nitrogen pollution, Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP), Kyoto Protocol, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
The international community is intensifying its efforts to combat nitrogen pollution, a threat to human health and the environment. In this Article, Jeremy S. Scholtes examines the nature of this type of pollution and the legal instruments currently in place that deal with it. He begins by explaining the theoretical concerns that negotiators must consider when designing legal instruments, recommending that regional hard law instruments in concert with partnership coordination platforms are the most effective tools for addressing nitrogen pollution. He concludes that the 1979 Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP) should be used as the model for developing additional regional air pollution regimes around the globe to address nitrogen pollution. Finally, he asserts that an additional benefit of negotiating regional multilateral environmental agreements modeled after the LRTAP is that the comprehensive regional programs could be used to implement applicable provisions of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol.
38 ELR 10253 (2008).