Skip Navigation


Journal of Environmental Law Advance Access originally published online on April 29, 2009
Journal of Environmental Law 2009 21(2):255-289; doi:10.1093/jel/eqp010
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
21/2/255    most recent
eqp010v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by French, D.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author [2009]. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Finding Autonomy in International Environmental Law and Governance

Duncan French*

*Reader in International Law, University of Sheffield (d.french{at}sheffield.ac.uk).


  Abstract

This article will consider the relevance of the notion of autonomy within a particular body of international law, namely international environmental law. Without the existence of an over-arching institutional framework on which the autonomy of the discipline might be otherwise premised, the article considers the complexity of understanding and applying autonomy within a diverse field of legal rules and institutional settings. The article will suggest, at least in international environmental law, that the notion of autonomy encompasses a wide range of meanings, ranging from the perceived-utopian (the ‘fable’) right through to the perceived-dystopian (the ‘threat’). In fact, the reality of autonomy in international environmental law is perhaps more nuanced and incremental—though not necessarily any the less significant for all that.

Key Words: autonomy • international environmental law • global environmental governance • Conferences of the Parties • intra-treaty innovations • institutional and non-institutional autonomy

Many thanks to Richard Collins, who first prompted my interest in this topic, and the JEL editor and anonymous referees for further insightful comments.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.