Oxford Handbook of Comparative Environmental Law

The study of environmental law has been relatively limited to date, with researchers either adopting a country-by-country approach, confining comparative analysis within the bounds of a basic common chapter structure, or addressing a specific area or problem in detail without seeking to encompass environmental law as a whole. The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Environmental Law fills a gap in the market by being the first comprehensive book to address comparative environmental law from an integrated perspective.

In addition to the common approaches to the subject, this Handbook also addresses the fundamental systems underpinning the diversity observed across countries as well as the interactions of environmental laws and instruments with their broader legal context. The latter has received limited attention to date, while the former is important not only because such interactions may heavily influence the effectiveness and resilience of environmental law but also because some non-environmental instruments, such as anti-poverty policies, may operate as extremely powerful vehicles of environmental protection.

Combining commentaries by leading academics as well as observations by a new generation of scholars who have different perspectives on the questions being addressed, this Handbook is a valuable resource for both academics and practitioners in the field.

About the Author:
Jorge Vinuales, Harold Samuel Professor Law and Environmental Policy and Director, University of Cambridge and the Centre for Environment, Energy, and Natural Resource Governance, Emma Lees, University Lecturer in Environmental Law and Deputy Director, University of Cambridge and the Centre for Environment, Energy, and Natural Resource Governance

Jorge E. Vinuales is the Harold Samuel Professor of Law and Environmental Policy at the University of Cambridge and the Director of the Centre for Environment, Energy and Natural Resource Governance (C-EENRG). He has published widely in his specialty areas, with his most recent books including International Environmental Law (Cambridge University Press, 2015) (with P.-M. Dupuy), The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development: A Commentary (Oxford University Press, 2015), and The Foundations of International Investment Law (Oxford University Press, 2014) (co-edited with J. Pauwelyn and Z. Douglas).

Emma Lees is a University Lecturer in Environmental Law at the University of Cambridge in the Department of Land Economy and the Deputy director of the Cambridge Centre for Environment, Energy and Natural Resource Governance (C-EENRG). Her areas of research inclulde national law controls on the use of land (contaminated land, waste, and habitats' protection), the role of the judiciary in environmental law, and comparative and European Union environmental law.