AND POLICY ACROSS BORDERS

An appreciation by Phillip Taylor MBE and Elizabeth Taylor of Richmond Green Chambers

It does seem obvious that the environment – and ecological concerns – do not stop at international boundaries. Equally, it seems surprising that environmental governance across boundaries – i.e. Transboundary environmental regulation – (especially in costal and marine environments) is still considered to be more or less a growth area in the development of environmental regulation internationally. 'A developing regime – a work in progress’ David Freestone calls it, writing in the foreword to this thought provoking book recently published by Ashgate.

Putting the important research contained in this volume in perspective, David Freestone cites the Rio Declaration of 1992 and before that, the Stockholm Declaration of 1972, the latter of which laid out the first principles of what would come to be known as sustainable development. Pointing out that before Stockholm there really was no discipline that could usefully be described as environmental law, he notes that many of the themes and aspirations of both Stockholm and Rio are captured in this volume.

Focusing its attention on environmental initiatives in Asia, Australasia and international areas, mainly Antarctica, this book will no doubt come to be regarded as a seminal work on environmental law and policy. The editors – both from top Australian universities – have brought together a wide ranging body of research from ten additional expert contributors on, respectively, inland and coastal perspectives and marine perspectives, as the sub-title indicates.

Particularly interesting to environmental lawyers are the discussions on – and references to – the Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in a Transboundary Context negotiated under United Nations auspices – known as the Espoo Convention – named after Espoo in Finland where it was signed in 1991. 'Could the Espoo Convention Become a Global Regime for Environmental Impact Assessment and Strategic Environmental Assessment-’ asks the environmentalist Timo Koivurova, one of the contributors to this volume. Anyone concerned about the environment globally would have to say 'yes, let’s hope so!’

Here then, is a thought provoking compendium of environmental research which really should be added to the library of any environmental lawyer. What is particularly useful for further enquiry is the extensive footnoting throughout and mind-blowingly massive bibliography of almost thirty pages. There are also detailed lists of figures and tables and a detailed index at the back.

If you are in any way concerned about environmental issues, you should acquire this scholarly and informative book. The publication date is cited as at 2012.