International Environmental Law [SS 2025]

International Environmental Law is a branch of public international law that focuses on addressing global environmental issues by regulating the behaviour of states, international organizations, and other actors such as transnational corporations. It is based on a broad set of policies (concepts and principles) which have been developed and used since the late 1960s. These include the non-harm principle, the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, the polluter-pays principle, or the principle of sustainable development, to name but a few. Based on these foundational policies, more specific legal regimes have been adopted which tackle particular problems, such as marine pollution, ozone depletion, climate change, loss of biodiversity or chemical and hazardous waste.

This graduate-level course introduces you to both the foundations of international environmental law (which in addition to the mentioned policies covers the history of this branch of public international law, its sources and main actors) and provides you with an overview of a selected number of specific legal regimes (including, for instance, the UN climate regime, the regime protecting biodiversity, or the regimes addressing marine pollution). It also addresses cross-cutting issues such as the effective implementation and enforcement of international environmental law, the adoption of international environmental law as a perspective on other branches of public international law (such as, human rights, humanitarian law, or investment arbitration), or the role of science in international environmental law.