In the book, I criticize the current corpus of International Environmental Law (IEL)
as inadequate to effectively and in a timely manner protect our global environment. I
explore this inadequacy by tracking two factors: first, under the current global
governance system, IEL is influenced primarily by political and financial factors,
rather than scientific inputs; second, the lawmaking processes that prevail in IEL
follow an old-fashioned paradigm, where political entities hold the legislative power,
and experts, including natural and social scientists, retain only consultative or review
powers, without any decision-making competence. Since the traditional lawmaking
models consistently fail to protect the natural environment, I argue that experts,
legitimized by their knowledge of issues related to the protection of our global
environment, and consequently public health should have a stronger say in the
lawmaking process at the international level. The present book explores the ways
by which such delegation of lawmaking powers can occur based on the redesign of
the international lawmaking models, while respecting the necessary requirements of
democracy and accountability.