Environmental Health in International and EU Law: Current Challenges and Legal Responses

Description

This book presents a broad overview of the many intersections between health and the environment that lie at the basis of the most crucial environmental health issues, focusing on the responses provided by international and EU law. Consistent with the One Health approach and moving from the relevant international and EU legal frameworks, the book addresses some of the most important issues of environmental health including the traditional, such as pollution of air, water and soil and related food safety issues, as well as new and emerging challenges, like those linked to climate change, antimicrobial resistance and electromagnetic fields. Applying an intersectoral and interdisciplinary approach, it also investigates other branches of international and EU law including human rights law, investment law, trade law, energy law and disaster law. The work also discusses ethics and intergenerational equity. Ultimately, the book assesses the degree of effectiveness of the international and EU normative framework, and the extent to which the relevant legal instruments contribute to the protection of public health from major environmental hazards. The book will be a valuable resource for students, academics and policy makers working in the areas of Environmental Health law, Global Health law, International law and EU law. Cover Half Title Title Copyright CONTENTS Foreword Introduction Part I: Environmental Health at the Intersection of Ethical, Human and Economic Values 1. [Human] Values and Ethics in Environmental Health Discourse and Decision-Making: The Complex Stakeholder Controversy and the Possibility of “Win-Win” Outcomes 1. Introduction: Shareholder and Non-Shareholder Stakeholders 2. Rights Stricto Sensu: Meta-Freedom to (Ab)use One’s Power to Eliminate Values 3. Fairness through Broadness: Rights- and Stakeholder-Inclusion 4. Conclusion: Towards a Comprehensive Justice Project 2. A Human Rights Approach to Environmental Health 1. Introduction 2. The Right to Health and Its Environmental Dimensions 3. The Right to a Healthy Environment: Moving Towards Legal Recognition of a Universal Right Vital to Protect Global Public Health 4. Environmental Health Litigation and the Added Value of a Human Rights Approach 3. The Environmental Health Spillovers of Foreign Direct Investment in International Investment Arbitration 1. Introduction 2. The Conceptual and Normative Scope of Environmental Health 3. International Investment Law and Arbitration 4. Arbitrating Disputes with Environmental Health Elements 5. Reconciling Environmental Health with Investor Rights 6. Conclusions 4. The Dispute on Brazilian Measures Affecting Imports of Retreaded Tyres at the WTO: An Exemplary Intersection of Trade, Health and Environment 1. Introduction 2. The Brazilian Measures at Issue and the Different Claims Against Them 3. Analysis of the WTO Adjudicative Bodies Reports 3.1. The Measures Are Inconsistent with Basic Principles of the GATT 1994 3.2. The Import Ban Is Necessary to Protect Human, Animal or Plant Life or Health 3.3. The Exemptions to the Import Ban Result in Arbitrary or Unjustifiable Discriminations 4. The Sweet Defeat of the Brazilian Government and the Implementation of the Adopted Reports 5. Concluding Remarks Part II: Environmental Health at the Intersection of Energy, Climate Change, and Atmospheric Pollution 5. Protecting Human Health in a Green Energy Context: Regulatory Scenarios between International and EU Law 1. Introduction 2. Developments in the Environment-Energy Relationship 3. Energy and Health 4. The Limits of Renewable Energy on Health Protection 6. Between the Potential to Reduce Global Warming and to Cause Irreversible Damage to Human Health and the Environment: The Role of International Law in Marine Geoengineering 1. Introduction 2. Marine Geoengineering in the Fight against Climate Change 2.1. Marine Geoengineering: What for? 2.2. Marine Geoengineering: At What Cost? 3. The International Legal Framework in the Field of Geoengineering 3.1. International Law Principles Governing Marine Geoengineering 3.2. The Current Conventional Framework Applicable to Marine Geoengineering 4. Some Final Remarks on the Status Quo and Future Prospects 7. The Revised EU Air Quality Policy and Public Health 1. Introduction 2. The Long-term Air Quality Objective and the Need for Policy Review 3. The Current Regulatory Framework 3.1. The Ambient Air Quality Directives 3.2. The National Emissions Ceilings Directive 3.3. Emissions Standards for Major Sources of Pollution 4. Revised Policy, Old Problems 5. Concluding Remarks 8. Intergenerational Equity in Times of Climate Change Legal Action: Moving towards a Greater Protection of Human Health? 1. Introduction 2. Intergenerational Equity’s Theoretical Foundations 3. Intergenerational Equity in International Case Law 4. Minors Oposa and Early National Case Law 5. Climate Change National Litigation and Intergenerational Equity 6. Children, Youth and Intergenerational Equity in Climate Change National Case-Law 7. Conclusion 9. Damages from Electromagnetic Fields between the Right to Health and Environmental Protection: Reflections on the Italian Experience 1. Public Health Protection According to the Italian Constitution 2. The Constitutional Right to a Healthy Environment 3. The Protection of Human Health from Electromagnetic Fields: The Role of the Precautionary Principle 3.1. The Principle of Sustainable Development and the Principle of Sustainable Integration 4. The Italian Legislation on Electromagnetic Pollution and the Problematic Knots of Environmental Law 5. Electromagnetic Fields, Mobile Phones and Risks for Health: The Role of the World Health Organization 6. Lessons to be Learned from a Recent Report from the US National Toxicology Program 10. ILVA: A Case of Shared Responsibilities for the Protection of the Environment and Public Health 1. Introduction 2. A Brief History of ILVA 3. The Environmental Impact of ILVA 4. The Impact of ILVA on Public Health 5. “Ambiente Svenduto”, the Affair Brought before the Italian Judiciary 6. ILVA and the EU Jurisdiction 7. The ILVA Case before the European Court of Human Rights 8. Conclusion Part III: Environmental Health at the Intersection of Pollution of Water and Soil and Food Safety 11. Public Health Risks Posed by Waste Pollution and Chemical Exposure and Legal Responses in International and EU Law 1. Introductory Remarks on Waste Pollution and Chemical Exposure as Major Public Health Hazards 2. The Global Concern for Waste and Chemical Pollution as Emerged at UN Conferences 3. The Regulatory Regime Set Out by the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions 4. The EU Legal Framework Regulating Waste Disposal and Chemicals 4.1. … and Implementing the Three Global Conventions 5. Conclusions: Is There Any Balance Between Public Health and Environmental Protection and Economic Needs? 12. Water Quality and the Impact on Human Health and the Environment: The Current International and EU Regulatory Framework 1. Introduction 2.1. The New UN “International Decade (2018-2028) for Action-Water for Sustainable Development”: Toward Hydro-Diplomacy 2.2. Improving Health through WASH: The WHO’s Longstanding Role 2.3. From Non-Binding Guidelines to Legal Obligations for International WBDs Management: The WHO-UNECE Protocol on Water and Health 3. The EU (Drinking) Water Policy 3.1. Protection and Sustainable Use of Water in European Countries 3.2. A New Proactive Approach to Ensuring Drinking-Water Safety in Europe: The WHO Guidelines 3.3. The EU Commission Proposal for Modernizing the 20-Year Old European Drinking Water Directive 4. Conclusions: Globalizing the (Pan-)European Approach toward a Harmonized International Water and Health Regulation 13. From Sea to Plate: Pollution of the Marine Environment and Food Safety in International and EU Law 1. Introduction 2. The International Law Response to Pollution of the Marine Environment and Its Potential Consequences for Human Food Safety 2.1. The Work of the United Nations 2.2. IMO’s Work to Prevent Pollution of the Marine Environment and Its Potential Impact on Peoples’ Food Health 2.3. The Role of the Codex Alimentarius Commission as an Expression of Cooperation between WHO and FAO in the Field of Food Safety 3. The Legal Response of the European Union to Pollution of the Marine Environment and Its Potential Consequences for Human Food Safety 4. Final Considerations 14. The Contribution of International Organizations to Food Security and Safety through a Healthy Environment 1. Introductory Remarks 2. The Activities of International Organizations for Food Safety through a Healthy Environment 3. The Activities of International Organizations for Food Security through a Healthy Environment 4. International Organizations as Coordinators and Facilitators, particularly of Multi-stakeholder and Multi-sectoral Partnerships and Platforms 5. Conclusion 15. Environmental Impact Assessment: Environmental Health and Food Safety 1. Introduction: The Environmental Impact Assessment Technique in the European Union and the Need to Treat It to Preserve Environmental Health 2. Environmental Health and Its Protection through the Environmental Impact Assessment Technique in EU Law 3. Environmental Health and Health Impact Assessment 4. Environmental Health and Food Safety 16. Mercury Pollution and Its Impact on Human Health: The Minamata Case 1. Mercury Pollution and Its Impact on Human Health 2. The Minamata Disease 3. The Minamata Convention on Mercury 4. European Measures against Mercury Pollution and Implementation of the Minamata Convention 5. Concluding Remarks 17. EU’s Re-approval of Glyphosate: The Role of Science and the Competence of Member States 1. Introduction 2. The EU Authorisation Procedure of Plant Protection Products 3. The Renewal of the Authorisation of Glyphosate 4. Concluding Remarks Part IV: New Challenges in Environmental Health: Pathogen Sharing, Biodiversity and Antimicrobial Resistance 18. Biodiversity, Pathogen Sharing and International Law 1. Introduction 2. Section Two-Legal Background 2.1. The Nagoya Protocol 2.2. The Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Framework 2.3. The Relationship between the PIP Framework and the Nagoya Protocol 3. Section Three 4. Section Four-Translations 5. Section Five-Concluding Reflections 19. EU Biodiversity Law and Its Health Impacts 1. Introduction 2. Biodiversity and Health in the Context of EU Law and Policy 3. EU Biodiversity Law and Its Health Impacts 3.1. The Birds and Habitats Directives: What Role in Protecting Human Health? 3.2. Health as a Potential Ground for Derogations in the Habitats and Birds Directives 3.3. The Invasive Alien Species Regulation: Leveraging Health and Biodiversity Synergies 4. The Precautionary Principle and the Linkage between Health and Biodiversity 5. Conclusion 20. Regulating Antimicrobials in Livestock Animals: Experiences from Ten Countries 1. Introduction 1.1. France 1.2. Denmark 1.3. Australia 1.4. Canada 1.5. United States of America 1.6. Russia 1.7. Japan 1.8. Brazil 1.9. China 1.10. India 2. Discussion 2.1. Veterinary Medicine 2.1.1. Regulating Sales 2.1.2. Capping Veterinarians’ Profits 2.1.3. Creating Financial Incentives for Judicious Use 2.1.4. Establishing Rigorous Monitoring Systems 2.2. Agricultural Production 2.2.1. General Bans 2.2.2. Specific Bans 2.2.3. Control Systems and Penalties 2.3. Trade of Agricultural Products 2.3.1. Coordinating Regulations to Increase Market Competitiveness 2.3.2. Creating Separate Standards for the Domestic Market 2.3.3. Industry-led Momentum 3. Conclusion Part V: Environmental Health in Case of Disasters and Conflicts 21. Natural Disasters, Environment and Health: The Role Played by International Law and European Union Law in this Field 1. Natural Disasters, Environment and Health: International Organizations at the Crossroads 1.1. The Work of the WHO in This Field 1.1.1. Grade 1 Emergencies 1.1.2. Grade 2 Emergencies 1.1.3. Grade 3 Emergencies 1.2. The European Union Civil Protection Mechanism: An Effective Way? 2. Environment, Security and Health: The Need to Coordinate Efforts in the International, Regional and National Spheres 3. The Answer to Be Given to “Complex Emergencies”: A Very Long Way to Go 4. Tentative Conclusions 22. The Environmental and Health Impacts of Chemical Spraying: Can Law Protect Victims? The Case of Agent Orange 1. Introduction 2. Claims 2.1. Sanitary Impacts Constitutive of Crime Against Humanity and War Crime 2.1.1. Physical and Health Impacts During and After the Conflict 2.1.2. Crime Against Humanity and War Crimes 2.2. Environmental Destruction 2.3. State and Corporate Responsibility 3. Social and Legal Obstacles 3.1. Agent Orange, “Just” an Herbicide 3.2. State Immunity and Applicability of Laws 3.3. Proofs as Burdens 3.4. “I will never be able to marry”, or the Social Costs of Victimhood 3.5. Politicization of the Agent Orange Trials 4. Conclusion 23. Chronicle of a Death Foretold: The Long-Term Health Impacts on the Victims of Widespread Lead Poisoning at UN-Run Camps in Kosovo 1. Introduction 2. A Chronology of the Facts and a Critical Consideration Thereof 3. Analysis of the Opinion of the Human Rights Advisory Panel in Kosovo on the N. M. and Others v. UNMIK Affair 4. Concluding Remarks on the UN Failure to Implement the Recommendations of the Human Rights Advisory Panel, Notwithstanding the Latest Discomforting Developments