
Congress, this portal provides access to foreign laws, regulations,
judicial decisions, and other legal resources contributed by government
agencies and international organizations.
- GlobeLaw - This portal provides a comprehensive index
with links to full-text documentation for treaties and national laws for
international environmental law.
- Government Gazettes Online (University of
Michigan) - Through an A-Z list of governments of the world,
researchers can locate the laws released in the official gazettes of
nations of the world published online.
- Library of Congress: Guide to Law Online - This
comprehensive portal of the available laws of the nations of the world
includes sources for national legislation. Researchers would then need to
search for the pertinent environmental codes and legislation within each
nation.
- Martindale-Hubbell International Law Digest
(In Print & on Lexis) - A nice summary of the laws on
various topics, available sources, and description of the legal system for
many nations of the world. A researcher can search by country and topic
(environment) to retrieve the relevant national laws, if any, related to
the environment.
- University of Denver Sturm College of Law
Natural Resources Weblinks: Countries- This site provides the
ability to select a country through a drop-down menu of jurisdictions
throughout the world and links to legislation and legal databases for
research.
- WorldLII - Through the advanced search feature,
researchers can locate all legislation contained in the database
pertaining to the environment or a sub-topic for research by entering
relevant search terms. In addition, researchers can locate codes and
legislation by topic through the homepage.
Before
researching primary law, such as treaties and agreements and laws of the
nations of the world, researchers might also consult their library catalog to
uncover helpful treatises, books, or nutshells and basic background texts to
better understand this area of international law. The following search terms
and Library of Congress subject headings are successful when researching
library catalogs:
Climatic
Changes-Government Policy (Library of Congress)
Environmental Law,
International (Library of Congress)
Environmental Law,
International-Sources (Library of Congress)
Environmental Law,
Periodicals (Library of Congress)
Environmental
Management-International Cooperation (Library of Congress)
Environmental Policy
(Library of Congress)
Environmental Protection
(Library of Congress)
Global Warming -Law and legislation
(Library of Congress)
Global
Warming-Government Policy (Library of Congress)
Greenhouse gases-Law and
legislation (Library of Congress)
International
Relations-Environmental Aspects (Library of Congress)
Law of the Sea (Library
of Congress)
Marine Resources
Conservation-Environmental Aspects (Library of Congress)
Liability for
Environmental Damages, European Union (Library of Congress)
Sustainable Development-(Country
of Research) (Library of Congress)
United Nations
Convention on Climate Change (Library of Congress)
In
addition to the above categories, which are not comprehensive but give the
researcher a head-start, it is useful to search terms in the title of the
international environmental agreement of focus or also search sub-topics of
international environmental law. To begin, a researcher could use terms from
any of the sub-topics listed above in Section III.A: "Hazardous Waste,"
"Nuclear Waste," "Ocean and Marine Sources," "Ozone and Protection of the
Atmosphere," "Pollution," "Protection of Species and Wildlife," "Sustainable
Development," and "Trade and the Environment." It would be essential, though,
to brainstorm search terms that are relevant for the sub-topic of research and issues
involved in the facts of the research problem.
Selective
Print Titles for Basic International Environmental Law include:
- Bastmeijer,
Kees, The Antarctic Environmental Protocol and Its Domestic Legal
Implementation (Aspen Pub. 2003)
- Bogdanovic,
Slavko, International Law of Water Resources: Contribution of the
International Law Association (1954-2000) (Kluwer Int'l 2001)
- Boyle,
A.E. and Birnie, P.W., eds., Basic Documents on International Law and
the Environment (Oxford Univ. Press 1995).
- Deketelaere,
Kurt and Gekiere, Jan, eds., International, EC and US Environmental
Law: A Comparative Selection of Basic Documents (Kluwer Int'l 2002)
- Guruswamy,
Lakshman D., International Environmental Law in a Nutshell (West
2003)
- International Environmental Law and Policy Series (Series
with multiple authors and sub-topics) (Kluwer Law Int'l)
- Kiss,
Alexandre and Shelton, Dinah, eds., International Environmental Law
(Transnat'l Publ. 2003)
- Nanda,
Ved P. and Pring, George, International Environmental Law for the 21st
Century (Transnat'l Publ. 2003)
- Principles of International Environmental Law (3 vols.) (St.
Martin's Press 1995)
- Robinson,
Nicholas A., Agenda 21 & the UNCED Proceedings (Oceana 1992- )
- Rüster,
Bernd and Simma, Bruno, eds., International Protection of the
Environment: Treaties and Related Documents, Second Series (Oceana
1995)
- Sands,
Philippe and Galizzi, Paolo, eds., Documents in International
Environmental Law (Cambridge 2004)
- Weiss,
Edith Brown, International Environmental Law & Policy (Aspen 1998)
Both
Lexis and Westlaw have varying holdings for Foreign and International law, as
well as International Agreements and Treaties. In Lexis,
the following databases are helpful for research in international environmental
law:
- Martindale-Hubbell
International Law Digest (INTDIG)
- International
Legal Materials (ILM)
- Environmental
Law Reporter: Treaties and Statutes (STAT)
- Environmental
Law Institute: Guidance and Policy Documents (GUIDOC)
- Environmental
Law Reporter: All (ALLELR)
- Environmental
Law Reviews (ENVLR)
- Environmental
Law Newsletters (ENVRN)
- U.S.
Treaties in Force (USTIF)
- U.S.
Treaties on LEXIS (USTRTY)
- CELEX
EU Law Database (ECLAW)
In
Westlaw, the following databases
are helpful for international environmental legal research:
- BNA
Environmental News Library (BNA-ENVIRON)
- International
Environmental, Health, and Safety Regulations (ENFLEX-INT)
- International
Environmental Law Documents (INTLENVL)
- ENFLEX
Documents for Foreign Nations (ENFLEX+(country abbreviation))
- Environmental
Litigation Specialist Multidatabase (ENV-SPECIALIST)
- Environmental
Law Reviews, Texts, and Bar Journals Combined (ENV-TP)
- Environmental
Law Reports (Europe-Cases) (ENV-RPTS)
- Global
Warming Network Online Today (GLWM)
- Environmental
Topical News (ENVNEWS)
- Europe
Environment (EUROENV)
- Global
Environmental Change Report (GLECR)
- International
News (INTNEWS)
- International
Legal Materials (ILM)
- United
Kingdom Current Awareness Planning and Environment (UKCA-PLAN)
- U.S.
Treaties & Other International Agreements (USTREATIES)
- United
States
Treaties in Force (USTIF)
- World
Environment Report (WENVRPT)
- World
Watch (WRWA)
There
are many law journals, both domestic and international, which are devoted
exclusively to environmental issues. These titles include the following
prominent publications:
Biannual Bulletin of Environmental Law (UNEP) (1994-
)
Boston College Environmental Law Review (1971- )
Buffalo
Environmental Law Journal (1994-2002)
Colorado
Journal of International Environmental Law and Policy (1990- )
Columbia
Journal of Environmental Law (1975- )
Duke Environmental Law & Policy Forum (1991- )
Ecology Law Quarterly (Berkeley) (1971- )
Environmental Law (Lewis & Clark) (1969- )
Environmental Law Journal (NYU) (1992- )
Environmental Policy and Law (1975- )
European Environmental Law Review (1992- )
Fordham Environmental Law Review (1989- )
Georgetown International Environmental Law Review (1988- )
Global
Environmental Law Annual (1993- )
Harvard Environmental Law Review: HELR (1976- )
International Environmental Reporter, Current Report (1978- )
Journal
of Environmental Law (1989- )
Journal of Environmental Law & Litigation (Univ. of Oregon) (1985- )
Journal
of International Wildlife Law and Policy (1998- )
Journal of Land Use and Environmental Law (Florida State) (1994- )
Journal of Law and the Environment (1985- )
Pace Environmental Law Review (1982- )
South
Carolina Environmental Law Journal (1991-2002)
Stanford Environmental Law Society & Journal
(1978-
)
Temple
Journal of Science, Technology, and Environmental Law (2005- )
Tulane Environmental Law Journal (1988- )
University
of Baltimore Journal of Environmental Law (1990- )
University of Denver Water Law Review (1997- )
Vermont
Journal of Environmental Law (1996- )
Virginia
Environmental Law Journal (1979- )
West-Northwest
Journal of Environmental Law & Policy (Hastings) (1993- )
William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy
Review (1975- )
Wisconsin
Environmental Law Journal (1992- )
Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy
Working Paper Series (2004- )
Yearbook of Human Rights and the Environment
(2001-
)
Yearbook of International Cooperation on Environment and Development
Recommended indexes for finding law review, law journal, and
scholarly articles:
CIAO (Columbia International Affairs Online); Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals; PAIS International; LegalTrac;
JSTOR;
HeinOnline; RLIN (Research Libraries Information Network);
Index to Legal Periodicals and Books; ISI Web of
Science;
Academic Search Elite; FirstSearch; Wilson Select Plus; SSRN (Social Science Research
Network); BEPress (Berkeley Electronic Press); and Project Muse.
All
of the above indexes are helpful for locating international law and
interdisciplinary journal articles relating to international environmental law.
There
are numerous comprehensive portals and research guides for international
environmental law, which can help guide a researcher during research. The
following is a selective list of some of the most helpful and comprehensive
websites for research:
- Best Environmental Directories - Helpful, exhaustive list
of definitions, portals, agency links, and conventions.
- CIEL
(Center for International Environmental Law) - Access to annual
reports and other CIEL publications by subtopics of biodiversity,
chemicals, climate change, human rights and the environment, international
financial institutions, law and communities, and trade and sustainable
development.
- CIESIN
(Columbia University) - Data and publications are searchable
through gateways, such as SEDAC, IAI-DIS, and other quick links to CIESIN
projects.
- Cornell's Legal Information Institute - Links to
environmental conventions and especially helpful for researching national
law material by region of the world.
- ECOLEX
- Entry portal provides searching of treaties, national legislation, court
decisions, and literature.
- EISIL's International Environmental Law
(ASIL) - Links to primary documents by sub-topic in
international environmental law.
- ENTRI (Environmental Treaties and Resource Indicators) -
Find data and agreements through the treaty locator, country explorer, and
country profiles.
- Environment and International Law (World Bank) and Environmental Agencies on the Web -
Overview of resources for Environment and Natural Resources Law, including
World Bank publications.
- European Commission's Environment Website
- Comprehensive webpage for environmental initiatives and laws in Europe.
- European Environmental Law Programme (IUCN World Conservation Union)
- An overview of environmental programs and activities in Europe.
- European
Environmental Law (T.M.C. Asser Instituut & Academy of
European Law) - Helpful for locating European legislation, case law, and
policy documents for international environmental law.
- FAOLex (Food and Agricultural Organization of the UN) -
Search world treaties, laws, and regulations on food, agriculture, and
renewable natural resources.
- Georgetown's International Environmental Law
Research Guide - Comprehensive research guide for available
online and print resources.
- Globelaw
International Environmental Law & Multilateral Conventions
- Helpful links to "Source and Reference Materials" for international
environmental law with an emphasis on UN documentation.
- International Environmental Law and Policy (American
Univ. - Washington College of Law) - A comprehensive reference
source for international environmental law and policy.
- International
Environmental Law Research Centre - Helpful website for
locating working papers and print publications in international
environmental law in Europe and links to full-text articles.
- United
Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) - Links to publications
and primary resources by sub-topic of international environmental law.
- University of Denver's Sturm College of Law
Natural Resources WebLinks - Exhaustive resource for primary
and secondary sources in international environmental law and research by
country or subject.
- World
Environmental Law (Hieros Gamos) - Good general portal for
links to treaties and environmental laws of the nations of the world.
There
are many international organizations, including intergovernmental organizations
(IGO's) and non-governmental organizations (NGO's), which are helpful for
identifying both primary and secondary sources for research. Because of the
many sub-topics in international environmental law, some of these international
environmental organizations are focused on a specialty topic in environmental
law and only address limited sources for that topic. The following are helpful
websites of organizations or institutes for expanding research to both secondary
sources of law and statistics:
- Asia-Pacific
Centre for Environmental Law - Focus on regional organizational
activities in Asia for environmental law and correlating documentation.
- CBD Information Centre and Document Search - An excellent
repository and search feature for research narrowly focused on the
Convention on Biological Diversity.
- CITES
Resources and Official Documents - Exhaustive portal for
research and available databases for the Convention on International Trade
in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
- Commission for Environmental Cooperation
- Publications and information resources by the commission, as well as
links to documentation for sub-topics of international environmental law.
- Earth
Trends Environmental Institute - Searchable databases of
information by research topics, as well as maps, country profiles,
features, and data tables.
- EC Directorate-General for Energy and Transport - Links
for energy agencies, case studies, and legislation for this sub-topic.
- Environmental
Law Institute - Information about the institute projects, press
releases, and Environmental Law Reporter.
- Environment and International Humanitarian
Law (ICRC) - Key documents, reports, and publications for
international humanitarian law.
- Environment
Organization Web Directory - A comprehensive directory of
environmental organizations and agencies, including foreign nations.
- European
Environment Agency (EEA) - Legal information by theme of
environmental law, country, or search databases by research network.
- European
Environment Information and Observation Network (EIONET) -
Research reports, data, research topics, and country information for
European environmental law.
- Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations - Statistical
databases, country information, and publications for this specialty topic.
- FIELD
(Foundation for International Environmental Law and Development)
- Reports of FIELD projects, papers, and books and other publications.
- GEO
Data Portal (UN Environment Programme) - Data sets used by the
UNEP and its Global Environmental Outlook report and other environmental
assessments.
- Greenpeace International - Prominent non-governmental
organization for international environmental law and protection of world
resources with links to national sites.
- International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) - Online
archive of IAEA publications, documents, and reports.
- International
Maritime Organization (IMO) - Overview of legal documentation, publications,
and information resources for maritime issues.
- International Seabed Authority (ISA) - Helpful ISA data
repository, official documents, and press releases.
- IUCN (World
Conservation Union) - Information on numerous IUCN Programmes
by sub-topic, publications, and policy documents.
- North American Commission on Environmental
Cooperation (EPA) - North American focus on the NAAEC and
associated documents, as well as a useful overview of this agreement.
- OAS:
Department of Sustainable Development - Excellent description
of international law for sustainable development and links to projects and
initiatives by subject.
- OECD Environment Directorate -
Statistics, publications & documents, and information by country for
topics in international environmental law.
- Resources
for the Future - Discussion papers, reports, briefs, books, and
reference materials from RFF.
- SourceOECD - Links to books,
statistics, datasets, and periodicals for economics and trade research.
- UNEP/GRID -
Arendal, Norway (UNEP) - International news, maps and graphics
library, reports, and overview of sub-topics and sources for international
environmental law.
- United
Nations Division for Sustainable Development - Documentation
for sustainable development research from the UN Department for Social and
Economic Affairs.
- United
Nations Environment Programme: Basel Convention - Meeting
documents, national reporting, and publications on global waste.
- United Nations Environment Programme:
Environment for Development - UNEP Annual Reports, periodicals,
and GEO environmental yearbooks.
- United Nations Environment Programme: Ozone Secretariat -
Ozone treaties and ratification status, meeting documents, TEAP reports,
and other handbooks.
- United Nations Environment Programme: World
Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) - Highlights
projects of the World Conservation Monitoring Cenre and includes the
latest news, publications, policy, and agreements.
- UNEP-Infoterra:
The Global Environmental Information Exchange Network - A
research network of national environmental information centres and
agencies for environmental information, which users can access through
national focal points.
- United
Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)-
Official documentation for the UNFCCC, the Kyoto Protocol, National
Reports and Communications, and press releases.
- United Nations System-Wide "Earth Watch"- Excellent
"data" portal for statistics and international programmes for
international environmental data and emerging issues for sub-topics.
- World
Heritage Center - Resources, publications, activities, and news
and events for the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization.
- World
Resources Institute - Resources for environmental law by
research topic, data tables from EarthTrends, and other publications by
research area of interest.
- World
Wildlife Fund International - Recent news, facts, and
publications by research topics, such as climate change, forests,
freshwater, marine, sustainability, species, and toxics.
Blogs,
e-mail updates, and environmental websites with current news on international
environmental law are a wonderful way to stay current while researching
particular areas of law. The following are some websites, blogs, and news
feeds that are helpful for supplementing research for this topic and staying
current with the newest publications, research, and reports in international
environmental law:
- BEPress (Berkeley Electronic Press) - Digital repository
of journals, working papers, and other scholarly publications with e-mail
updates.
- BNA's International Environment Reporter:
Current Report - E-mail updates for new cases, legislation, and
other current awareness materials.
- ECONET
- Institute for Global Communications (RSS feed) - A feed is
available for current awareness for news items in ECONET.
- EnviroLink
(XML feed) - A feed is available for EnviroLink's news
headlines.
- Environmental
Law Alliance Worldwide (XML feed) - An e-bulletin is available
for researchers to stay up-to-date on E-LAW initiatives.
- Environmental
Law Net (News Feed) - Includes comprehensive weekly
environmental news and legal analysis in the news feed.
- Environmental Law Prof Blog - Monitoring
this blog through an aggregator or another feed can be a wonderful way to
keep track of new environmental law developments, including international
environmental law.
- European
Environment Agency Notification Service - A feed service is
available for the latest environmental reports, highlights, and briefings.
- UNEP-Infoterra
News Online - News highlights, reports, and press releases and
a comprehensive events calendar for international environmental law.
- UNEP WCMC News - Resource for
available UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre news, press releases,
and reports.
- SourceOECD News - News and recent
books, statistics, and documents.
- SSRN
(Social Science Research Network) - Search recent scholarship
in the legal scholarship network or other interdisciplinary research
papers submitted prior to and during publication.
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