Non-compliance procedures and mechanisms and the effectiveness of international environmental agreements

Traditional means of international dispute settlement have proved to be largely ineffective in ensuring the effectiveness of international environmental law. Thus, states are increasingly creating regime-specific systems to control, facilitate and assist the implementation of and compliance with each multilateral environmental agreement. By bringing together the perspectives of scholars, negotiators and practitioners, this book provides a comprehensive and in-depth analysis of the most advanced of these systems, the so-called “non-compliance mechanisms”, in which a specialized treaty body is entrusted with the task of examining cases of non-compliance by State parties. It includes a description of each mechanism and an analysis of cross-cutting issues. It also explains how these systems relate to relevant concepts and mechanisms of general international law and, for the first time, of European Union law. The book is a valuable source of information and a recommended reading for academics, practitioners, civil servants, NGOs and all those interested in public international law, EC law and environmental law.