Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
The question of appropriate use of natural resources inevitably raises competing interests between the resource rich and resource hungry nations. Such conflict of interests is not new; this is evidenced in the way BRIC countries' investment in the natural resource sector in Africa has attracted international attention and debate. This investment shows that while export of natural resources can drive economic growth, unsustainable extraction can lead to increased poverty and conflict. The law of natural resources denote these conflicts of interest by gauging careful management of resources to avoid waste, environmental pollution and conflicts. The shift of economic power toward developing countries such as Brazil, India, China, South Africa, along with growing south-south cooperation, has given impetus to reassess the legitimacy and efficacy of the international regulation of natural resources and whether this balance between interests has been sufficiently achieved.
This book provides a background of the law governing natural resources and explores the relationship with key concepts such as sustainable development, sovereign rights, and state responsibility principles within international law. It will examine the existing legal structures for conserving, preserving, using and extracting natural resources at an international level along with an up-to-date overview of the inter-linkage between investment and international natural resources law. Examples from energy, nuclear energy, renewable energy, oil and gas, fisheries, coastal resources, mineral, and wildlife will be assessed. It will also explore the contribution of non-state actors as well as the responsibility of key players including the World Bank and private multinational companies in the utilisation and conservation of natural resources.
Natural Resources Law, Investment and Sustainability will be of great interest to students and scholars of international environmental law, international human rights law, investment law and international economic law. This book may also be of relevance to environmentalists, policy-makers, NGOs, and investors working in the natural resources field.
Synopsis
International Natural Resources Law, Investment and Sustainability provides a clear and concise insight into the relationship between the institutions that govern foreign investment, sustainable development and the rules and regulations that administer natural resources. In this book, several leading experts explore different perspectives in how investment and natural resources come together to achieve sustainable development in developing countries with examples from water, oil and gas, renewable energy, mineral, agriculture, and carbon trading. Despite varying perspectives, it is clear that several themes are central in considering the linkages between natural resources, investment and sustainability. Specifically, transparency, good governance and citizen empowerment are vital conditions which encourage positive social, economic and environmental outcomes for developing countries. In addition, this book provides new insights into key concepts which underpin international law, including sovereign rights and state responsibility principles. It is clear from this book that in the attempt to reconcile these concepts and principles from separate legal regimes, complex policy questions emerge whereby it is difficult to attain mutually beneficial or succinct outcomes. This book explores how countries prioritise their policy objectives to achieve their notion of sustainable natural resource use, which is strongly influenced by power imbalances that inform North-South cooperation, as well as South-South cooperation in the international investment regime.
This book will be of great interest to students, academics and researchers of international environmental law, international human rights law, investment law and international economic law. This book may also be of relevance to environmentalists, policy-makers, NGOs, and investors working in the natural resources field.