Reimagining Environmental Law for the Anthropocene

Dear Colleagues,

According to leading scholars, “the Anthropocene proposition prompt[s] a reconsideration of the assumptions and practices upon which our scholarship rests” (Biermann and Lövbrand 2019). Environmental law scholarship is no exception. The Anthropocene is not simply pointing to the increasing scale of human impact and the associated need for urgent legal action. However, it demands us to revisit and scrutinize the fundamentals of environmental law such as the regulatory object—that is, the environment—and the purpose—which, broadly, is protection. What exactly do societies need to “protect” and to what end, when all is changing? Some scholars go as far as to argue that it is no longer appropriate to refer to this body of law as “environmental” law, and propose a new legal paradigm cantered around the concept of Earth system law (Kotzé and Kim 2019).

This Special Issue invites submissions that will contribute to the emerging literature on the future of environmental law in and for the Anthropocene. What does the Anthropocene mean for environmental law? What is the role of environmental law in promoting sustainability in the Anthropocene? Should environmental law be reimagined and, if so, how? What are the key future directions for research? This Special Issue will address these important questions and more. It is open to contributions in various forms that employ different methods and approaches, including analytical essays and original empirical research. Studies of environmental law at all levels of governance from local to global are welcome.

References:

Biermann, Frank, and Eva Lövbrand, Eds. (2019) Anthropocene Encounters: New Directions in Green Political Thinking. Cambridge University Press.

Kotzé, Louis J, and Rakhyun E Kim. (2019) Earth System Law: The Juridical Dimensions of Earth System Governance. Earth System Governance 1: 100003.

Dr. Rakhyun E. Kim
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• environmental law
• Earth system governance
• Anthropocene