Corporate Accountability in International Environmental Law

This book examines systematically all international sources of corporate accountability standards with specific reference to environmental protection, and elaborates on their theoretical and practical implications for international environmental law. The book argues that although international environmental law does not bind multinational corporations and other business entities, growing practice points to the emergence and consolidation of international legal standards. These standards allow adapting and translating inter-State obligations embodied in international environmental law into specific normative benchmarks to determine the legitimacy of the conduct of the private sector against internationally recognized values and rules.

The role of international organizations who, in the absence of State intervention, identify and promote the application of selected international environmental standards is analyzed in depth. This analysis demonstrates how these international organizations are a driving force in establishing and operationalizing international standards for corporate environmental accountability.