A Basic Guide to International Environmental Legal Research

by Heidi Frostestad Kuehl

Published May 2006

Heidi Frostestad Kuehl is Research and Instructional Services Librarian at Pritzker Legal Research Center, Northwestern University School of Law, Chicago, IL. She holds a Law degree from Valparaiso University School of Law with a specialization in International Trade and Development and a Master's Degree in Library and Information Science from the University of Iowa.

I. Introduction

II. General Starting Points & List of Key Abbreviations

III. Treaty Research

A. Sub-Topics for International Environmental Law

B. Essential Indexes and Finding Aids for Treaty Research

IV. National Laws - Foreign Nations

V. Searching Library Catalogs

VI. Lexis and Westlaw

VII. Periodicals

VIII. Comprehensive Internet Sites

IX. Environmental Organizations, Institutes, and Statistics

X. Environmental Law Blogs and Current Awareness Tools

I. Introduction

International environmental law is an ever-changing, constantly expanding, and intriguing topic for international legal research. When decisions and collaborations occur between nations across international boundaries and treaties or agreements are made to cooperate for environmental concerns, disputes inevitably transpire because of trade implications for the respective nations, safety concerns and cleanliness of environmental resources among shared borders, or problems with enforcement mechanisms for liability under agreements or treaty provisions relating to the environment. The vastness of this area of international law includes the environmental sub-issues of population, biodiversity, global climate change, ozone depletion, preserving the Antarctic regions, movement of toxic and hazardous substances, land or vessel-based pollution, dumping, conservation of marine living resources, trans-boundary air and water pollution, desertification, and nuclear damage, among others. To begin research in international environmental law, a researcher should have a basic understanding of international law and authority: for example, knowledge of treaty research and an awareness of the types of international agreements and their effect in nations of the world as result of reservations, understandings, or declarations. As noted in this research guide, the number of international environmental treaties is manageable by sub-topic, so identification of the appropriate sub-topic or category of international environmental law is essential to narrowly tailor research and avoid getting bogged down in the wealth of information. Like many areas of international law, regulation and implementation of the treaty terms are at the national level. Thus, some knowledge and research of foreign laws in the countries of focus for a research problem is necessary for thorough research and analysis. This guide will provide an overview of the key terms, general starting points by sub-topic of international environmental law and correlating treaties and agreements, a summary of the essential websites and secondary sources for international environmental legal research, and an approach for researching the primary law of foreign jurisdictions for this topic. Finally, an overview of the prominent international organizations and correlating documentation produced for international environmental law and blogs for current awareness in this field will be provided for a comprehensive overview.

II. General Starting Points and Key Abbreviations

Like other areas of specialized international law, international environmental law follows the same sources and categories of law as primary authority under Article 38 of the Statute of the I.C.J. Those include treaties, custom, general principles recognized among nations, decisions, and other secondary authority such as the writings of prominent scholars in the field. Therefore, a researcher should start with identifying the applicable treaties in force and analyzing those nations which are parties to the agreement. After determining all applicable treaties based on the facts of the research question, then the researcher can uncover national laws, which might accordingly follow the treaty terms or deviate. Because foreign legal research can be difficult, it is often wise to consult a comprehensive secondary source on the topic, such as a treatise or law journal article. Before even approaching the treaties, though, it is helpful to decipher the tricky acronyms that emerge when studying international environmental law, especially in the context of the treaties and agreements. Historically, the timeline of treaties that are often identified as monumental in the formation of international environmental law include: the Stockholm Conference (1972), UN Convention on the Law of the Sea ("UNCLOS") (1982), World Conference on Environment and Development (1987), UN Conference on Environment and Development (1992), and the World Summit on Sustainable Development (2002). A helpful overview of international environmental law is provided in International Environmental Law in a Nutshell by Lakshman D. Guruswamy (West 2003) for those researchers unfamiliar with this area of international law. As discussed below, there are also many sub-categories of treaties based on the type of environmental concern or prevention of certain types of deterioration or liabilities for pollution. Here are some of the most commonly-used abbreviations and acronyms for treaty research in international environmental law (however, keep in mind that it is not a comprehensive list):

"Agenda 21" - Programme of Action for Sustainable Development (Agenda 21)
"Aarhus Convention" - Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters
"Basel Convention" - Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal
"Basel Ban Amendment" - Protocol on Liability and Compensation for Damage Resulting from Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes
"Biodiversity Convention" - Convention on Biological Diversity
"Bunkers Convention" - International Convention on Civil Liability for Bunker Oil Pollution Damage
"Cartagena Protocol" - Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the Convention on Biological Diversity
"CBD" - Convention on Biological Diversity
"CCAMLR" - Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources
"CCSBT" - Convention for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna
"CITES" - Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora
"CLC" - Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage
"Climate Change Convention" - United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change"
"Kyoto Protocol" - Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
"LRTAP" - Geneva Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution
"Montreal Protocol" - Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer
"NAAEC" - North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation
"OLDEPESCA" - Agreement Instituting the Latin American Organization for Fisheries Development
"OSPAR Convention" - Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic
"Paris Convention" - Paris Convention on Third Party Liability in the Field of Nuclear Energy
"POPs" - Persistant Organic Pollutants
"Rio Declaration" - Rio Declaration on Environment and Development
"Stockholm Convention" - Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants
"UNCCD" - United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification
"UNCLOS" - United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
"UNEP" - United Nations Environment Programme
"UNFCCC" - United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
"Vienna Convention" - Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer
"Wetlands Convention" - Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat

III. Treaty Research

A. Sub-Topics for International Environmental Law

Because of the many possible sub-topics available for international environmental law, it is helpful to have a table of categories and correlating agreements. The following table is a table of agreements and websites for research based on the eight sub-topics of hazardous waste, nuclear waste, ocean and marine sources, ozone and protection of the atmosphere, pollution, protection of species and wildlife, sustainable development, and trade and the environment. When available, I have linked to sources of the original .pdf document available online.

SUB-TOPICS FOR INT'L

ENVIRONMENTAL

LAW

CONVENTIONS

AND

AGREEMENTS

WEBSITES

FOR

RESEARCH

1. HAZARDOUS

WASTE

Basel Convention (**1989)

Protocol on Liability and Compensation for Damage Resulting from Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes

(1999)

Secretariat of the Basel Convention: UN Environmental Programme

"Basel Ban Amendment": Secretariat of the Basel Convention

United Nations Environmental Programme: Protocol on Liability and Compensation

2. NUCLEAR WASTE

*Convention on Nuclear Safety (1994)

Convention on Third Party Liability in the Field of Nuclear Energy ["Paris Convention"] (1960)

International Atomic Energy Agency Circular

Reservations & Declarations to the Convention on Nuclear Safety

Nuclear Energy Agency's Convention on Third Party Liability

Paris Convention Decisions, Recommendations, and Interpretations

3. OCEAN AND

MARINE SOURCES

Agreement for the Establishment of the Indo-Pacific Fisheries Council (1948)

Agreement Instituting the Latin American Organization for Fisheries Development (1982 )

*Convention for the Conservation of Salmon in the North Atlantic (1982)

Convention for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna (1993)

Convention for the Prevention of Marine Pollution from Land-Based Sources (1974) & "OSPAR" Convention (1992)

Australian Treaty Series: AustLII

Internet Guide to Int'l Fisheries Law

ENTRI Treaty Locator: CIESIN (Columbia)

Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna

OSPAR Commission Website

4. OZONE AND PROTECTION OF THE ATMOSPHERE

*Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer ["Vienna Convention"] (1985)

*Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (1979)

Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention (1997)

*Montreal Protocol (1987)

*United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (1992)

United Nations Environment Programme / .PDF

United Nations Economic Commisssion for Europe / .PDF

UN FCCC Website / .PDF

UN Environment Programme: Montreal Protocol

UN FCCC Website / .PDF

5. POLLUTION

Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (2001)

International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (1973) & 1978 Protocol

International Convention on Civil Liability for Bunker Oil Pollution Damage (2001)

International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage & 1992 Protocol (1969 & 1992 )

Persistant Organic Pollutants website / .PDF

ENTRI: Environmental Treaties and Resource Indicators

AustLII: Australian Legal Information Institute

CIESIN (Columbia University) / ENTRI

6. PROTECTION OF SPECIES AND WILDLIFE

Agenda 21: Programme of Action for Sustainable Development (1992)

Cartagena Protocol (2000)

Convention on Biological Diversity (1992)

*North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (1993)

*United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Countries Experiencing Serious Drought (1994)

United Nations Sustainable Development

Biological Diversity Website

Convention on Biological Diversity Website / .PDF

Commission for Environmental Cooperation

UNCCD Website / .PDF

7. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Agenda 21: Programme of Action for Sustainable Development (1992)

*Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (1980)

*Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat (1971)

Rio Declaration on Environment and Development (1992)

Antarctic Treaty (1959) & Protocol on Environmental Protection (1991)

United Nations Sustainable Development

Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources Secretariat / .PDF

Ramsar Convention on the Wetlands Website

UN Environment Programme / .PDF

Committee for Environmental Protection: Antarctic Treaty

8. TRADE & THE ENVIRONMENT

Convention on Int'l Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora ["CITES"] (1973)

North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation ["NAAEC"] (1993)

Aarhus Convention (1998)

CITES Official Documents

Commission for Environmental Cooperation

United Nations Economic Commission for Europe / .PDF

* - U.S. has signed and ratified the treaty.

** - Dates referenced are the date of signature of the treaties.

B. Essential Indexes and Finding Aids for Treaty Research

There are numerous treaty indexes for historical U.S. treaties, as well as world treaty series. In some instances, these treaty indexes are available in print and online. For international environmental law, it is most helpful to consult indexes containing world treaties, such as the United Nations Treaty Series, and other unique online collections of world treaties. In the United States and depending on other jurisdictions for research, a researcher would also need to consult Treaties in Force and Treaty Actions. The following list of indexes and helpful online collections is not exhaustive, but includes comprehensive portals for research:

ECOLEX - This website created by the United Nations Environmental Programme and the World Conservation Union provides a wonderful portal to searching for bibliographic information of treaties by sub-topic of international environmental law, as well as national legislation and court decisions.
EISIL (Electronic Information System for International Law) - This digitization and indexing of prominent documents and agreements in international law includes a section on "International Environmental Law" and provides comprehensive coverage of all treaties and agreements by sub-topic. Further, this project cites to the legal citations under "More Information" and links to an available online source for the full-text treaties.
ENTRI (Environmental Treaties and Resource Indicators) - This collection contains a unique treaty locator by sub-topic of environmental law or title of the treaty. It is extremely helpful for locating full-text treaties, signatories and parties to the treaties, dates of the agreements and entry into force.
EUR-Lex - This is the comprehensive website of the European Union and official documents. Through a simple search or search within treaties, researchers can locate the main provisions for international environmental law.
European Treaty Series (Council of Europe) - This digitized collection provided by the Council of Europe includes links to full-text agreements for international environmental law, as well as charts of ratification and signature and lists of reservations, understandings, and declarations.
Multilaterals Project at Fletcher School (Tufts University) - In this online multilateral collection, the project includes numerous agreements relating to international environmental law in full-text format. However, the original documents are not digitized, so the researcher must be careful to consult a facsimile for reservations, understandings, and declarations to determine effect.
SICE - Trade Agreements - This site includes a nice compendium of links to full-text trade agreements by nation. The collection includes references to international environmental trade agreements, such as the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation.
UNBISNet - This United Nations Bibliographic Information System is essential for locating UN documentation by keyword or subject search for environmental law. In most cases, the system also links to full-text documents in a variety of languages and provides essential bibliographic information for research.
UN-I-QUE - The United Nations file is helpful to search for ready-reference to documents in international environmental law and bibliographic information. However, full-text links are not often provided and this system is not meant to be a substitute for research in UNBISNet (above).
United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) - Through a portal of images on the frontpage of this United Nations branch for the environment, users can locate the full-text of environmental conventions, protocols, and agreements by sub-topic. In addition, the portals provide helpful background information about the negotiation of the treaties and related issues and reports, if applicable.
United Nations Treaty Series (Recueil des traités) and Multilateral Treaties Deposited with the Secretary-General - Available with a subscription through the United Nations website, this collection has all multilateral treaties deposited with the Secretary-General and is searchable by topic or title of the treaty. The treaties are presented in .Pdf format, so it is especially helpful for facsimiles of the original treaty documents.
WorldLII - Through this initiative to digitize legal materials of nations of the countries of the world, researchers can locate applicable environmental treaties, especially for Australia, Hong Kong, and the South Pacific.
WTO Legal Texts - This portal includes the 1986-94 Uruguay Round negotiations by the World Trade Organization, which includes decisions pertaining to trade and the environment.

IV. Finding the National Laws of Foreign Nations

In addition to locating the appropriate treaties and agreements for research in international environmental law, a researcher then needs to uncover any national laws of the foreign nations involved in a research question. Therefore, the following sources can help provide background information about the legal systems of countries of the world or links to the national laws of foreign nations. The following list provides essential resources for uncovering national laws for international environmental law:

Cornell's Legal Information Institute: WorldLaw - An excellent portal for locating available codes and legislation of nations or regions of the World. This site also provides links to general international environmental legal materials.
ECOLEX - This website created by the United Nations Environmental Programme and the World Conservation Union provides a wonderful portal to searching for bibliographic information of treaties by sub-topic of international environmental law, as well as national legislation and court decisions.
European Commission: Legislation Reports for Energy - Search for key legislation by country or keyword and links to Green Papers and White Papers for this subject.
FAOLEX - Focusing on food, agriculture, and renewable natural resources, this collection of laws provides excellent bibliographic information about the national laws of countries of the world as well as full-text of most legislation included in the database.
Foreign and Country Information (Northwestern Univ. - Pritzker Legal Research Center): An excellent portal for accessing available research guides for countries of the world and laws by country or region or subject of research.
Foreign Law Guide: Current Sources of Codes and Basic Legislation of the World - This substantial work and research guide to locating the codes and legislation of nations of the world by Reynolds and Flores is a crucial resource to consult when researching the international environmental laws of individual countries and understanding their legal systems.
Global Legal Information Network (GLIN) - Provided by the Law Library of Congress, this portal provides access to foreign laws, regulations, judicial decisions, and other legal resources contributed by government agencies and international organizations.
GlobeLaw - This portal provides a comprehensive index with links to full-text documentation for treaties and national laws for international environmental law.
Government Gazettes Online (University of Michigan) - Through an A-Z list of governments of the world, researchers can locate the laws released in the official gazettes of nations of the world published online.
Library of Congress: Guide to Law Online - This comprehensive portal of the available laws of the nations of the world includes sources for national legislation. Researchers would then need to search for the pertinent environmental codes and legislation within each nation.
Martindale-Hubbell International Law Digest (In Print & on Lexis) - A nice summary of the laws on various topics, available sources, and description of the legal system for many nations of the world. A researcher can search by country and topic (environment) to retrieve the relevant national laws, if any, related to the environment.
University of Denver Sturm College of Law Natural Resources Weblinks: Countries- This site provides the ability to select a country through a drop-down menu of jurisdictions throughout the world and links to legislation and legal databases for research.
WorldLII - Through the advanced search feature, researchers can locate all legislation contained in the database pertaining to the environment or a sub-topic for research by entering relevant search terms. In addition, researchers can locate codes and legislation by topic through the homepage.

V. Searching Library Catalogs and Finding Print Resources

Before researching primary law, such as treaties and agreements and laws of the nations of the world, researchers might also consult their library catalog to uncover helpful treatises, books, or nutshells and basic background texts to better understand this area of international law. The following search terms and Library of Congress subject headings are successful when researching library catalogs:

Climatic Changes-Government Policy (Library of Congress)

Environmental Law, International (Library of Congress)

Environmental Law, International-Sources (Library of Congress)

Environmental Law, Periodicals (Library of Congress)

Environmental Management-International Cooperation (Library of Congress)

Environmental Policy (Library of Congress)

Environmental Protection (Library of Congress)

Global Warming -Law and legislation (Library of Congress)

Global Warming-Government Policy (Library of Congress)

Greenhouse gases-Law and legislation (Library of Congress)

International Relations-Environmental Aspects (Library of Congress)

Law of the Sea (Library of Congress)

Marine Resources Conservation-Environmental Aspects (Library of Congress)

Liability for Environmental Damages, European Union (Library of Congress)

Sustainable Development-(Country of Research) (Library of Congress)

United Nations Convention on Climate Change (Library of Congress)

In addition to the above categories, which are not comprehensive but give the researcher a head-start, it is useful to search terms in the title of the international environmental agreement of focus or also search sub-topics of international environmental law. To begin, a researcher could use terms from any of the sub-topics listed above in Section III.A: "Hazardous Waste," "Nuclear Waste," "Ocean and Marine Sources," "Ozone and Protection of the Atmosphere," "Pollution," "Protection of Species and Wildlife," "Sustainable Development," and "Trade and the Environment." It would be essential, though, to brainstorm search terms that are relevant for the sub-topic of research and issues involved in the facts of the research problem.

Selective Print Titles for Basic International Environmental Law include:

Bastmeijer, Kees, The Antarctic Environmental Protocol and Its Domestic Legal Implementation (Aspen Pub. 2003)
Bogdanovic, Slavko, International Law of Water Resources: Contribution of the International Law Association (1954-2000) (Kluwer Int'l 2001)
Boyle, A.E. and Birnie, P.W., eds., Basic Documents on International Law and the Environment (Oxford Univ. Press 1995).
Deketelaere, Kurt and Gekiere, Jan, eds., International, EC and US Environmental Law: A Comparative Selection of Basic Documents (Kluwer Int'l 2002)
Guruswamy, Lakshman D., International Environmental Law in a Nutshell (West 2003)
International Environmental Law and Policy Series (Series with multiple authors and sub-topics) (Kluwer Law Int'l)
Kiss, Alexandre and Shelton, Dinah, eds., International Environmental Law (Transnat'l Publ. 2003)
Nanda, Ved P. and Pring, George, International Environmental Law for the 21^st Century (Transnat'l Publ. 2003)
Principles of International Environmental Law (3 vols.) (St. Martin's Press 1995)
Robinson, Nicholas A., Agenda 21 & the UNCED Proceedings (Oceana 1992- )
Rüster, Bernd and Simma, Bruno, eds., International Protection of the Environment: Treaties and Related Documents, Second Series (Oceana 1995)
Sands, Philippe and Galizzi, Paolo, eds., Documents in International Environmental Law (Cambridge 2004)
Weiss, Edith Brown, International Environmental Law & Policy (Aspen 1998)

VI. Lexis and Westlaw

Both Lexis and Westlaw have varying holdings for Foreign and International law, as well as International Agreements and Treaties. In Lexis, the following databases are helpful for research in international environmental law:

Martindale-Hubbell International Law Digest (INTDIG)
International Legal Materials (ILM)
Environmental Law Reporter: Treaties and Statutes (STAT)
Environmental Law Institute: Guidance and Policy Documents (GUIDOC)
Environmental Law Reporter: All (ALLELR)
Environmental Law Reviews (ENVLR)
Environmental Law Newsletters (ENVRN)
U.S. Treaties in Force (USTIF)
U.S. Treaties on LEXIS (USTRTY)
CELEX EU Law Database (ECLAW)

In Westlaw, the following databases are helpful for international environmental legal research:

BNA Environmental News Library (BNA-ENVIRON)
International Environmental, Health, and Safety Regulations (ENFLEX-INT)
International Environmental Law Documents (INTLENVL)
ENFLEX Documents for Foreign Nations (ENFLEX+(country abbreviation))
Environmental Litigation Specialist Multidatabase (ENV-SPECIALIST)
Environmental Law Reviews, Texts, and Bar Journals Combined (ENV-TP)
Environmental Law Reports (Europe-Cases) (ENV-RPTS)
Global Warming Network Online Today (GLWM)
Environmental Topical News (ENVNEWS)
Europe Environment (EUROENV)
Global Environmental Change Report (GLECR)
International News (INTNEWS)
International Legal Materials (ILM)
United Kingdom Current Awareness Planning and Environment (UKCA-PLAN)
U.S. Treaties & Other International Agreements (USTREATIES)
United States Treaties in Force (USTIF)
World Environment Report (WENVRPT)
World Watch (WRWA)

VII. Environmental Periodicals

There are many law journals, both domestic and international, which are devoted exclusively to environmental issues. These titles include the following prominent publications:

Biannual Bulletin of Environmental Law (UNEP) (1994- )

Boston College Environmental Law Review (1971- )

Buffalo Environmental Law Journal (1994-2002)

Colorado Journal of International Environmental Law and Policy (1990- )

Columbia Journal of Environmental Law (1975- )

Duke Environmental Law & Policy Forum (1991- )

Ecology Law Quarterly (Berkeley) (1971- )

Environmental Law (Lewis & Clark) (1969- )

Environmental Law Journal (NYU) (1992- )

Environmental Policy and Law (1975- )

European Environmental Law Review (1992- )

Fordham Environmental Law Review (1989- )