Environmental Principles and the Evolution of Environmental Law

Environmental principles – from the polluter pays and precautionary principles to the principles of integration and sustainability – proliferate in domestic international legal and policy discourse, reflecting key goals of environmental protection and sustainable development on which there is apparent political consensus. Environmental principles also have a high profile in environmental law, beyond their popularity as policy and political concepts, as ideas that might unify the subject and provide it with conceptual foundations or boost its delivery of environmental outcomes. However, environmental principles are elusive legal concepts.

This book deepens the legal understanding of environmental principles in light of recent legal developments. It analyses the increasing legal effects of environmental principles in different jurisdictions and demonstrates how they are shaping and revealing innovative and evolving bodies of environmental law. This analysis is a step forward in understanding a key feature of modern environmental law and presents a robust methodology for dealing with novel legal concepts in the subject. It also makes a contribution to environmental policy debates and discussions internationally that rely heavily on environmental principles, including their supposed legal effects.

Dr Eloise Scotford is Senior Lecturer in Law at The Dickson Poon School of Law, King's College London. Dr Scotford actively researches in the areas of comparative environmental law, climate change law and governance, waste regulation, air quality control, and the intersection between environmental problems and broader legal frameworks. Dr Scotford is an Associate Member of Landmark Chambers, a visiting lecturer in environmental law at Bocconi University in Milan, a member of the Avosetta Group of EU environmental law experts, and Analysis Editor of the Journal of Environmental Law.