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Agriculture depends on a stable climate. Crops need fertile soil, sufficient water and temperatures that remain within a certain (plant specific) bandwidth. Livestock needs healthy grazing land, sufficient water and livable temperatures. The climate needs to be predictable, so that farmers can plan their activities with the aim to secure the best possible harvest. Such stable conditions only occurred after the previous major climate change that took place on Earth and which marked the end of the last ice age, around 12,000 years ago. Around that time, man began to live in settlements and started to grow his own food through agriculture. The major climate change that we are witnessing in the 21st century, this time man made, severely threatens the necessary climatic equilibrium, hence threatening food security. This chapter briefly summarizes the nature of climate disasters that are and will be hitting the agricultural sector, relying mainly on the IPCC’s 5th Assessment Report. Then, following the disaster cycle, the chapter discusses: how disaster risks for agriculture can be prevented or mitigated, what emergency response needs to be prepared, and how compensation and rebuilding should be organized after disaster has struck. The aim of this chapter is to find and analyze the main issues on which law and policymakers at the international and at the domestic level should focus on when developing a legal framework that is sufficiently equipped to deal with climate disasters that affect agriculture.

Agriculture contributes to climate change to a considerable extent. Agriculture is also among the sectors that will suffer the largest negative impacts of climate change, for which, consequently, huge adaptation efforts are needed. At the same time this sector faces the challenge of feeding a growing world population that is getting richer, leading to a tremendous increase in demand for agricultural products between now and 2050. Yet agriculture has only played a marginal role in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol. Because emissions from agriculture have been rising on a yearly basis since 1990, and because the increase in demand for agricultural products (both for food and for biofuels) will cause emissions to rise further, agriculture can no longer be ignored in international negotiations. The Paris Agreement, though, is not expected to drastically change the role of agriculture in the international legal framework on climate change mitigation and adaptation. This chapter critically assesses the current and potential role of the UNFCCC and related documents, most importantly the Kyoto Protocol, in addressing the combined challenges of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to changing climate while increasing productivity for the agricultural sector. The chapter first focuses on mitigation, next addresses adaptation and then briefly looks ahead by reviewing the Paris Agreement, which was finalized at the UNFCCC’s COP21 in December 2015.

This chapter seeks to determine the current legal status of the principle of sustainable development in international law. There has been considerable debate about the legal nature of the principle of sustainable development as well as its meaning. Is it really a legal principle? Increased reference to sustainable development – sometimes as a principle but more often as an objective or a concept – has indeed led to its stronger normative power and its stronger legal status. The integration of environmental concerns into decision-making processes has been broadly accepted and it can authoritatively be seen as a firm legal duty. Although many commentators probably think that this process has not gone fast enough, it is the view of the author of this chapter that an extrapolation of the use of the principle of sustainable development will see a further increase of its impact upon judicial reasoning and upon how legal texts will be drafted in the near future.

Two volume set that brings together 54 of the most influential and important scientific journal articles in the field of climate law, thematically grouped together as follows: introducing climate law, theories and approaches, climate change mitigation, climate change adaptation, climate justice, liability for climate change damage, climate engineering. The collection is introduced by the editor Prof. Verschuuren.

This perceptive work presents a unique comparative legal analysis, ascertaining how regional environmental law can contribute to the prevailing pursuit of global sustainable development. The book provides an introduction to and analysis of the environmental law adhered by each regional organisation in an accessible and discerning discussion. Regional Environmental Law analyses the manner in which four distinct regional organisations, the European Union (EU), Organisation of American States (OAS), Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the African Union (AU), facilitate cooperation concerning regional environmental law in order to promote sustainable development. The fundamental environmental issues that require regional cooperation are considered; human rights and the environment, climate change resolution and shared watercourses between regional organisations. Leading scholars critically analyse how states may pool sovereignty, pursuant of finding solutions to these salient environmental problems. The book puts forward conclusive thoughts about how to work towards the sustainable development agenda through both specific regional action and collaborative efforts. Researchers and students interested in international and environmental law will benefit from the comparative analysis of the respective regional organisations and their contribution to the sustainable development commitment. Practitioners and policy makers will find practical insight from the conclusions drawn.

Collection of essential journal articles in the field of climate law, selected and introduced by Jonathan Verschuuren