Institutional Arrangements for Environmental Law

Abstract

Environmental problems are increasingly recognised as a field in which global and regional responses are as important as local initiatives: pollution has little respect for national boundaries, animals migrate, international trade connects cause and effect in diverse national territories, etc. In this chapter we examine the role of institutions directly in the formation of environmental law, and indirectly as constituents of the world system in which environmental law is embedded. Only when institutional structures are strong and supportive of environmental law can we expect to find it operating effectively in the prevention of environmental degradation. In this chapter institutions include not only fixed bodies with clearly defined functions, but also defining moments in world environmental policies, such as major environmental conferences and conventions.