The Top Ten Trends in International Environmental Law

• Author: Tseming Yang
• Pages: 47-58

CHAPTER 4

The Top Ten Trends in International

Environmental Law

TSEMING YANG*

Given the multitude of international environmental issues, the choice of the

top ten trending issues is to some extent arbitrary. A better description of

such a list may be as the top matters on the minds of environmental lawyers,

diplomats, and policy makers.

I. Global Climate Change and Energy Policy

In any inventory like this, climate change must be at the very top. With its

global scope, both in terms of contributions and effects, the warming of the

Earth’s surface and atmosphere from rising concentrations of greenhouse

gases (GHGs) is unquestionably the greatest environmental challenge for

humanity. Within just the last four decades, the total global anthropogenic

carbon emissions into the atmosphere have doubled. The increase has been

tenfold over the last century. Temperatures and sea levels are expected to

rise, with more frequent and intense storms, floods, droughts, and other

extreme weather events; changes in ecosystems; and adverse effects on

human health.

Of course, the international community has not stood still. The call has

been for the widest possible cooperation by all countries to limit carbon

emissions. Policy and legal responses have come not only from national gov-

ernments and international organizations but also triggered efforts by subna-

tional and local entities as well as businesses and civil society organizations.

While there is too much to discuss in detail, there have been notable initia-

tives at the international, regional, national, and subnational level.

Among the most visible international activities have been (1) the work of

the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to assess the state of

the science and potential effects of climate change and (2) the 1992 United

Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which

*The author is grateful to Shana Inspektor for her excellent research assistance.

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