Handbook of European Environmental and Climate Law

This Handbook of European Environment and Climate Law is the 2nd edition of
the work previously titled Handbook of European Environment Law.

It is associated with the Traité de droit européen de l’environnement et du
climat and the Manuel de droit européen de l’environnement et du climat, both
in the French language and published in the same collection, and with which it
shares a same structure. The Traité provides a more in-depth approach, with
further historic, policy and caselaw considerations, and more complete
references.

The introduction in the book’s title of the climate dimension, while it was
already quite present in the previous edition, is testimony to its growing
importance absent a dedicated EU policy and corresponding legislative basis.

Climate law is covered in its many occurrences along the work, its
specificities noted, and their consequences recognized, especially with
respect to the international background which brings about novel legal
interventions, an upheaval of classical approaches, through the creation of a
new governance for the implementation of the Paris Agreement and of the
resulting EU legislation.

The recurring changes in the many and diverse environmental legislations are
also of course presented in context, including in light of the growing
importance of circular economy and the proposal of a European Green Deal.

The growing interference of fundamental rights is henceforth considered:
Charter of Fundamental Rights of the Union, Convention for the Protection of
Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, etc. More broadly, the development of
environmental and climate disputes settlement is accounted for beyond the
traditional recourse to the EU judges, in the national courts including
through transnational private litigation, and in international arbitration.