China is appraised to have the world's largest exploitable reserves of shale gas, although several legal, regulatory, environmental and investment-related issues will likely restrain its scope. China's capacity to successfully face these hurdles and produce commercial shale gas will have a...

The Kyoto Protocol sets legally binding emission targets for industrialised countries without accounting for reductions carried out prior to 2008, the beginning of the first commitment period. There exists only one exception, the project-based Clean Development Mechanism where credits accrue...

China is appraised to have the world's largest exploitable reserves of shale gas, although several legal, regulatory, environmental and investment-related issues will likely restrain its scope. China's capacity to successfully face these hurdles and produce commercial shale gas will have a...

Although climate change is expected to have major consequences that affect the global environment in its broadest sense, one of the earliest and most direct impacts will be on Earth's fresh water systems. While some regions will experience increased precipitation, others will suffer serious...

Water is an exhaustible natural resource. Access to clean, safe and affordable water must be managed nowadays not only to avoid any unnecessary use of water, but also allow for continuous supply of such an important factor of public well-being. In recent years, water-related activities acquired...

If we imagine the proverb “if the mountain won't come to Muhammad, then Muhammad must go to the mountain” as an equation with two variables, information and communication technologies (“ICT”) and public administration, it will not matter which place each one of them will take in the...

This book, through various differently oriented chapters, tries to give an insight on how the European Union and its multilevel model of governance must try to strike a balance between diverging interests and priorities. In particular, the EU and the European states (including the CoE's Members)...

The Pennsylvania Constitution contains a unique Environmental Rights Amendment (“ERA”) creating an individual right to “clean air, pure water, and to the preservation of the natural, scenic, historic and esthetic values of the environment.” The ERA also includes a public trust element...

This paper presents the unique experience of participation of Latin American stakeholders in the definition of European environmental standards, in the context of the EU Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) Program for coffee. The PEF Program is an ongoing process and the results will not be...

This article introduces and overviews U.S. renewable energy policy. It describes the shape, content, and contours of that policy, including its emphases and functions in both the electricity and transportation sectors of the U.S. economy. To do so, the article builds a conceptual model that can...