Introduction to International Environmental Law provides a concise overview of international environmental law and the relations and agreements among nations to facilitate environmental protection. Beginning by exploring the history nature and sources of international environmental law, Professor Koivurova moves on to consider the key principles as well as examining the implementation and effectiveness of international environmental law in practice. It considers how international environmental law has developed away from other branches of international law which are heavily based on state sovereignty, in order to more effectively facilitate environmental protection and concludes by posing questions about the future of the field.
Taking a concise, accessible approach throughout and employing case studies drawn from a global range of examples, this book is the ideal first point of entry to the context, principles and issues of this important subject.
1. Basic Issues In International Environmental Law 2. History Of International Environmental Law 3. Enacting And Developing International Environmental Law 4. Principles Of International Environmental Protection 5. Branches Of International Environmental Law 6. Legal Responsibility For Environmental Damage 7. The Future Of International Environmental Law
Biography
Timo Koivurova is a Research Professor and the Director of the Northern Institute for Environmental and Minority Law, Arctic Centre/University of Lapland. He is also a Docent of International Law at the Faculty of Law, Economics and Business Administration/University of Eastern Finland and at the Faculty of Law/University of Turku.
The structure of the book itself assists readers in gaining a deeper understanding of the structure of international environmental law. Koivurova manages to take this somewhat fragmented field of law and organise it into a coherent system bound by common principles. He clearly understands the systems within this body of law so thoroughly that he is able to make the connections, acknowledge the differences, and explain how they work together as part of the same system. Victoria Sweet for The Polar Record (2015)
Introduction to International Environmental Law stands out from its peers by presenting the discipline as a coherent system, as opposed to a collection of sub-topics, distinct treaty regimes and vague environmental principles. Providing sufficient background to be accessible to the ambitious reader without extensive training in public international law, it nevertheless contains the rigour, depth and nuance that we have come to expect from Koivurova. Professor Rachael Lorna Johnstone, University of Akureyri, Iceland.
This book provides a wonderful opportunity with beginners to understand the basics of international environmental law in a very succinct and interesting manner. Personally I liked the way Professor Koivurova provided illustrations and examples to demonstrate how this branch of law functions in reality. Professor Qin Tian Bao, Wuhan University, China.
Timo Koivurova has produced a compelling book on international environmental law. The need for such a text has been apparent for some time and the book Koivurova provides fills a crucial gap in the introductory literature. The reader is introduced to not only the substance of international environmental law, but also its foundations and the broader context in which it is situated. Such and approach is essential for a complete understanding of the nature of the law and challenges that it continues to address. Professor Don Anton, Australian National University, Australia.
While there are already some heavier textbooks on international environmental law or textbooks on general public international law which touch upon the subject briefly in a few chapters, there has been a need for an accessible stand-alone introductory textbook on the subject. While many introductory textbooks on law are boring due to their task of simply transporting basic information, it comes as a pleasant surprise that Routledge has now published a book which is eminently readable. Timo Koivurova’s “Introduction to international environmental law” provides exactly what the title says: an excellent introduction to the subject. Stefan Kirchner, University of Lapland for The Polar Journal 2014
Koivurova’s work constitutes a valuable contribution to literature on international environmental law and is particularly well suited for students. Birgit Lode, Global Law Books
This book provides the non-specialist reader in particular with an understanding of these and other complexities in a very informative and most interesting way. It should be essential reading for all students of international environmental law and domestic environmental law, and is highly recommended for all others working in this fast moving area of scholarship, particularly as related to EIA. Simon Marsden, Flinders University, for Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy and Management (Vol. 16, No. 4 December 2014)
This short text by one of the leading scholars in the area indeed provides a brief and accessible, yet thorough and illustrative, introduction to international environmental law. Indi Hodgson-Johnston for Yearbook of Polar Law (2014)
