ABSTRACT
This chapter examines three sets of legal developments that characterize normative processes and law-making dynamics in international environmental law, namely: the emergence and growing prominence of environmental principles; the adoption of environmental standards through multilateral environmental treaties, but also, and increasingly, through the work of non-state actors and international organizations; and recourse to voluntary commitments. Over the past few decades, private or quasi-private international agencies and organizations have developed a vast variety of environmental standards, covering different areas of global production. Such standards are often associated with certification and labelling schemes to attest the product or organization’s compliance with the standards. The International Organization for Standardization is one of the first and most recognized international standard-setting bodies. At the international level, voluntary commitments can be made by individual countries (i.e. states) as well as by a variety of non-state actors.
