Shaping the Law for Global Crises Thoughts about the Role the Law Could Play to Come to Grips with the Major Challenges of Our Time

In the course of the last 100 years, quite a lot has been achieved in the "Western" world. Life standards have risen considerably. All kinds of serious diseases belong to the past. More than ever before, people are living longer. The progress of technology has proven beneficial to mankind. Primarily, the "developed" countries have gained a lot from all this, although these developments have also had spin-off effects on the "developing" countries. For example, extreme poverty has decreased to quite some extent. The BRIC-countries (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) have become new economic powers in the world. Despite all these advances, the world still faces many threats and challenges. This book offers thoughts about the role that law could possibly play to ward off man-made crises. The focus is on global threats which are, unless checked in due time, going to stir the world at large. The book examines the stepping stones for shaping the law to cope with the major challenges of our time, such as climate change, sustainable development, and the eradication of poverty.