Environmental law cannot be treated as international or national; it is both. While environmental concerns have become more and more international in scope during the 20th century, the implementation of international environmental agreements basically remains a matter for national means. This thesis deals with the linkage and compatibility of international and national environmental law. It analyses how and to what extent international environmental law, primarily through various types of treaty obligations, limits the discretion of states in their national implementation. The theory outlined forms the basis for an examination of a large number of international instruments with regard to their adequacy for guiding states towards common environmental objectives. Whilst being confined to pollution control, the ideas and concepts presented are also applicable to other issues of environmental law. Throughout the thesis, the author argues for a relaxation of the distinction between international and national environmental law, e.g. in the decision-making of domestic institutions. Finally, he suggests certain legal elements to be emphasized in the establishment of international regimes on sustainable development.
Introduction. Part I: 1. Law and International Environmental Management. 2. Linking International and National Environmental Law. 3. Normative Structures and the Discretion of States. Part II: 4. International Obligations Defined by Balancing Norms. 5. International Obligations Defined by Fixed Norms. 6. International Obligations Defined by Goal-oriented Norms. 7. International Obligations Relating to Domestic Procedures. 8. International Obligations on Non-discrimination. 9. Some Remarks on the Legal Approaches Presented. Part III: 10. Integrating Environmental Treaties with Domestic Law. 11. Sustainable Development: Table of Treaties and Other International Documents. Table of Cases. Bibliography. Index.
` [...]it is liberally peppered with insights, is thought-provoking in its overall structure, and is the only work we have that moves towards a new understanding of one of the central problems of our discipline. It is a demanding work that is likely to stimulate further debate. '
Michael Anderson, in Yearbook of International Environmental Law (1998)