Fragmentation revisited in the context of global environmental law and governance

Abstract

This article argues that because of environmental law's usual focus on the fragmentation of international environmental law and international environmental governance, we have been missing out on an opportunity to consider fragmentation as a much broader globalised phenomenon in the context of global environmental regulation. The result is that we have been seeing half-truths about fragmentation which have desensitised us to appreciating the disaggregated characteristics of global environmental law and governance as the most recent contemporary forms of environmental regulation. The hypothesis is that international environmental law and governance is only a part of the global regulatory response and that the fragmentation of environmental law and governance must be viewed through the global lens in order to allow a more nuanced and ultimately more realistic reappraisal of fragmentation and its consequences for global environmental regulation. The article suggests that once the parochial blindfold of 'the international' is removed, it would be possible to explore the new world of 'the global,' where the consequences of fragmentation in the context of global environmental regulation are arguably less severe than many fear.