The Peaceful Settlement of International Environmental Disputes:A Pragmatic Approach

by Cesare P.R. Romano

Over the last two decades, environmental problems have been increasingly identified as potential sources of international instability or even direct threats to international peace and security. This phenomenon has been reflected in the growing proportion of multilateral environmental treaties which include dispute settlement clauses. At the same time, and increasingly since the beginning of the 1990s, international adjudication is going through a renaissance as more and more cases are submitted to an expanding number of international judicial fora. This unique study takes a pragmatic approach to determine under which conditions international adjudication, as currently structured, can effectively tackle the challenge of environmental degradation and the ensuing international disputes. It illustrates how multilateral environmental treaties have provided for the settlement of disputes that may arise from their implementation, with special attention given to so-called non-compliance procedures. Ten environmental disputes which have been the subject of international adjudication are examined in detail, explaining the origins of the dispute, how and why the case was brought before that particular jurisdiction, the proceedings, the judgement, and the aftermath of the case. To assess the effectiveness of adjudicative means, famous cases are revisited, including the Bering Sea Fur Seals, Trail Smelter, Lake Lanoux, Nauru Phosphates, Nuclear Tests, Danube, Meuse River, and Southern Bluefin Tuna cases, and the impact the judgements had on the original environmental problems examined. This book will be of value to legal scholars, academics, political scientists, environmentalists, and all those interested in the protection of the environment and the prevention of conflicts.

448 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2000

About the author

Cesare P.R. Romano holds degrees in three different disciplines (political science, international relations and law) from three countries (Italy, Switzerland and the United States). His scholarship and teaching reflect the variety of his background.

His expertise is in public international law, and in particular dispute settlement, international environmental law, international human rights and international criminal and humanitarian law. However, it is probably the field international courts and tribunals where he has made to date the greatest contribution, publishing numerous articles and books. He created, developed and managed the Project on International Courts and Tribunals, a joint undertaking of the Center on International Cooperation, New York University, and the Centre for International Courts and Tribunals at University College London, becoming a world-renowned authority in the field.