LAW - 618 International Environmental Law

(3 hrs.)

A contemporary perspective on international environmental law focusing on specific environmental threats and the most recent manifestations of the law. The course will include case studies of actual investigations such as global warming and sea level rise; export and import of hazardous waste; the problem of “ghost” driftnets abandoned in the global commons of our marine environment; the endangered African elephant; continued whaling by Japan and Iceland; and the protection of the aboriginal Penan Tribe in Malaysia. Recent manifestations of international environmental law include the Declaration of The Hague and the proposal for a new organization to be known as GLOBE. Attention also will be given to the considerable body of environmental law in the European Community, the general foundations of international law, and the relationship to human rights law and international trade law.