What is it about?
Humanity is pushing up against ‘planetary boundaries’ with respect to climate change, freshwater, pollution and other phenomena. The middle of this century will be a crucial time for our species, when we see ‘peak humanity,’ at over 10 billion people, and peak atmospheric carbon. So the need grows for nations to work together to enable humans to live sustainably. But this insight is not new: 45 centuries ago, it informed the negotiators of the ‘Treaty of Mesilim’, which regulated water rights in ancient Mesopotamia, just as it informed the negotiators of the 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change. And the formal language of this cooperation is international law. At the same time, we are seeing increased geopolitical tensions and conflict, making cooperation more difficult, just when we need it most. So, diplomats must be prepared and able to play their part to support cooperation through international environmental law, to enable us to stay within our planetary boundaries. This chapter is intended to help them to do so by describing the fundamentals of international environmental law.
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Why is it important?
The middle of this century will be a crucial time for our species, when we see ‘peak humanity,’ at over 10 billion people, and peak carbon emissions. So we need more international environmental cooperation, despite increased global tensions and conflict. By setting out clearly the fundamentals of international environmental law, this chapter is intended to help diplomats and others interested in international relations to support this cooperation .
Perspectives
It was a pleasure to work with such an esteemed group of colleagues in developing this book, which will hopefully help diplomats and others with an interest in international relations to better understand the fundamentals of international law.
Greg French
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Legal Aspects of the Protection of the Environment, April 2026, De Gruyter,
DOI: 10.1163/9789004754508-019.
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