Environment Law - Environmental and Natural Resources Law

Articles written by attorneys and experts worldwide discussing legal aspects related to Environmental and Natural Resources including: agricultural law, animal law, energy, environmental law, equine law, forestry and fisheries, natural resources, oil and gas.

The Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources is the premier forum for lawyers working in areas related to environmental law, natural resources law, and energy law. The Section is committed to providing members with opportunities to enhance professional skills, stay on top of current developments, and dialogue in these substantive areas. Section membership will add to your professional skill set and broaden your knowledge.

The Clean Air Act (CAA) is the comprehensive federal law that regulates air emissions from stationary and mobile sources. Among other things, this law authorizes EPA to establish National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) to protect public health and public welfare and to regulate emissions of hazardous air pollutants.

The Clean Water Act (CWA) establishes the basic structure for regulating discharges of pollutants into the waters of the United States and regulating quality standards for surface waters. The basis of the CWA was enacted in 1948 and was called the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, but the Act was significantly reorganized and expanded in 1972. "Clean Water Act" became the Act's common name with amendments in 1977.

The Energy Policy Act (EPA) addresses energy production in the United States, including: (1) energy efficiency; (2) renewable energy; (3) oil and gas; (4) coal; (5) Tribal energy; (6) nuclear matters and security; (7) vehicles and motor fuels, including ethanol; (8) hydrogen; (9) electricity; (10) energy tax incentives; (11) hydropower and geothermal energy; and (12) climate change technology. For example, the Act provides loan guarantees for entities that develop or use innovative technologies that avoid the by-production of greenhouse gases. Another provision of the Act increases the amount of biofuel that must be mixed with gasoline sold in the United States.

The Environmental Law Institute provides information services, advice, publications, training courses, seminars, research programs and policy recommendations to engage and empower environmental leaders the world over. ELI’s audience is leading environmental professionals in government, industry, public interest groups and academia

NRDC is the nation's most effective environmental action organization. We use law, science and the support of 1.3 million members and online activists to protect the planet's wildlife and wild places and to ensure a safe and healthy environment for all living things.

The environmental policy of the United States is federal governmental action to regulate activities that have an environmental impact in the United States. The goal of environmental policy is to protect the environment for future generations while interfering as little as possible with the efficiency of commerce or the liberty of the people and to limit inequity in who is burdened with environmental costs. This policy grew mainly out of the environmental movement in the United States in the 1960s and '70's during which several environmental laws were passed, regulating air and water pollution and forming the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The mission of EPA is to protect human health and to safeguard the natural environment -- air, water and land -- upon which life depends. A number of laws serve as EPA's foundation for protecting the environment and public health. However, most laws do not have enough detail to be put into practice right away. EPA is called a regulatory agency because Congress authorizes us to write regulations that explain the critical details necessary to implement environmental laws. In addition, a number of Presidential Executive Orders (EOs) play a central role in our activities.

The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal is the most comprehensive global environmental agreement on hazardous and other wastes.

The Canadian Environmental Law Association (CELA) is a non-profit, public interest organization established in 1970 to use existing laws to protect the environment and to advocate environmental law reforms.

The Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) is a nonprofit organization working to use international law and institutions to protect the environment, promote human health, and ensure a just and sustainable society.

The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) entered into force on 29 December 1993. It has 3 main objectives: 1. The conservation of biological diversity 2. The sustainable use of the components of biological diversity 3. The fair and e.quitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources

Peacefully resolving the overriding political, economic and social concerns of our time requires a multifaceted approach, including mechanisms to address the links between the natural environment and human security. UNDP, UNEP, OSCE, NATO, UNECE and REC have joined forces in the Environment and Security (ENVSEC) Initiative to offer countries their combined pool of expertise and resources towards that aim.

The Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide (ELAW) gives public interest lawyers and scientists the training and resources they need to help communities protect the environment through law.

The Environmental Law Foundation (ELF) is the national UK charity founded in 1992 that helps people use the law to protect and improve their local environment and quality of life. Through our network of specialist lawyers and consultants across the UK, we provide free guidance and continuing support to those in need of assistance.

The main role of the European Commission's Environment Directorate-General (DG) is to initiate and define new environmental legislation and to ensure that agreed measures are put into practice in the EU Member States.

The EU's environmental laws help protect against water, air and noise pollution and control risks related to chemicals, biotechnology and nuclear energy within the Union.

The IPCC was established to provide the decision-makers and others interested in climate change with an objective source of information about climate change.

The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement linked to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The major feature of the Kyoto Protocol is that it sets binding targets for 37 industrialized countries and the European community for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions .These amount to an average of five per cent against 1990 levels over the five-year period 2008-2012.

Since 1994, Canada, Mexico and the United States have collaborated in protecting North America's environment through the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC). The NAAEC came into force at the same time as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and marks a commitment that liberalization of trade and economic growth in North America would be accompanied by effective cooperation and continuous improvement in the environmental protection provided by each country.

The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, called the Ramsar Convention, is an intergovernmental treaty that provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources.

The mission of the UN'S Environment Programme is: To provide leadership and encourage partnership in caring for the environment by inspiring, informing, and enabling nations and peoples to improve their quality of life without compromising that of future generations.

Over a decade ago, most countries joined an international treaty -- the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) -- to begin to consider what can be done to reduce global warming and to cope with whatever temperature increases are inevitable. More recently, a number of nations approved an addition to the treaty: the Kyoto Protocol, which has more powerful (and legally binding) measures. The UNFCCC secretariat supports all institutions involved in the climate change process, particularly the COP, the subsidiary bodies and their Bureau.

"The Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer" is a treaty on the framework for international cooperation concerning the protection of the ozone layer, which was adopted in 1985 and entered into force in 1988. It provides observations, research and information exchange on the ozone layer.

Founded in 1998, AIDA is a nonprofit environmental law organization that works across international borders to defend threatened ecosystems and the human communities that depend on them. Environmental health and human rights can no longer be protected by working within the political boundaries of individual nations – the 35 countries of our hemisphere are united under a common environmental flag. International problems call for international responses, and AIDA develops transnational strategies to address the environmental and human rights challenges of the 21st century.

The Bellona Foundation is an international environmental NGO based in Norway. Founded in 1986 as a direct action protest group, Bellona has become a recognised technology and solution-oriented organization with offices in Oslo, Brussels, Washington D.C., St. Petersburg and Murmansk. Altogether, some 75 engineers, ecologists, nuclear physicists, economists, lawyers, political scientists and journalists work at Bellona.

Biofuelwatch actively supports the campaign for an EU moratorium on agrofuels from large-scale monocultures. Agroenergy monocultures are linked to accelerated climate change, deforestation, the impoverishment and dispossession of local communities, bio-diversity losses, human rights abuses, water and soil degradation, loss of food sovereignty and food security.

We imagine a healthy prosperous world in which societies are forever committed to caring for and valuing nature for the long-term benefit of people and all life on Earth. Conservation International is committed to helping societies adopt a more sustainable approach to development – one that considers and values nature at every turn.

The Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) works to solve the most significant environmental challenges facing New England. Since 1966, CLF's advocates have used law, economics and science to create innovative strategies that conserve natural resources, protect public health and promote vital communities in our region.

“The Earth Charter Initiative” is an extraordinarily diverse, global network of people, organizations, and institutions that participate in promoting and implementing the values and principles of the Earth Charter.

Earth Island Institute is a non-profit, public interest, membership organization that supports people who are creating solutions to protect our shared planet.

The Earth Policy Institute (EPI) was founded in 2001 by Lester Brown, the founder and former president of the Worldwatch Institute, to provide a plan of a sustainable future along with a roadmap of how to get from here to there. EPI works at the global level simply because no country can fully implement a Plan B economy in isolation. EPI’s goals are (1) to provide a global plan (Plan B) for moving the world onto an environmentally and economically sustainable path, (2) to provide examples demonstrating how the plan would work, and (3) to keep the media, policymakers, academics, environmentalists, and other decision-makers focused on the process of building a Plan B economy.

The Environmental Foundation for Africa (EFA) aims to protect and restore the environment in West Africa. For over 15 years, EFA has led: * environmental education (EE) and awareness raising campaigns; * restored degraded lands and conserved pristine forests; * minimized the impacts of civil war on the environment and its inhabitants and; * equipped thousands of people with sustainable livelihood skills such as agroforestry.

The non-profit Environmental Investigation Agency is an international campaigning organization with offices in Washington, DC, and London, UK. Since 1984, EIA has used pioneering investigative techniques to expose environmental crimes and campaign against illegal wildlife trade and threats to our global environment.

FERN is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) created in 1995 to keep track of the European Union’s involvement in forests and coordinate NGO activities at the European level. Our work centres on forests and forest peoples’ rights and the issues that affect them such as trade and investment and climate change. All of our work is done in close collaboration with social and environmental organisations and movements across the world. The name FERN was chosen because ferns are one of the few species that grow in all forests.

With over 500,000 members in 50 member and partner organisations, the Friends-of-Nature movement, founded in 1895, is one of the largest non-governmental organisations (NGOs) worldwide. Our work is focused on shaping the sustainable development of our societies.

We are the world's largest grassroots environmental network and we campaign on today's most urgent environmental and social issues. We challenge the current model of economic and corporate globalization, and promote solutions that will help to create environmentally sustainable and socially just societies.

Greenpeace exists because this fragile earth deserves a voice. It needs solutions. It needs change. It needs action. Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning organisation that acts to change attitudes and behaviour, to protect and conserve the environment and to promote peace.

The International Environment House (IEH) gathers under a common roof a range of United Nations and non-governmental organizations active in the field of environment and sustainable development.

The institute champions global sustainable development through innovation, research and relationships that span the entire world. It is devoted to the ongoing communication of its findings as it engages decision-makers in business, government, non-government organizations and other sectors.

IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, helps the world find pragmatic solutions to our most pressing environment and development challenges. It supports scientific research, manages field projects all over the world and brings governments, non-government organizations, United Nations agencies, companies and local communities together to develop and implement policy, laws and best practice.

Welcome to The Nature Conservancy — the leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people.

NatureServe is a non-profit conservation organization whose mission is to provide the scientific basis for effective conservation action. NatureServe and its network of natural heritage programs are the leading source for information about rare and endangered species and threatened ecosystems.

The Nicodemus Wilderness Project was founded because of the need for environmental restoration, stewardship, and protection of neglected public lands. Our organization coordinates volunteer events worldwide that utilize the resources of the community to provide long-term environmental benefits for natural areas

SEI is an independent international research institute. We have been engaged in environment and development issues at local, national, regional and global policy levels for more than 20 years. The Institute was formally established in 1989 by the Swedish Government and celebrated its 20th anniversary in October 2009. SEI has established a reputation for rigorous and objective scientific analysis in the field of environment and development. Our goal is to bring about change for sustainable development by bridging science and policy. We do this by providing integrated analysis that supports decision makers.

Our mission is to provide business leadership as a catalyst for change toward sustainable development, and to support the business license to operate, innovate and grow in a world increasingly shaped by sustainable development issues.

WRI works with business partners, governments and civil society to confront today’s most urgent environmental challenges. We have over 50 active projects working on aspects of global climate change, sustainable markets, ecosystem protection, and environmentally responsible governance.

Worldwatch Institute delivers the insights and ideas that empower decision makers to create an environmentally sustainable society that meets human needs. Worldwatch focuses on the 21st-century challenges of climate change, resource degradation, population growth, and poverty by developing and disseminating solid data and innovative strategies for achieving a sustainable society.

When ENN was started over sixteen years ago, it was our intention that our service would bring attention to the present and future environmental issues facing the health of our planet and the people it supports. Now, in a world where these issues have migrated to the mainstream, we are looking forward and asking: what more can we do to help? ENN has a serious editorial mission. Our mission is to inform, educate, enable and create a platform for global environmental action.

The Journal of Environmental Law has become an authoritative source of informed analysis for all those who have any dealings in this vital field of legal study. The Journal exists primarily for academics and legal practitioners, but should also prove accessible for all other groups concerned with the environment, from scientists to planners.