The global economic recession from which we are just emerging, much as previous recessions, has highlighted failures in governance and failures in regulation. Indeed some have argued that the regulators are more guilty even than the perpetrators and should be sanctioned accordingly. There is of...

This Article explains how and why sustainable development emerged as a conceptual framework, the basic concepts or principles on which this framework is based, why sustainability is primarily a matter for domestic national governance, and why the United States needs to play a leading role in...

Despite the fact that “heavy skies” (gravioris caeli) have been identified and legally classified as a serious concern since ancient times, air pollution still leads to millions of avoidable deaths and significantly impacts the climate. Today more than ever, the protection of people and a...

The paper presents and analyses the structure and consequences of limits to growth for the global economy. Apart from the famous report for the Club of Rome, a wide range of related literature, which all caution against the idea of unrestricted growth, is also covered. In presenting side tracks...

This article will analyse two key challenges of today: 1) energy security and decarbonization in the context of the United Nations sustainable development goals, and 2) decarbonization and energy security from the perspective of environmental justice. Energy security and decarbonization are...

Domestic laws are the ideal legal instrument to regulate the mining sector’s contribution to climate change mitigation and adaptation. Even so, as a stop-gap-measure, governments may consider updating model mining development agreements (MMDAs) or negotiating climate­-related contractual...

WP 201 takes a historical perspective in analysing past systemic social-ecological transition processes. The research paper (MS 27) emerging from task 201.2 explores two major energy transitions of the past: the transition to the use of fossil fuels (e.g. starting with coal in the UK in the 17th...

We present a model of natural resources and growth that stresses the influence of an incomplete circularity of exhaustible natural resources. In particular, we analyze the recycling process and the material balance principle, two fundamental aspects of a circular economy. When market failures...