Extract

The book in your hands has the character of a long essay that attempts to illustrate and assess where international environmental law stands at the beginning of the twenty-first century. It focuses on themes that play a role in international environmental law discourse, instead of providing a systematic overview of international environmental regimes.

The text is indebted to the work of many of my colleagues who research and write in the area of international environmental law, even if this is not reflected in the text because it lacks references to their work. I thank my colleagues who work in the area of international environmental law for their many valuable publications and much cherished opportunities for discussion. I am particularly indebted to Jutta Brunnée, Jonas Ebbesson and Louis Kotzé who generously gave me their time by reading through the whole draft manuscript and offering their thoughts on how it could be improved. Alessandra Arcuri equally generously gave me her time and thoughts with regard to the parts of the text related to the relationship between international environmental law and international trade and investment law. Thanks a million Jutta, Jonas, Louis and Alessandra. Needless to say the usual disclaimer applies.

The exclusion of references from the text is related to the publisher’s request to limit them. I have perhaps taken this request to the extreme by including references only to what I consider to be important texts, by non-lawyers or bodies, that have influenced how we think...