Emphasising the environmental, social, and human damage caused by non-sustainable development, this provocative book provides readers with an incisive and integrated approach to the political, economic, scientific, and technological realities and challenges facing international environmental law and policy today. In addition to an in-depth survey of the past, present, and future of this important and rapidly expanding field, this new book offers innovative chapters on such crucial current imperatives as: the nature and scope of the challenge; first principles of international environmental law; environment and human rights; environment and the nexus of international trade, finance and debt; the unfinished agenda. All the traditional subjects are also covered, including the history of international environmental law, the law of the sea, international freshwater resources, cross-border air pollution, ozone depletion and global warming, the technology of chemicals manufacture and transport, disposal of hazardous waste, preservation of species and biodiversity, environmental impact analysis, and regulation of nuclear energy.