a) Description
This module offers a introduction to the legal, policy and institutional aspects of the protection of the environment at the international level. In a context where international environmental law and policy has been framed around a global North-South axis, this course focuses more specifically on the place and contribution of South Asia in these broader discourses. The course explores the range of laws and norms that impact on global environmental problems, focusing more particularly on those that are of particular relevance to South Asia.
The course provides an introduction to the principles of international environmental law (such as the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and the precautionary principle), human rights and participatory rights, examines questions related to compliance, effectiveness and enforcement of international environmental law; the governance and institutional framework governing the environment at the international level and links with other branches of international law, such as human rights.
Some of the topics covered in the course include:
· South Asia and international environmental law, policy and institutions.
· Principles of international environmental law (such as the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and the precautionary principle).
· Human rights, participatory rights questions related to compliance, effectiveness and the enforcement of international environmental law, including non-compliance mechanisms.
Learning outcomes
- Demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the international laws and policies related to the environment, placing particular emphasis on the context of South Asia.
- Evaluate the foundational concepts and principles governing the conservation and utilisation of the environment at the international level, with a specific focus on South Asia.
- Apply advanced analytical tools to critically assess international environmental policies, considering their broader political, economic, social, and ecological dimensions, particularly in the South Asian context.
- Engage critically with contemporary debates and challenges prevalent in the field of international environmental policy.
b) Indicative syllabus (subject to change)
1. International Environmental Law and South Asia
Evolution, Principles and Techniques
2. South Asian perspectives on the Development of International Environmental Law and Environmental Governance
3. Principles: Governance Sustainable Development & Sovereignty
4. Principles 2: Equity and Precautionary Principle – Environmental Aid
5. Transparency, Compliance & Dispute Settlement
Environmental rights
6. Procedural Environmental Rights
7. Human Right to (a clean) Environment
Selected regimes and issues
8. Trade and environment
9. Transboundary water conflict prevention and resolution
10. Plastics: Towards a global protection regime
c) Assessment (subject to change)
Assessment comprises two different elements:
A 1,000-word Policy brief/Book review, worth 30 % of the mark.
A 2,500-word essay worth 70% of the mark.
d) General Reference Books Related to the Course
Shawkat Alam et al eds, International Environmental Law and the Global South (Cambridge University Press, 2015).
Sumudu Atapattu, ‘Global South Approaches’, in Lavanya Rajamani & Jacqueline Peel eds, Oxford Handbook of International Environmental Law 183-99 (Oxford University Press, 2021).
Bharat H Desai (ed), Envisioning Our Environmental Future: Stockholm+50 and Beyond (IOS Press 2022).
Usha Natarajan & Kishan Khoday, ‘Locating Nature: Making and Unmaking International Law’, 27 Leiden Journal of International Law 573-93 (2014).
Lavanya Rajamani, Differential Treatment in International Environmental Law (Oxford University Press, 2006).