International relations today are dominated by global environmental concerns that underline the important role of international environmental law (IEL). Under the escalating pressure of ecological threats and the multifarious and overlapping activities of states, international organizations, and civil society in response, times have changed.
Faced with globalization, uncertainty and transnationalism, all of which characterize the current legal era, the law and its development grows more difficult to understand exclusively in terms of Western legal traditions. A new legal era is developing in a global, multilevel context that forces diplomats and international lawyers to make an effort at reductio ad unitatem; of coordination among the different norms exerting influence from points within, beyond, above, and below. To do this well, international environmental lawyers and policy makers must understand how law works in a variegated social, cultural, economic, and political milieu. In addition, they must not only understand the problems, but also who the actors are and what roles they play. The proliferating cast of actors in contemporary transnational environmental law contains many who are no longer willing to accept vague promises, but rather aim for effective treaties and soft law with suasion.
It is within such a legal-global-transnational holistic toile de fond that Timo Koivurova’s book emerges as an example of this new law that challenges international practices and classical principles. Koivurova’s acumen guides the reader through the realm of IEL, passing through international organizations and multinationals which are now compatible with and respectful of the development of this new law.
The book covers important IEL issues in seven chapters spanning the last 40 years. Following an introduction which explains the aims and some practicalities (Ch. 1), and a historical account of environmental law (Ch. 2), Koivurova guides the reader through a very broad selection of crucial environmental issues in a transnational context, covering basic aspects such as the enactment and development of international law (Ch. 3), the principles of IEL (Ch. 4), the branches of international law (Ch. 5), legal responsibility for environmental damage (Ch. 6) and, finally, the future of environmental law (Ch. 7).
It is difficult for a new teaching text on IEL to make a significant contribution to push forward the transnational and global scholarly and policy debate. Its intended audience limits the scope to drill down deep into theoretical foundations. Moreover, the market has a number of massive casebooks of ‘over 1000 pages which describe an enormous number of regulations relating to [IEL]’ (p. xix). What renders Koivurova’s work different is that it is not another massive tome. Instead, the aim of this book is to present a sophisticated and accessible introduction to the discipline in a coherent and systematic fashion.
It does more. Koivurova contextualizes the subject in a way that exposes the reader to the normative interconnections and contextual synergies between the crucial environmental issues dealt with individually in the seven chapters. The text provides the essentials of a new understanding of IEL for the beginner. However, it also can be used profitably by those initiated into its practice, precisely because of the new understanding it presents.
Another important feature of the book for the novice reader is found in the author’s use of ‘example boxes’ that facilitate better understanding by illustrating how IEL works in practice, effectively demonstrating the practical problem-solving utility of abstract concepts. Koivurova also shares his practical expertise and experiences in a way that enriches the book. Each chapter ends with questions and research tasks to foster reflection from a number of viewpoints. Students can work with these questions independently or in a working group. In addition, data boxes are provided to clarify essential principles. The book does not contain footnotes, tables or a bibliography – all features that legal scholars are used to. However, for contemporary generations of students, the book includes links to many important and useful websites, the exploration of which serves as a valuable basis either for further research or just to keep up with the rapid development of IEL.
Koivurova provokes a number of jurisprudential and philosophical questions about law and justice. The reader is encouraged to reflect on essential questions, such as the nature of the relationship between IEL and science (Ch. 3), development law (Chs 4, 5 and 7), the law of peace (Chs 2 and 3) and the law of future generations (Chs 4 and 7).
For instance, Chapter 3 touches upon the crucial aspects of the linkages between science and environmental law. Even though science plays a crucial role in defining environmental problems and in explaining how these problems originate, it is acknowledged that science alone cannot provide decision makers with complete and comprehensive information needed for fully informed decisions. Hence, contemporary IEL is attuned to the need to make regular reference to new and developing scientific evidence and to assess risks on a continuing basis. Chapters 4 and 7 reinforce this aspect of the law by exploring inter-generational needs and the rights of indigenous peoples with regard to long-term issues, including global warming, the destruction of biological diversity, transboundary pollution, and ozone depletion.
Chapters 4, 5 and 7, each in their own way, are dedicated to examining the development of IEL. The prominence of environmental realities in the development of certain principles and customary rules is often traced to their normative, moral, political and social context. For instance, Koivurova operationalizes the concept of sustainable development, the polestar of so much of IEL and policy, in a way that makes the applicability of its three pillars to a range of topics across the book readily apparent. Chapters 2 and 3 touch on the environmental aspects of the law that prohibit (the threat of) the use of force in international relations and the regulation of warfare. The added value of the chapters on the law of peace is to link peace and the environment directly. Koivurova arguably conceptualizes this linkage in the same way as Principle 25 of the 1992 Rio Declaration, which states ‘[p]eace, development and environmental protection are interdependent and indivisible’.Footnote 1
The book systematically employs three types of analysis to aid understanding: a global analysis, a critical analysis, and a creative analysis. The global analysis introduces interdisciplinary elements that elevate the ‘public’ character of IEL and enrich it with ecological data, economics, sociology and ethics, with the purpose of better understanding the current law. The discussion concentrates on the legitimacy, effectiveness, and social dimensions of transnational environmental law which includes a dialogue with uncertainty and complexity.
The critical analysis contributes to the development of the reader’s understanding of the need to question important global environmental threats and challenges without being scared of the diversity of opinions, and shows that there is no single, absolute ‘environmental truth’. The critical analysis permeates the entire book, as the author’s approach is to challenge received wisdom and to disagree when warranted by posing important key questions, such as ‘can we ensure states comply with international rules?’ (p. 19); or ‘can international law really resolve environmental problems?’ (p. 21); or to question the maturity of environmental law (p. 40) and the validity of soft law as an instrument of development of the law (p. 59) – all without missing the crucial question of ‘how can we solve the world’s most urgent environmental problems, especially climate change?’ (p. 200).
The book’s creative analysis opens the path to new possibilities for progressive and proactive IEL. It inspires the reader to approach and ponder solutions to the most urgent environmental problems with non-orthodox legal thinking. Starting with a refusal to accept the conventional way in which environmental problems appear or seem to appear, Koivurova challenges common perceptions by introducing doubts. These doubts are platforms for new creative thinking. For instance, the book strives to develop a reader’s capacity to analyze the complexities of law and policy in a deeply contextual way, not isolated from science, economics, politics, different multi-regulatory levels, and so on. The reader is also exposed to new ways in which to see and think about synergies between various international regimes.
I do have one minor gripe with the text. It fails to address climate change and forced environmental migration. This is a missed opportunity to provide interdisciplinary guidance on how best to approach a confluence of some of the most challenging problems and to develop future directions on future challenges in both research and policy environmental implementation.
To conclude, this is an excellent book for novices and devotees. It helps us to understand the nature of IEL. Just as importantly, it aids in measuring the effectiveness of IEL in a systematic and holistic fashion, involving different actors in the logic of multilevel governance. By analyzing the law ‘in context’ and linking the past and current problems of IEL, this book melds a global, critical, and creative analysis. It provides helpful guidance for considering the future of the field.
