Comparative Environmental Law
Published on 18. July 2025
Book
Hardback
518 pages
978-1-78897-119-5 (ISBN)
Description
Discussing the law in theory and in practice, Comparative Environmental Law identifies the ways in which regulatory systems converge or diverge, examining key developments in international legal frameworks from every continent.
Expert contributors review different comparative approaches and examine how these can be applied to the study of environmental law. They outline environmental impact assessments at project level and explore the importance of information disclosure in pollution management. Chapters also present insights into environmental human rights policies, covering compliance and enforcement, as well as biodiversity and water laws across the Americas and Europe. The handbook provides forward-thinking analyses of emerging areas, such as renewable energy and the impact of environmental policies on Indigenous communities, and presents an expansive overview of current environmental issues, including land contaminations, mining regulations and food waste.
An essential resource for legal scholars and researchers, this handbook is also useful for students of environmental management and government officials involved in law-making and international development.
Expert contributors review different comparative approaches and examine how these can be applied to the study of environmental law. They outline environmental impact assessments at project level and explore the importance of information disclosure in pollution management. Chapters also present insights into environmental human rights policies, covering compliance and enforcement, as well as biodiversity and water laws across the Americas and Europe. The handbook provides forward-thinking analyses of emerging areas, such as renewable energy and the impact of environmental policies on Indigenous communities, and presents an expansive overview of current environmental issues, including land contaminations, mining regulations and food waste.
An essential resource for legal scholars and researchers, this handbook is also useful for students of environmental management and government officials involved in law-making and international development.
Reviews / Votes
'Yang, Telesetsky and Phillips discuss a great variety of topics and jurisdictions, presented by excellent colleagues, with a very nice emphasis on private, public and criminal enforcement of environmental law.' -- Kurt Deketelaere, Secretary-General of the League of European Research UniversitiesMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Cheltenham
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 244 mm
Width: 169 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-78897-119-5 (9781788971195)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Edited by Tseming Yang, Santa Clara University School of Law, Anastasia Telesetsky, California Polytechnic State University, USA and Sara K. Phillips, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand
Content
Contents
Foreword xiv
xiii
PART I Overview
1 Introduction to Comparative Environmental Law 2
Tseming Yang, Anastasia Telesetsky and Sara K. Phillips
2 A comparative environmental law primer 8
Tseming Yang
PART II Planning and sustainability
3 Project-based environmental impact assessment: comparative study and projected trends 35
Krittika Singh, Timo Koivurova, Katri-Maaria Kylloenen and Pamela Lesser
4 Strategic environmental assessment in environmental law: a comparative perspective 59
Evan Hamman and Jill Blakley
5 Information disclosure as a pollution management tool: pollution release and transfer registries 81
Ronan Kennedy
6 Comparative urban sustainable development law and governance and the urban commons 103
Hoi L. Kong
PART III Rights-based frameworks
7 Environmental human rights: a critical comparative view 119
James R. May
8 Access to environmental information under international law 148
Rebecca Bratspies
9 Environmental law and policy and Indigenous peoples 169
Heather Tanana and Elisabeth Parker
10 Rights of nature: time for a next generation normative paradigm shift? 193
Anastasia Telesetsky
PART IV Accountability
11 Compliance and enforcement 668
Lee Paddock
12 Comparative environmental criminal law 689
Michael Faure
13 Specialist environmental courts and tribunals 714
Ceri Warnock
14 A comparative study of environmental public interest litigation 736
Yanmei Lin and Juan Chu
PART V Sectors
15 Contaminated land 758
Yuhong Zhao
16 Energy transition and renewable energy law 777
Hsing-Hao Wu and Hisako Takahashi
17 Comparing approaches to water quality regulation 799
Robin Kundis Craig
18 Comparative Latin American and United States water law 818
Peter L. Reich
19 Mining law and governance: structures and challenges 837
Sara K. Phillips
20 Comparative food waste law and policy 864
Carrie Bradshaw, Patricia Galvao-Ferreira and Heather McLeod-Kilmurray
21 Biodiversity laws of the US and EU 895
Madeline Kass
22 Uniform and locally tailored emission standards in American and European air pollution law: the impact of historical regulatory traditions 915
Noga Morag-Levine
Foreword xiv
xiii
PART I Overview
1 Introduction to Comparative Environmental Law 2
Tseming Yang, Anastasia Telesetsky and Sara K. Phillips
2 A comparative environmental law primer 8
Tseming Yang
PART II Planning and sustainability
3 Project-based environmental impact assessment: comparative study and projected trends 35
Krittika Singh, Timo Koivurova, Katri-Maaria Kylloenen and Pamela Lesser
4 Strategic environmental assessment in environmental law: a comparative perspective 59
Evan Hamman and Jill Blakley
5 Information disclosure as a pollution management tool: pollution release and transfer registries 81
Ronan Kennedy
6 Comparative urban sustainable development law and governance and the urban commons 103
Hoi L. Kong
PART III Rights-based frameworks
7 Environmental human rights: a critical comparative view 119
James R. May
8 Access to environmental information under international law 148
Rebecca Bratspies
9 Environmental law and policy and Indigenous peoples 169
Heather Tanana and Elisabeth Parker
10 Rights of nature: time for a next generation normative paradigm shift? 193
Anastasia Telesetsky
PART IV Accountability
11 Compliance and enforcement 668
Lee Paddock
12 Comparative environmental criminal law 689
Michael Faure
13 Specialist environmental courts and tribunals 714
Ceri Warnock
14 A comparative study of environmental public interest litigation 736
Yanmei Lin and Juan Chu
PART V Sectors
15 Contaminated land 758
Yuhong Zhao
16 Energy transition and renewable energy law 777
Hsing-Hao Wu and Hisako Takahashi
17 Comparing approaches to water quality regulation 799
Robin Kundis Craig
18 Comparative Latin American and United States water law 818
Peter L. Reich
19 Mining law and governance: structures and challenges 837
Sara K. Phillips
20 Comparative food waste law and policy 864
Carrie Bradshaw, Patricia Galvao-Ferreira and Heather McLeod-Kilmurray
21 Biodiversity laws of the US and EU 895
Madeline Kass
22 Uniform and locally tailored emission standards in American and European air pollution law: the impact of historical regulatory traditions 915
Noga Morag-Levine