Search

Does nature still matter in sport? In the balancing between natural and scientific training, Swedish upper-secondary ski schools have played an important role. This paper deals with specific landscape features for testing at three Swedish ski schools: Hallstatestet in Sollefteå, Hovfjällsracet in Torsby, and Stoltjonastestet in Järpen. The following questions will be addressed: How do the coaches at each school use local tests to analyze performance? How is the importance of local tests articulated, and what roles do history and nature play in this process? The paper concludes that the use of local landscapes to articulate elite performance connects ideas of measurability and scientization to the lingering tradition of natural training. Local landscapes thereby become a mediator between scientific and experiential knowledge about sport performance and point out how local sport heritage can be used for addressing environmental issues in sport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In many countries, complex environmental problems such as biodiversity decline are regulated at the national level by a disparate range of laws and nonstatutory policy instruments variously described by terms including plans, strategies, guidelines, statements of intent, and/or incentives. Such instruments are often grouped together by conservation policymakers and scientists under the umbrella term “policy.” However, from a legal perspective, there are critical differences between these so‐called policy instruments. In this paper, we focus on what we consider to be the critical difference: whether a policy instrument is binding, and therefore whether an administrative decision (e.g., about a development proposal) can be legally challenged due to noncompliance with that policy instrument. Drawing from international examples, the aim of this paper is to give conservation policymakers and scientists the guidance needed to critically differentiate between laws and nonstatutory policy, assess current or proposed policies, and determine whether a nonstatutory instrument gives rise to binding obligations, thus allowing for decisions to be challenged before a court. In doing so, we encourage conservation scientists, policymakers, activists, and practitioners to reflect critically on what is possible and not possible when nonstatutory “policy” instruments are designed and implemented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Performative law is law ‘just for show’. Where the law expresses a commitment to targets, objectives and aspirations which are, in a strict sense, legally binding, but which are ultimately hard to formally enforce, it can take on a highly symbolic or gestural appearance. Environmental law is particularly vulnerable to performativity. This is because of the nature of the environment as an object of law and because of the features found in much modern environmental legislation. This article shows this by considering examples from the Environment Act 2021, one of the foundational legislative environmental instruments adopted in recent years. Despite its potential, this article argues that key parts of the Act display a highly performative nature. The article shows that whilst this performativity is a feature of design rather than accident in the Act itself, it is a characteristic which is often found in environmental law more generally even though performativity need not necessarily be a bad thing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The constitutional tradition is based in normality, which allows to think in a general social ordination through a constitutional document. Against the backdrop of the global environmental crisis, which has been described as a transition to a new geological era, as the Anthropocene; scholars and policy-makers are bound to cope with the new situation through the creation of some kind of new constitutional order as an ecological constitution indeed. But, the global transformation produced by the growing entanglement between society and biosphere is generating such a complex scenario that the pretension of order seems out of place. This paper tries to draw some insights from taking this new complexity and uncertainty that it creates seriously. The proposal is to see (constitutional) law rather as an event than an order, in the assumption of a permanent state of exception. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues that the protection of 'community interests' in international law includes intertemporal obligations of States, in cases where it is scientifically foreseeable that preserving the 'status quo' of a protected community interest is increasingly unlikely. The argument is developed for climate change as a 'common concern of humankind' and based on the premise that even if a temperature limitation of 1.5°C would be achieved towards the end of this century, future generations will nevertheless live in a world that has fundamentally changed due to current policy and law choices. The article introduces the new concept of 'intergenerational preparedness' to operationalise and expand the normative scope of the principle of intergenerational equity. While some argumentative structures will be examined where intergenerational preparedness can be given effect through legal interpretation, the expectation that States must adopt preparatory measures to account for their community interest obligations deserves a more explicit recognition. It is a matter of the (environmental) rule of law to protect community interests on a time continuum, and this encompasses measures to prevent the deterioration of protected interests and to prepare communities for foreseeable detrimental changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment (Stockholm Conference) was a milestone as the first global meeting of governments to address threats to the environment, including the ocean and seas. Over the fifty years since the adoption of the Stockholm Declaration, new pressing threats to the marine environment have emerged, such as loss of marine biodiversity, including in the high seas, marine plastic pollution, climate change, and illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing. This article will review the developments that have taken place at the International Maritime Organization and other bodies of the United Nations to address these new threats to the marine environment, reflecting how international law continues to play a vital role in promotion of ocean governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental emergencies are increasingly the subject of debate. As defined in this article, these emergencies start on a State's territory but can have consequences beyond its borders. The interconnectedness of the environment and the growing concern about environmental threats lead to the question of whether third States might have a legal interest in some of these environmental emergencies. It triggers a debate similar to past debates on human rights violations, resulting in the Responsibility to Protect. This article investigates the circumstances under which States can lawfully intervene without using force in another State in response to environmental emergencies. By analysing the principle of non-intervention and the effect of international environmental law on the scope of the domaine réservé, the article discusses whether certain environmental interventions can be justified under the current legal framework of the principle of non-intervention. The emphasis lies on the no-harm principle and the concept of the common concern of humankind as a means to address environmental emergencies with direct transboundary impacts or those threatening the environment at a global level. The article concludes that the no-harm principle and the concept of the common concern of humankind can potentially reduce the scope of the domaine réservé. Consequently, States' actions in response to an environmental emergency can be lawful under the principle of non-intervention. This lawful environmental intervention has the potential to develop from an activist idea into a legal tool. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a context where supranational courts order reparations in environmental cases, this article examines whether the International Criminal Court (ICC) should pay attention to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) reparations jurisprudence in environmental cases. The ICC has yet to engage with environmental cases and order ensuing reparations. However, the ICC Statute contains an environmental war crime, 'ecocide' may be incorporated into it, and some ICC cases/ICC complaints involved environmental damages. This article examines constraints of a potential extrapolation of IACtHR's reparation jurisprudence to the ICC's reparations system in environmental cases: differences between IACtHR's and ICC's mandates, particularly their reparations systems; and potential backlash from states/other actors vis-à-vis 'green' reparations jurisprudence. This article also provides justifications for ICC/IACtHR cross-fertilization: international human rights law is embedded in ICC's reparations law and practice, and need for a coherent international law of reparations in environmental cases across supranational courts. Through adapted cross-fertilization, the ICC's reparations system should consider IACtHR's reparations practice concerning environmental cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we begin to address the relative lack of scholarship on philanthropic engagement with environmental law. It is clear that big philanthropy exercises significant power in and over our discipline, in a variety of ways that extend beyond the granting (and, importantly, withholding) of funds for projects and activities. Power merits scrutiny. Building on a multi‐disciplinary literature, we identify the plausible ways in which philanthropic organizations frame problems and solutions, and build networks. This is not an 'exposé' of wealthy philanthropists, nor do we think that an exposé is necessary. Foundations are diverse organizations doing a range of interesting and important work. We do, however, want to understand better this community that is so crucial for the development of environmental law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental laws represent significant external factors influencing corporate green behavior. Previous research has predominantly concentrated on assessing the role of environmental courts in mitigating the effects of environmental pollution. Leveraging the establishment of environmental courts in China as a quasi-natural experiment, this study investigates whether environmental law enforcement can promote corporate innovation. Our findings indicate that the establishment of environmental courts can significantly enhance the green innovation of heavily polluting firms, primarily through mechanisms related to environmental pollution cost pressure and R&D investment. The promoting effect of environmental courts on corporate green innovation is particularly pronounced in state-owned enterprises, large-scale enterprises, and firms receiving government green subsidies. Conversely, this effect is attenuated in the western regions of China and in areas with lower public environmental concerns. This study offers a novel perspective on understanding green innovation and provides policy implications for managing environmental courts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the evolving framework of the European Union's approach to environmental sanctions. It dissects the cornerstone principle of effective and dissuasive penalties, exploring its foundation in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and its interpretation by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). The analysis then progresses by scrutinising specific legislative instruments, such as the Environmental Crime Directive, which establish more detailed requirements for environmental offences, including the types and levels of penalties. Furthermore, the article explores the intricate relationship between criminal and administrative liability in the context of environmental law. This exploration incorporates recent case law on the application of the principle of legality and the ne bis in idem principle in environmental matters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Environmental & Social Management Journal / Revista de Gestão Social e Ambiental is the property of Environmental & Social Management Journal and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Environmental & Social Management Journal / Revista de Gestão Social e Ambiental is the property of Environmental & Social Management Journal and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The current investigation endeavors to evaluate the prevalence of stubble burning in India, with a special focus on the state of Punjab. The study emphasizes the enormity of stubble burning by examining farm fire incidents, pollutant emissions, its detrimental impacts. It supports the effective management of crop residue along with proposing alternatives to stubble burning. The article conveys the message that stubble burning can result in deleterious effects on the environment, human health, crop growth, natural ecosystems, visibility, and physical infrastructure. The key solutions lie in education, functional literacy, a heightened awareness of environmental laws, rights and duties, stringent governance, and socially responsible public, promoting adherence to the National Green Tribunal's guidelines for managing crop residue and enlightening farmers about the ill effects of stubble burning on animal, soil, human health, crop biodiversity, and climate change. The available data of districts of Punjab indicates the recent waning trend in stubble burning, thus heralding a positive indication of environmental preservation. Decreased stubble burning is the reward of untiring government initiatives, support and subsidies, awareness programs, advanced research and technology, and enforcement of stringent regulations combined with recognition of the deleterious environmental impacts of stubble burning. This research article indicates that there is still a need for efforts to be made to eliminate stubble burning altogether. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The contribution describes the legal phenomenon as a playing field characterized by a progressive regression of the law, understood as a sovereign will from top to bottom, both in the vision of formalist legal positivisms in continental Europe and in realist terms, in the United States. Soft law represents the main strategy to subordinate the law to the interests of the economy, elasticizing environmental law, making it favorable to the market, reducing ecology to the simplistic metric of CO2 emissions. The consequence is a retreat of the statist vertical normativity of law which is not replaced by a de facto power granted to those who control the technology, built by design to close spaces for pluralism and democratic action, in the interest of surveillance and concentrated power in private and government oligopolies. The author concludes by advocating the urgency for genuinely innovative categories, particularly in the legal education, such as the commons, capable of including sustainability into a "new ecological jurisprudence committed to inclusion and solidarity rather than exclusion and struggle". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For a long time, the full impacts of armed conflicts on the marine environment have been ill-defined and largely neglected. World War I and II-era remnants of war at sea pose increasing threats to human and marine life, particularly over the coming decade, as they contaminate, pollute, or detonate toxic and hazardous substances into coastal and benthic ecosystems. The International Law Commission’s Principles for Protection of the Environment in Relation to Armed Conflicts aim to enhance protections for the marine environment before, during, and after conflict. In practice, this means navigating an uncoalesced legal regime and relying on established principles of international environmental law – particularly the duty to cooperate and share information. However, considerable knowledge gaps need to be addressed to remedy the vast legacy of war in the ocean, as the majority of remnants of war at sea remain under-assessed, in part, due to financial and technical constraints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China’s Marine Environmental Protection Law was first adopted in August 1982 and came into force on 1 March 1983, and since then, it has gone through two revisions and three amendments. The latest revision in 2023 reflects China’s determination to further strengthen the protection of the marine environment and to prepare itself to meet new challenges and needs. This short article first provides a brief historical background of the Law and then evaluates some key changes in the 2023 revision. Finally, it highlights some features of the changes and pinpoints some concerns remaining in the Law even after the revision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The IBA’s Section on Energy, Environment, Natural Resources and Infrastructure Law is advised by the Academic Advisory Group (AAG), a group of leading academics from around the world. Every two years, the AAG publishes a book about a key topic of interest to the entire Section. This year’s book focuses on the legal issues involved with the clean energy transition. In response to the climate emergency, several countries, corporations and other actors worldwide have announced programmes aimed at reducing global emissions of greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change to net zero by the year 2060 or earlier. While the need for a clean energy transition is clear, incoherently designed transition programmes could produce complex environmental, social and governance risks, including legal liability and protracted disputes. At the same time, the growing rush for minerals needed to manufacture clean energy technologies raises fundamental questions. Most crucial is how to ensure the exploration and development of energy transition minerals in a manner that does not exacerbate resource conflicts, resource nationalism, human rights violations, protectionism, energy insecurity, social exclusions and inequity, especially in conflict-affected and high-risk regions. These scenarios raise the need for net-zero and climate-aligned natural resource contracts, legislation and investment agreements to drive a just and inclusive energy transition. With presentations from some of the expert contributors to the latest AAG book, Net Zero and Natural Resources Law, this panel session1 reflected upon innovative legal drafting, contract negotiation and policymaking approaches needed to address the wide range of resource sovereignty, security and solidarity questions posed by the net zero transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Subash Limbu's recent science fiction film Ningwasum (2022) interrogates the contours of memory and futurity in relation to pressing concerns of climate change and indigenous rights. The experimental mode of the film provides a platform to question the linearity of time and its association with a teleological model of history that leads to a seemingly inevitable future. What happens, the film asks, when different ways of imagining the future lead to alternative trajectories. In this paper, I am interested in how the film responds to some of the foundational principles of colonial law and governance. For example, I examine how using the Limbu language in the film challenges Thomas Macaulay's claims in his "Minute on Indian Education" that the English language is uniquely capable of conveying ideas of science and modernity. At the same time, I also consider the film's representation of the Adivasi (first people) Yakthung community and its relationship to the postcolonial state. Drawing on theories of Afrofuturism that Limbu identifies as providing inspiration for the film, I frame the film's political, artistic, and legal interventions within a global movement to interrupt predictable futurities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The eight member countries of the Central American Integration System (SICA)—Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, and the Dominican Republic—are signatories to the Convention for the Protection of World Heritage and the Convention on Biological Diversity. Both binding international instruments use the terms 'cultural landscape' and 'protected landscape', respectively. For this reason, the environmental/natural and cultural legislation of the SICA region has been analyzed to identify the legal frameworks that allow for the declaration of the categories mentioned above for the protection of landscapes. In five of the eight SICA member states, 38 'protected landscapes' were found to exist under environmental law. No designation has been reported for cultural legislation in this region. In addition, the designations and management plans for 'protected landscapes' were reviewed, and it was noted that most of them were similar in denomination, but their protection objectives were not aligned with the binding instruments from which they were derived. Thus, we conclude that, given the particular natural and cultural wealth of the SICA region, it is necessary to identify and map landscapes and establish common guidelines for managing them to foster harmony between nature and mankind and according to the international conventions' objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Formation and evolution processes of natural tombolos involve many interrelated geomorphological, sedimentary, oceanographic and anthropogenic factors, making their measurement and simulation an extremely difficult task. The present study attempts to fill this knowledge gap by detecting the natural tombolos in Greece, formed in the current sea level, through the statistical analysis of their morphometric and socio-environmental parameters. In addition, the long-term evolution of these coastal depositional landscapes has been determined by comparing old aerial photos taken in 1945 or 1960 and recent satellite images taken from 2020 to 2022. Two thirds of the twenty tombolos studied are subject to erosion, while eight are sporadically destroyed and turned into salients. The Greek tombolos are mildly or heavily exploited for touristic purposes, and fourteen of them are protected by national and international environmental laws. Future studies need to focus on the unstable type of these coastal landforms that are modified from tombolo to salient and vice versa to obtain helpful information about the morphodynamic conditions necessary for their evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous legal requirements regarding the implementation of all kinds of investment projects are extremely important means to attain goals related to environmental protection. The procedures concerning the assessment of the impact exerted by investment plans on Natura 2000 sites, which are discussed in this article, belong to the crucial ones. Their existence in the Polish legal system results from the implementation of Community directives (79/409/EEC and 92/43/EEC). Establishing this type of legal form of nature protection in a given area limits its investment use, introducing the requirement to verify the actions taken in terms of their influence on the conservation objectives of Natura 2000 areas. Confirmation of the negative environmental impact in this respect obligatorily prevents a specific investment project from being undertaken. The described legal procedure serves to implement the basic rules of environmental protection, contained not only in the Environmental Protection Law, but also in the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, which include the principles of sustainable development and the individualisation of environmental costs associated with running a business. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geographical Indications (GIs) are collective rights granted to a group of producers in a limited geographical area. One of the rationales of GI protection is biodiversity conservation which is rapidly being advanced. However, if the GI fails to value the terroir associated with it, it can risk erosion of bio(cultural)diversity. In this paper, taking lessons from such experiences, we argue for activating producers' rights in discussions on biodiversity conservation through GIs and for the systematic inclusion of environmental law, which is considered relevant by the producers, in the GI specification. The rationale of sustainability and sustainable development and the integration of the capabilities approach to IP governance is part of our theoretical underpinnings for such an argument. Given the relationship between these concepts, we first explain biodiversity conservation and then situate the role of GIs in this context. Finally, we also differentiate between third-party certifications and eco-labels and GIs. The role of the former can be useful but limited as GIs offer a better opportunity to include producers' own views. We support our arguments throughout the paper using various examples from secondary empirical research. In practice, we argue for making GI laws, including designing of GI specifications, in a manner that producers' participation is included by design. Considerations of bio(cultural)diversity should be, by design, a part of GIs to increase their efficiency in fulfilling this rationale of protection. This calls for more interdisciplinary and intradisciplinary engagement from GI scholars as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Environmental & Social Management Journal / Revista de Gestão Social e Ambiental is the property of Environmental & Social Management Journal and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The UK Environment Act 2021 presents a valuable case study of the importance and challenges of protecting foundational freedoms in the context of complex and ambiguous environmental legislation. This article argues that the common law principle of legality provides a vital tool for courts to uphold rights imperilled by climate volatility and environmental decline by presuming against rights-infringing interpretations of environmental statutes. Analysing key provisions of the Act and its associated Parliamentary processes, the article focuses on areas such as statutory language clarity, the scope of executive powers, and the framework for public participation. It explores how the principle of legality and other interpretive approaches could help to resolve these issues and ensure the Act is applied in a way that promotes environmental accountability. The article argues that the principle of legality has a crucial role to play in ensuring environmental law delivers on its promise to protect both the environment and foundational freedoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Union is actively advancing the green and digital transformation of its industries by seeking to integrate disruptive and novel technologies to enhance efficiency in existing production lines. However, the introduction of these technologies, pivotal for this transformation, has encountered challenges within the current regulatory framework. This article systematically examines the legal framework to understand how authorisation procedures, influenced by environmental legislation interpreted in conjunction with the precautionary principle, might hinder the adoption of disruptive and novel technologies. Additionally, the article evaluates the effectiveness of experimentation rules, such as legal sandboxes, in addressing scientific uncertainties linked to these technologies. Despite tensions between innovation policies and environmental regulations, embracing the precautionary principle in decision‐making procedures could facilitate the adoption of sustainable innovations while prioritising long‐term environmental and societal well‐being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reflexive environmental law (REL) techniques create potential for reflexivity by regulated companies. This reflexivity is fundamental to overcoming various regulatory hurdles posed by complex and dynamic sustainability challenges, such as plastics circularity. However, even when European Union (EU) environmental legislation incorporates REL techniques, Member State transposition may either undermine or enhance these techniques' potential for driving regulatee reflexivity. This article examines REL's evolution within complex, transnational legislative frameworks, taking the EU's Single‐use Plastics Directive (SUPD) as a case study. It compares reflexivity techniques in the SUPD to those in transpositions by France and Germany. Our analysis is based on the coding of 11 REL techniques and three overarching reflexive drivers—autonomy, accountability and adjustability—within four SUPD instruments. Identifying divergence in REL between the SUPD and Member State transpositions allows us to highlight three explanations as to why REL evolves in certain ways through the transposition process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Green Claims Directive (GCD),1 currently a Commission draft, represents the future legal framework for advertising with environmental claims, so-called green claims. The GCD is closely linked to the UCP Amending Directive 2024/825,2 which was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 6 March 2024. The two directives are intended to form a coherent framework and are therefore considered together in this article. In particular, reference is made to relevant changes of the UCP Amending Directive 2024/825 in the text adopted by the European Parliament on 17 January 2024.3 On 12 March 2024, the EU Parliament voted on the draft GCD at first reading and adopted it with 146 amendments. On 17 June 2024 the European Council adopted its position ('generic approach') and made some significant changes to the draft. The most important amendments are presented in section V. News & Outlook. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides an overview of the historical and current landscape of climate change litigation, highlighting its transformative impact on public perceptions and governmental policies globally. Ground-breaking cases have compelled States to adopt more ambitious greenhouse gas reduction targets, whilst emphasising a rights-based approach to climate change mitigation and adaptation measures. In fact, strategic climate change litigation is gaining momentum and is likely to continue in volume and importance. This allows for the targeting of a wider range of actors, not least within the private sector, which in turn can pose financial risks to fossil fuel firms. The article also discusses certain emerging trends in the context of climate change litigation, as well as the potential for a shift towards personal responsibility and inter-state arbitration in 2024. It concludes that climate change litigation emerges as a powerful strategy, capable of influencing policy, ensure accountability, and drive systemic change towards climate justice for present and future generations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the role emotions play as a heuristic tool in determining the hierarchy of norms in EU's Arctic policy. In the Arctic, appropriate behaviour prescribed by the norms regarding climate change mitigation (the European Green Deal and the Paris Agreement), environmental protection according to EU environmental law and UN-recognised Indigenous Peoples' rights contradict each other. When multiple norms are to be applied in a situation and they conflict with each other, a prioritisation needs to be made among these norms. This paper investigates how emotions contribute in a heuristic way to determining this priority. It finds out that fear of climate change enables climate change mitigation and regulations of the European Green Deal to gain primacy over environmental protection norms and Indigenous Peoples' rights. Self-confidence of the EU and its trust in Nordic member states in these two areas constrain the EU from taking further protective measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This contribution analyzes the role of norms contained in individual administrative acts to determining the content of criminal wrongdoing. The reference to administrative acts raises a series of questions regarding the role of these norms in the configuration of the criminal offense and the extent to which the criminal norm can be determined by the content of said administrative act. This problem cannot be adequately addressed without a reflection on the way in which criminal law interacts with norms and evaluations from other areas of the legal system. Based on a critical analysis of these arguments, this paper provides an alternative explanation regarding the basis and scope of this relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the New Mexico Court of Appeals decision in Aquifer Science, LLC v. Verhines, which prompted the state's water management entities to consider climate change in groundwater allocation. Topics include the slow progress of climate change adaptation and mitigation in environmental laws, the significant reliance on groundwater in New Mexico, and the implications of climate change on water resources, highlighting the need for updated water allocation policies.

This study examines the impact of China’s new environmental law (NEL, referring to the new Environmental Protection Law implemented in China in 2015, hereafter NEL) on the financial performance (FP) of Chinese A-share companies listed in the heavy pollution industry from 2011 to 2020. Using the DID approach, the study finds that the regulation initially has a negative impact but brings long-term positive results for these companies. It also highlights the impact of the regulation on financing opportunities and R&D investment, with smaller companies facing more significant challenges. Lastly, based on the study’s findings, some policy suggestions are proposed to offer theoretical guidance and policy references for countries to achieve high-quality development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the complexity of transnational environmental law and the challenges it presents. It highlights the intricate nature of global environmental problems and the need for transnational legal norms and processes to address them. The article explores various examples, such as the issue of marine litter and the structural dimensions of flooding in Eastern India, to illustrate the complexity of transnational environmental problems. It also examines the governance of markets and technologies, including the evaluation of the European Union Emissions Trading System and the regulation of hydrogen technologies in China. Additionally, the article discusses the challenge of ensuring voluntary adherence to transnational environmental norms and the role of soft law instruments in influencing state behavior. The authors provide insights and propose frameworks to enhance the effectiveness of transnational environmental law in addressing these complex challenges. [Extracted from the article]

Reflexive environmental law (REL) enables an understanding of how law builds potential for private company reflexivity. Reflexivity helps to avoid lock-in, and enhances learning and self-organization to resolve complex sustainability challenges. Thus far, REL theory has excluded traditional command-and-control regulation as a form of REL. This limits the potential of REL to understand how legislation can drive reflexivity and create more effective governance. Our framework expands the definition of REL and sets out six types of regulatory instrument found in legislation that may, or may not, constitute forms of REL. The framework comprises three reflexive drivers – autonomy, accountability, and adjustability – and, under these, eleven REL techniques. Through examples taken from European environmental legislation, we explain the drivers' relationship with different regulatory instruments. This taxonomy empowers regulators and scholars to understand both the reflexive potential of regulatory instruments and the possibility to make instruments more reflexive in specific contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A strong vision of sustainable development requires respect for the limits imposed by the functioning of the planet to ensure its resilience. The framework of planetary boundaries is increasingly relied on to design quantifiable objectives that can guide policy- and decisionmakers to enact measures to ensure such a sustainable society. Yet, to effectively guide, the framework requires a reformulation to make it applicable to human activities. Concretely, planetary boundaries need to be transposed into planetary quotas, which express the maximum absolute quantity of emissions, withdrawals or use that is admissible so as not to exceed the planetary limits. Furthermore, the achievement of planetary quotas depends on the fair allocation of national, sectoral, or even individual quotas. In this context, we question whether and under which institutional conditions environmental quotas could be an appropriate tool to implement planetary boundaries. This article proposes a legal and political theory of quota systems and applies it to the establishment of planetary quota systems in international environmental law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This case law overview comments on significant UK environmental law cases for the period 1 April 2023–31 March 2024 (with one exception where a High Court decision within that period was overturned on appeal just after it). It begins with an overarching introduction, which draws some general themes from our selection of cases, focussing on the breadth of environmental law and issues of public concern in public and private law disputes. It then addresses 12 significant cases concerning the accrual of causes of action in private nuisance, whether there is power to vary abatement notices in respect of statutory nuisances, climate change, habitats, flooding, cumulative environmental impact assessment, river basin management plans, storm overflow discharge reduction plans, Regulators' Codes, and public rights on Dartmoor Commons. It ends with some final thoughts on this year's cases and the year ahead. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a long tradition of constitutionalising environmental protection in the People's Republic of China ('China'). This is illustrated, for example, by the constitutionalisation of the need to construct 'ecological civilisation' – a set of values and development concepts included in 2018 as part of constitutional amendments. Yet, the Constitution of China is often described as a constitution without constitutionalism. This article examines the constitutional environmental provisions in China, as well as the underpinning constitutional theories, to demonstrate how China enjoys environmental constitutionalism. This version of constitutionalism, however, is absent of rights and overwhelmingly enforced through state-based approaches, which means that it is distinct from the rights-based and courts-centred versions of liberal constitutionalism. This study thus exemplifies how constitutional practices may adopt different formulations and environmental constitutionalism exists without being committed to liberal principles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The valuable experience and important concepts in the traditional ethnic customary laws of ecological protection have made significant contributions to the current local ecological civilization rule of law construction. The Jinxiu Yao ethnic customary laws on ecological protection cover the protection of mountains, forests, land, water sources, ecological diversity and so on. These laws are comprehensive and show the characteristic experience of strictly adhering to procedures and focusing on effectiveness. The local Yao people are using the "old form" of stone tablets to convey the modern "new rules", absorbing complementary elements in modern legislation, judiciary, law enforcement, and other dimensions to jointly promote the development of local environmental protection. However, the application and continuation of the local customary laws of ecological protection are facing great challenges now, as these laws have not received due attention and local people are not well aware of modern rule of law. In order to promote the organic integration of the customary laws of ethnic ecological protection and the modern environmental rule of law, we should respect the objective existence of the customary laws from the aspect of legislation, establish mechanisms of multi-ecological dispute resolution and strict reward and punishment systems, and implement legal education that incorporates ethnic characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accelerating the construction of an intelligent law enforcement system for ecological environment is not only an important foundation for strengthening the rule of law for ecological environment and promoting reform and innovation in ecological environment law enforcement, but also a concrete manifestation of focusing on building a Beautiful China and improving the ecological environment governance system. At present, China is confronted with the practical constraints in accelerating the construction of an intelligent law enforcement system for ecological environment, such as the risks of digital technology application and the insufficiency of intelligent law enforcement resources for ecological environment. Therefore, on the one hand, we should vigorously promote the intelligentization of ecological environment law enforcement. It means that we should constantly improve the scale and level of automation in ecological environment law enforcement by strengthening the combination of weak and strong artificial intelligence applications. We should also effectively address various digital technology application risks in ecological environment law enforcement by strengthening the combination of digital technology application and digital risk management. On the other hand, it is necessary to accelerate the systematization of ecological environment intelligent law enforcement. It means that we should strengthen the construction of key elements required for applying digital technology in ecological environment law enforcement, such as enforcement entities, targets, technologies, equipment, systems, culture, guarantees, etc. Meanwhile, we should enhance the application of digital technology to the construction of various law enforcement processes such as information collection and processing, monitoring and monitoring, punishment decision-making, evaluation and assessment, supervision and accountability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today the preservation of the environment has become one of the most pressing concerns among the global community. Climate change, biodiversity loss, and freshwater depletion pose significant environmental threats, and their distinctive attributes have transformed them into transnational issues. As a result, the situation in question necessitates the need for involvement of international law, particularly the system for the settlement of international disputes. This paper uses a descriptive-analytical method to explain the role of international arbitral tribunals in the development of international environmental law. The findings of this study show how international arbitral tribunals, despite normative insufficiency and existing legal gaps, have been able to recognize and address environmental considerations while complying with treaties concluded between states. Such effective function of arbitration courts has led the awards of international arbitral tribunals to play a significant role in the application, enforcement, and as a result, development of international environmental law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increase in built-up land in Pekanbaru City is a complex phenomenon that has a broad impact on the urban environment. This study aims to analyze the formulation of appropriate environmental management strategies in response to this trend. Using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method, the study identified land changes between 2010 and 2022. Data from the Ministry of ATR/BPN shows a significant decrease in forest area or thickets, while built-up areas have increased, especially in Tampan and Tenayan Raya Districts. The results of the analysis show that effective policy strategies in managing the environment related to developed land must pay attention to environmental stewardship, economic collaboration, ecological citizenship movements, and community participation. Policy strategy recommendations should focus on effective policy implementation, strengthening economic collaboration, biodiversity conservation, and community empowerment in environmental decision-making. It is hoped that these strategies can improve the quality of the built land environment and overall improve the welfare of the people of Pekanbaru City. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green finance crime is money laundering stemming from illegal environmental destruction activities. Indonesia is experiencing this problem, where the number of forest clearing, plantations, and mining is increasing, but the results are not enjoyed by the surrounding community, and only enjoyed by a few people and corporations through illegal mechanisms. Ordinary legal mechanisms have not been able to prevent and crack down on green finance crimes in Indonesia. This study aims to analyze green finance crimes in order to optimize green economy transformation in Indonesia. This study used the juridical-normative method. The purpose of this study is to determine the risk mitigation measures for green financial crime in Indonesia. The result of this study is that the problem faced by Indonesia is that it does not understand environmental crime as a criminal act originating from money laundering so the instruments used to overcome this crime are still conventional. Coupled with the ever-evolving, various modes of washing are complex and involve different legal systems in different countries. This makes green finance crime difficult to eradicate with ordinary legal instruments. Thus, the authors propose mitigating legal risks through joint investigations covering multiple devices, multiple institutions, multiple laws and regulations, and multiple sanctions to overcome this. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Opuntia Brava is the property of Universidad de Ciencias Pedagogicas de Las Tunas, Centro de Documentacion e Informacion Pedagogica and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article is devoted to the analysis of the legal support of environmental policy in Ukraine. Based on the analysis of the articles of the Constitution of Ukraine, which guarantees citizens the right to a safe environment, it is assumed that the state is obliged to ensure environmental safety and preservation of the environment. It was emphasized that the environmental policy of Ukraine should be aimed at protecting the environment, rational use of natural resources and ensuring environmental safety. The author analyzed a number of normative legal acts that determine the priority vectors of environmental policy in Ukraine at various stages of the development of its statehood - starting from 1991 to the present day. Taking into account the goals of the state environmental policy, declared accordingly in the strategies, a conclusion was made about the urgency of environmental issues in the state management system and increased attention from the state to the definition, detailing, analysis and selection of alternative options for solving the environmental problems that have arisen. It was noted that environmental policy is gradually acquiring the characteristics of a full-fledged state policy and the corresponding sphere of state administration, where the state does not simply declare general goals, but defines tasks in the appropriate directions for the possibility of monitoring the effectiveness of statemanagement decisions and, if necessary, their further adjustment. The growing environmental crisis forces us to recognize that issues of environmental protection should become a priority for the Ukrainian authorities. The state should not only set goals, but also monitor their achievement and adjust plans if necessary. Ukraine should make environmental safety one of its main priorities. Without a healthy environment, it is impossible to build a healthy society. The future of Ukraine depends on how we treat nature today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is devoted to the study of the elements of the objective side of unqualified intentional destruction or damage of territories taken under state protection and objects of the nature reserve fund. Analysis of this element of the composition of the criminal offense provided for in Part 1 of Art. 252 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, has been carried out, while taking into account the achievements of criminal and environmental law sciences, provisions of regulatory legislation and materials of court practice. The dominant approach is supported, within which the territories protected by the state and the objects of the nature reserve fund are recognized as the subject, and not the place of the commission of the analyzed criminal offense against the environment. Emphasis is placed on the blanket disposition of Part 1 of Art. 252 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine and the need to specify the charges based on this circumstance. The meaning of the concepts of destruction and damage of the territories taken under the protection of the state and objects of the nature reserve fund is revealed; the differences between these concepts are clarified; it is shown how in court practice the elements of a socially dangerous act, indicated in part 1 of Article 252 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine are interpreted alternatively. A scientific proposal has been made to differentiate (in order to improve Article 252 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine) criminal liability for violation of the regime of territories and objects of the nature reserve fund, as well as other key territories of the ecological network of Ukraine, as a result of which the reduction or loss of their special environmental protection has been made, was subjected to critical analysis. At the same time, the perspective of revealing the content of the socially dangerous consequences of the tort under consideration by referring to the concepts of reduction or loss by specific territories (objects) of their special environmental value was noted. The expediency of clarifying part 2 of Art. 252 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, by taking into account the fact that the destruction or damage of territories and objects, especially those protected by the state, may take the form of inaction, has been pointed out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]