part, PART I Challenges of enforcing International Environmental Law -- chapter 1 Introduction -- chapter 2 Implementation shortcomings and international reaction -- chapter 3 Reflections on terminology and theoretical perspectives concerning enforcement of International Environmental / Law -- part, PART II The international legal framework relating to the enforcement of International Environmental Law -- chapter 4 Traditional bilateral dispute resolution principles and mechanisms -- chapter 5 The role of collective compliance mechanisms in International Environmental Law -- chapter 6 The European Union’s special enforcement mechanisms -- part, PART III: Sanctions -- chapter 7 Sanctions for non-compliance in International Environmental Law -- part, PART IV Reflections on international enforcement of International Environmental Law -- chapter 8 Concluding remarks.

The international community has generated several hundred multilateral environmental agreements, yet it has been far less successful in developing means to ensure that contracting parties honour them in practice. The subject of law enforcement has traditionally attracted relatively little attention amongst international policy-makers at the formation stage of a multilateral environmental accord. Commonly, the question of how to secure collective adherence to environmental treaty regimes might well only be considered in depth at a much later stage of an environmental agreement’s evolution, if at all. At the same time, the significance of the issue of enforcement has gradually received more considered attention by states and international institutions. Providing an analysis of the nature, extent and current state of the international legal framework concerned with enhancing effective implementation of international environmental law, this book considers the scope and impact of international rules of law whose remit is to require or promote compliance by states with their international environmental legal obligations.