The Globalization of Environmental Law

• Author: Robert V. Percival
• Pages: 3-11

CHAPTER 1

The Globalization of Environmental Law

ROBERT V. PERCIVAL*

Globalization is profoundly affecting the development of environmental law

throughout the world. As countries increasingly borrow law and regulatory

innovations from one another, there is growing convergence around a few

principal approaches to environmental regulation. Although this is not an

entirely new phenomenon, it is occurring at an unprecedented pace as the

growth of global trade and multinational enterprises has increased pressure

on nations to harmonize regulatory standards. Increased cross-border col-

laboration between governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs),

and multinational corporations also is significantly influencing the develop-

ment of environmental law. Private actors are helping to expose environ-

mental problems, to coordinate responses to them, and to mobilize informed

consumers to harness market forces on behalf of environmental protection.

These developments are blurring traditional distinctions between public and

private law and domestic and international law.

These trends are resulting in the emergence of what I have called “‘global

environmental law’—a field of law that is international, national, and trans-

national in character all at once.”1 This chapter begins by explaining the con-

cept of global environmental law. It then explores the principal forces that

are contributing to its development. After discussing several examples of

this phenomenon, the chapter concludes by examining its implications for

the practice of environmental law.

I. The Concept of Global Environmental Law

Global environmental law is a term used to describe the reality of how trans-

plantation, convergence, integration, and harmonization are influencing the

development of environmental law today throughout the world. It includes

(1) public international environmental law, commonly used to refer to

the set of treaties and customary international legal principles gov-

erning the relations between nations;

*The author would like to thank Zoe Fullem (Macalester College ’12) for research assis-

tance with this chapter.

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