Benoit Mayer

Most governments have established procedures to appraise the environmental impacts of proposed activities. The focus of these environmental assessment procedures has long been on local environmental issues, such as air, water, and land pollution, which have a direct and concrete effect on communities. In recent years, however, these procedures have increasingly been used to consider how activities could result in the emission of greenhouse gases and exacerbate climate change. Environmental Assessment as a Tool for Climate Change Mitigation builds on a broad survey of over one hundred national environmental assessment practices - legislation, guiding documents, cases, and administrative practice - to reflect on the main conceptual and practical issues facing climate assessment. By presenting and discussing jurisdictional developments and national debates in a global comparative perspective, this book aims to enrich our collective understanding of the modalities of and, ultimately, the mitigation opportunities arising from, the use of climate assessment in relation to proposed activities. The author concludes this timely and forward-looking volume by identifying good practices that lawmakers, regulators, national agencies, judges, and lawyers should consider when developing and applying the law on climate assessment.

Recent years have witnessed exciting developments in international negotiations, litigation, and scholarship about climate change, but doctrinal research in the field remains in its infancy. In particular, little is known about how fast states are required to limit and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. The first part of the book identifies the relevant obligations through an analysis of treaties, custom, and other sources of international law. Beyond express quantified commitments contained for instance in nationally determined contributions, the book sheds light on the existence of general obligations of due diligence. While these general obligations are difficult to interpret, they are often more demanding. The second part explores how these general obligations can be applied objectively, for instance by a court, in concrete cases. Instead of an improbable judicial assessment of a state's requisite level of mitigation action, the book shows the possibility of assessing a state's conduct based on the measures that general mitigation obligations entail. These measures relate to corollary duties of cooperation, vigilance, and consistency. This book presents a first comprehensive doctrinal study of states' obligations on climate change mitigation. It shows that such obligations arise not only from climate treaties, but also from customary international law, unilateral declarations, and, possibly, human rights treaties. It also explores the interactions between these multiple obligations.

Global climate change is a topic of continuously growing interest. As more international treaties come into force, media coverage has increased and many universities are now starting to conduct courses specifically on climate change laws and policies. This textbook provides a survey of the international law on climate change, explaining how significant international agreements have sought to promote compliance with general norms of international law. Benoit Mayer provides an account of the rules agreed upon through lengthy negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and multiple other forums on mitigation, geoengineering, adaptation, loss and damage, and international support. The International Law on Climate Change is suitable for undergraduate and graduate students studying climate, environmental or international law. It is supported by a suite of online resources, available at www.internationalclimatelaw.com, featuring regularly updated lists of complementary materials, weblinks and regular updates for each chapter.

Global climate change is a topic of continuously growing interest. As more international treaties come into force, media coverage has increased and many universities are now starting to conduct courses specifically on climate change laws and policies. This textbook provides a survey of the international law on climate change, explaining how significant international agreements have sought to promote compliance with general norms of international law. Benoit Mayer provides an account of the rules agreed upon through lengthy negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and multiple other forums on mitigation, geoengineering, adaptation, loss and damage, and international support. The International Law on Climate Change is suitable for undergraduate and graduate students studying climate, environmental or international law. It is supported by a suite of online resources, available at www.internationalclimatelaw.com, featuring regularly updated lists of complementary materials, weblinks and regular updates for each chapter.

'In this important book, Benoît Mayer forces us to confront the implications of labelling in the climate migration context, and skillfully leverages this debate to shine a light on broader questions of the evolving role of global governance. His forthright analysis is both refreshing and appropriately challenging.'- James C. Hathaway, University of Michigan Law School'The discussion on the legal aspects of climate migration is often limited to the issue of the legal status. Yet the debate extends way further, and Mayer offers a much-needed broader look at the different dimensions of this concept, their legal implications and political caveats.'- François Gemenne, University of Liège, Belgium, and Sciences Po, FrancePolitical narratives on climate or environmental migration have been deployed in support of policy arguments relating to humanitarian assistance, migration, and climate change, or to promote national security or economic interests. But while climate change certainly has various impacts on human mobility, it does not appear to create distinct ''climate migrants'' or (in general) unprecedented migration scenarios. In this timely book, Benoit Mayer offers a unique interdisciplinary inquiry into the prospects of different political narratives on climate migration.The Concept of Climate Migration identifies the essential narratives around climate migration - the humanitarian narrative, the migration narrative and the climate change narrative - and assesses their prospects. It argues that although such arguments will influence global governance, they will not necessarily achieve what advocates hope for. Throughout the discussion, it appears that the weaknesses of the concept of "climate migration" are likely to be utilized in favour of repressive policies against migration or for the defence of industrial nations against perceived threats from the Third World.This discerning book explores new paradoxes in political advocacy and relates them to some of the greatest challenges to contemporary global governance. It will be of great interest to researchers and postgraduate students interested in climate migration, climate change and the law, or anyone involved in advocacy around these important issues.