Using Law to Protect the Environment: Case Studies from Around the World

The document provides a series of case studies from diverse geographic regions demonstrating the application of law to solve environmental problems. It highlights the effectiveness of constitutional rights in Chile and India, local enforcement programs in China, indigenous partnerships in Colombia, benefit-sharing contracts in Costa Rica, grassroots activism in the Dominican Republic, effluent charges in Malaysia, coordinated inter-agency enforcement in the Philippines, criminal sanctions for data fraud in the United States, the power of public information via the Toxic Release Inventory in the United States, and public-private partnerships for ozone layer protection globally.

• In Chile, citizens of Chanaral successfully used the 1980 Constitution's guarantee of the "right to live in an environment free from pollution" to end the ocean disposal of copper mining wastes by Codelco in 1989.
• China's Program for Enhancing Environmental Enforcement, coordinated by the People’s Congress, successfully reduced daily chemical oxygen demand (COD) discharge at the Tian Chu plant from 22 tons to 3 tons between 1992 and 1994.

APA

Center for International Environmental Law (1996). Using Law to Protect the Environment: Case Studies from Around the World. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/UsingLaw_CaseStudies_1996.pdf

Chicago

Center for International Environmental Law. Using Law to Protect the Environment: Case Studies from Around the World. 1996. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/UsingLaw_CaseStudies_1996.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Center for International Environmental Law |title=Using Law to Protect the Environment: Case Studies from Around the World |date=1996 |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/UsingLaw_CaseStudies_1996.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{centerforinternationalenvironmentallaw1996using, author = {{Center for International Environmental Law}}, title = {{Using Law to Protect the Environment: Case Studies from Around the World}}, institution = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {1996}, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/UsingLaw_CaseStudies_1996.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }