The Australian community has become increasingly concerned about environmental issues, resulting in the Australian government placing a higher priority on global warming and climate change. This unique compilation, Water, Wind, Art and Debate highlights current research across a variety of Humanities and Science disciplines.

International Natural Resources Law, Investment and Sustainability provides a clear and concise insight into the relationship between the institutions that govern foreign investment, sustainable development and the rules and regulations that administer natural resources. In this book, several leading experts explore different perspectives in how investment and natural resources come together to achieve sustainable development in developing countries with examples from water, oil and gas, renewable energy, mineral, agriculture, and carbon trading. Despite varying perspectives, it is clear that several themes are central in considering the linkages between natural resources, investment and sustainability. Specifically, transparency, good governance and citizen empowerment are vital conditions which encourage positive social, economic and environmental outcomes for developing countries. In addition, this book provides new insights into key concepts which underpin international law, including sovereign rights and state responsibility principles. It is clear from this book that in the attempt to reconcile these concepts and principles from separate legal regimes, complex policy questions emerge whereby it is difficult to attain mutually beneficial or succinct outcomes. This book explores how countries prioritise their policy objectives to achieve their notion of sustainable natural resource use, which is strongly influenced by power imbalances that inform North–South cooperation, as well as South–South cooperation in the international investment regime. This book will be of great interest to students, academics and researchers of international environmental law, international human rights law, international investment law and international economic law. This book may also be of relevance to environmentalists, policy-makers, NGOs, and investors working in the natural resources field.

In an era of climate change, the need to manage our water resources effectively for future generations has become an increasingly significant challenge. Indigenous management practices have been successfully used to manage inland water systems around the world for thousands of years, and Indigenous people have been calling for a greater role in the management of water resources. As First Peoples and as holders of important knowledge of sustainable water management practices, they regard themselves as custodians and rights holders, deserving of a meaningful role in decision-making. This book argues that a key (albeit not the only) means of ensuring appropriate participation in decision-making about water management is for such participation to be legislatively mandated. To this end, the book draws on case studies in Australia and New Zealand in order to elaborate the legislative tools necessary to ensure Indigenous participation, consultation and representation in the water management landscape.

This expanded and updated Research Handbook delivers an authoritative and in-depth guide to the conceptual foundations of environmental law. It offers a nuanced reflection on the underlying principles by exploring issues such as human rights, constitutional rights, sustainable development and environmental impact assessment within the context of environmental law.

This book analyses water allocation law and policy in New Zealand and offers a comparative analysis with Australia. In New Zealand, it is generally accepted that water allocation law has failed to be adequately addressed and New Zealand is now faced with the problem of over-allocation in many catchments. In comparison, Australia has extensive experience in reforming its water law and policy over the last 20 years. This book provides a comparative and critical analysis of the lessons that New Zealand can learn from the Australian experience and offers guidance for the improvement of water allocation outcomes in New Zealand. Starting with the background of water allocation law and policy in New Zealand, the book traces the evolution of legal policies, including the 1967 Water and Soil Conservation Act and the 1991 Resource Management Act, and examines the role they have played in current water allocation issues. The book situates these findings within global challenges, such as the impact of climate change, and the global scarcity of and increasing demand for freshwater resources. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars researching water law and policy, natural resource management and environmental law more broadly. It will also be of use to policy makers and professionals involved in developing and implementing water allocation laws and policies.

Australian water policy and management are undergoing rapid and immense change in response to drought, technological advances, climate change and demographic and economic shifts. The National Water Initiative and the 2007 Australian Government water policy statements propose a fundamental shift in how Australians will use and manage water in the future. The implementation of the national water policy presents many challenges – the creation of water rights and markets, comprehensive water planning, new legislative settings, community participation in water management, linking urban and rural water management, and more. Managing Water for Australia brings together leading social sciences researchers and practitioners to identify the major challenges in achieving sustainable water management, to consolidate current knowledge, and to explore knowledge gaps in and opportunities for furthering water reform.

A bold and profoundly new way of governing environmental problems is palpable around the globe and aims to overcome the limitations of the interventionist state and its market alternative to offer more effective and legitimate solutions to today's most pressing environmental problems. The 'new environmental governance' (NEG) emphasises a host of novel characteristics including participation, collaboration, deliberation, learning and adaptation and 'new' forms of accountability. While these unique features have generated significant praise from legal and governance scholars, there have been very few systematic evaluations of NEG in practice, and it is still unclear whether NEG will in fact 'work', and if so, when and how. This book offers one of the most rigorous research investigations into cutting edge trends in environmental governance to date. Focusing its inquiry around some of the most central, controversial and/or under researched characteristics of NEG, the book offers fresh insights into the conditions under which we can best achieve successful collaboration, effective learning and adaptation, meaningful participatory and deliberative governance and effective forms of accountability. The book synthesizes its findings to identify seven key pillars of 'good' NEG that are central to its success and will provide useful guidance for policymakers and scholars seeking to apply new governance to a wide range of environmental and non-environmental policy contexts. The book also advances our understanding of State governance and will be a valuable reference for scholars, researchers and students working in law and regulation studies - especially in the field of environmental law.

Compares the legal frameworks in Denmark, New Zealand, Norway, and the United States relevant to the development of wind energy.