Transnational Environmental Law in the Anthropocene: Reflections on the Role of Law in Times of Planetary Change

Anthropocene is the proposed name for the new geological epoch in which humans have overwhelming impact on planetary processes. This edited volume invites reflection on the meaning and role of law in light of changing planetary realties. Taking the concept of the Anthropocene as a starting point, the contributions to this book address emerging legal issues from a transnational environmental law perspective. How law interacts with, and how law governs, global environmental problems is a challenge that legal scholars have approached with vigour over the last decade.

More recently, the concept of the Anthropocene has become a topic that researchers have also begun to grapple with by engaging with disciplines beyond legal scholarship. One avenue of research that has emerged to address global environmental problems is transnational environmental law. Adopting ’transnational law’ as a lens or framework through which to analyse environmental law takes a broader approach to the ways in which law may be assessed and deployed to meet planetary challenges. The chapters within this book provide a timely intervention into the theoretical and practical approaches of transnational environmental law in a time of significant uncertainty and environmental and human crises.

The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of Transnational Legal Theory.

Emily Webster is Senior Research Fellow at the Transnational Law Institute and member of the Climate Law & Governance Centre at King’s College London. Her doctoral research is concerned with the role and influence of transnational climate change law and governance upon the state in facilitating the energy transition.

Laura Mai is Senior Research Fellow at the Transnational Law Institute and member of the Climate Law & Governance Centre at King’s College London. Laura’s doctoral research explores the role of local governments and financial institutions in implementing the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change.