The Relationship between Domestic and International Environmental Law

Abstract

The connections between domestic and international law have proliferated in the last few decades as a directed result of the explosive growth of environmental treaties and other developments. Yet, most U.S. environmental lawyers remain relatively unaware even though these connections are increasingly affecting the practice of environmental law itself. Other parts of the book provide background on the specific substantive content of global environmental laws, both international as well as the environmental law systems of other countries. This chapter will address the relationship between the international and the domestic system, primarily the US. It will address three related question: 1) What is international environmental law?, 2) what is its relationship to U.S. domestic law?, and 3) how is international environmental law implemented and applied in the U.S.?

Keywords: International environmental law, environmental treaty implementation, global environmental law, environmental governance

JEL Classification: K32, K33