In the Tragedy of the Commons Hardin suggested that with respect to global commons we are trapped in a vicious circle where calculations of utility pushes us to keep polluting our own nest. This taken on a global scale has led to concerns about climate change and a realization that measures need...

Only 21 years ago, in 1992, the first ever convention on climate change, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was signed. The science behind studying climate change and its effects on the environment is not only mind-boggling but still in its infancy. It should come...

This chapter will provide an introduction to the notions of Sustainable Development and ‘best available techniques’ (BATs), which appear ever so often in treaties and other international legal documents. The aim is to demonstrate the rising importance and usefulness of such notions,...