• Faculty Member
  • Scholarly Writings

Prof. David Freestone

Mr. David Freestone
Professor of Comparative Law
and Jurisprudence
The George Washington University Law School
Former Senior Adviser
Office of the General Counsel
World Bank

BiographyBiography in PDF

Lecture Series

Publications of Prof. David Freestone

Books and Monographs
The Kyoto Protocol: Current Legal Status of Carbon Finance and the Flexible Mechanisms. Special Issue of Environmental Liability. Volume 15, Issue 2, March-April, 2007 pp. 47-124 (ed., with Charlotte Streck).
The Law of the Sea: Progress and Prospects (ed., David Freestone, Richard Barnes and David Ong, eds.) Oxford University Press, July 2006, xxxviii + 465 pp.
Legal Aspects of Implementing the Kyoto Protocol: making Kyoto work (ed., with Charlotte Streck) Oxford University Press, February 2005, xi + 643 pp.
Deep See Fisheries: Unfinished Agendas (ed. with Kristina Gjerde). (IJMCL Special Issue), 2004, Martinus Nijhoff, xi + 156pp.
Légiférer pour une gestion durable des pêcheries: Guide de l’Accord de Conformitéde la FAO de 1993 et de l”Accord de l’ONU de 1995 sur les Stocks Chevauchants. (avec William Edeson and Elly Gudmundsdottir), World Bank, Washington D.C., 2004, xii + 161 pp. (Collection Droit, Justice et Développement).
Contemporary Issues in International Law: A Collection of the Josephine Onoh Memorial Lectures (ed., with Surya Subedi and Scott Davidson) Kluwer Law International, The Hague, 2002, xvi + 236 pp.
‘“Come Hell or High Water...” International Law and Sustainable Development in the Twenty-First Century.’ (The 2001 Josephine Onoh Memorial Lecture, 1 May 2001) University of Hull Law School, 2001, 37 pp. (Studies in Law Series)
Legislating for Sustainable Fisheries: A Guide to Implementing the 1993 FAO Compliance Agreement and the 1995 Fish Stocks Agreement (with William Edeson and Elly Gudmundsdottir), World Bank, Washington D.C., 2001, xii + 152 pp. (Law, Justice and Development Series). Translated into French 2004 (above)
International Law and Sustainable Development: Past Achievements and Future Challenges (ed. with Alan Boyle) 1999, Oxford University Press, xxx + 365 pp. (paperback 2001)
The Burden of Proof in Natural Resources Legislation: some critical issues for fisheries law. Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN, Rome, 1998, 25 pp. (FAO Legislative Study, No. 63).
The Precautionary Principle and International Law: the Challenge of Implementation (ed. with Ellen Hey), 1996, Kluwer Law International, xvii + 274pp.
The Law of the Sea Convention: Unfinished Agendas and Future Challenges (ed. with Gerard Mangone), 1995, (IJMCL Special Issue), Kluwer Law International, xii and 204pp.
Particularly Sensitive Sea Areas: an Important Environmental Concept at a Turning Point (ed., with Kristina Gjerde). (IJMCL Special Issue), 1994, Martinus Nijhoff/Graham and Trotman, xii and 156pp.
International Law and Global Climate Change (ed., with R.R. Churchill), Graham and Trotman/ Martinus Nijhoff, 1991, xviii + 447pp.
The North Sea: Basic Legal Documents on Regional Environmental Co-operation, (ed., with T. IJlstra) Graham and Trotman/Martinus Nijhoff, London/Dordrecht, 1991, xx + 450pp. [Volume 1 of Basic Documents on Regional Environmental Co-operation].

Articles and Book Chapters
“Ocean Iron Fertilization and International Law” Theme Section on:  “Implications of large scale iron fertilization of the oceans” (2008) 364 Marine Ecology Progress Series, pp. 227-233 (with Rosemary Rayfuse).
“Environmental Challenges” in Panel: “Can International Law Protect the Earth’s Natural Resources.” American Society of International Law 101st Annual Conference Proceedings, 2007, pp. 172-175.
“A Decade of the Law of the Sea Convention: Is it a Success?” (2007) 39 George Washington University International Law Review, (Issue 3: Special Issue on the Symposium in Remembrance of Professor Louis Sohn), pp. 101-143.
“Introduction: The Challenges of Implementing the Kyoto Mechanisms” in The Kyoto Protocol: Current Legal Status of Carbon Finance and the Flexible Mechanisms, Special Issue of Environmental Liability, July 2007, pp. 1-9. (with Charlotte Streck)
“The Establishment, Role and Evolution of the Global Environment Facility: Operationalising Common but Differentiated Responsibility?” Liber Amicorum for Thomas A. Mensah: Law of the Sea, Protection of the Marine Environment and Settlement of Disputes. (Tafsir Ndlaye and Rüdiger Wolfrum, eds.) Martinus Nijhoff, 2007, pp. 1077-1107.
“Capacity Building and the Law of the Sea Convention: A View from the World Bank” in Law, Science and Ocean Management: Proceedings of the 30th Virginia Law of the Sea Conference. (Myron H. Nordquist, Ronán Long, Tomas H. Heidar and John Norton Moore, eds.) Martinus Nijhoff, The Hague, 2007. 20pp.
“Ocean and Freshwater Resources.” Chapter 15 in Oxford Handbook of International Environmental Law (Daniel Bodansky, Jutta Brunee and Ellen Hey, eds.)Oxford, 2007, pp. 337-361 (with Salman M.A. Salman).
“Guest Editorial: Protecting Our Oceans: New Challenges, New Solutions.” Overview of Ocean and Fisheries Law Special Issue, Sustainable Development Law and Policy, American University Washington College of Law, Vol. VII Issue 1 (Fall 2006) pp 2-4.
“The Law of the Sea: Progress and Prospects” Editors’ Introduction to The Law of the Sea: Progress and Prospects (David Freestone, Richard Barnes and David Ong, eds.), Oxford, 2006, pp. 1-27. (with Richard Barnes and David Ong).
“The Role of the World Bank and the Global Environment Facility in the Implementation of the Regime of the Law of the Sea Convention” in The Law of the Sea: Progress and Prospects (David Freestone, Richard Barnes and David Ong, eds.) Oxford, 2006, pp. 308-326.
“Flexibility and Innovation in the Law of the Sea: Will the LOS Convention amendment procedures ever be used?” in Stability and Change in the Law of the Sea: The Role of the LOS Convention (Alex G. Oude Elferink, Ed.) Martinus Nijhoff, 2005, pp 163-216. (with Alex G. Oude Elferink).
“The EU and Climate Change” in Reflections on 30 years of EU Environmental Law: A High Level of Protection?  (Richard Macrory, ed.) Europa Law Publishing, Groningen, November 2005 (Avocetta series,: ISBN 9076871507) pp 87-108 (with Charlotte Streck)
“Introduction: The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Kyoto Protocol and the Kyoto Mechanisms” in Legal Aspects of Implementing the Kyoto Protocol Mechanisms: Making Kyoto work (David Freestone and Charlotte Streck, eds.) Oxford, 2005, pp. 3-24.
“Summary and Outlook” in Legal Aspects of Implementing the Kyoto Protocol Mechanisms: Making Kyoto work (David Freestone and Charlotte Streck, eds.) Oxford, 2005, pp. 529-536. (with Charlotte Streck)
“Implementando o Princípio da Pracaução: Desafios e Oportunidades” (with Ellen Hey) translated and republished in Princípio da Precaução (Marcelo Dias Varella and Ana Flávia Barros-Platiau, eds.), Rio di Janeiro, Brazil 2003, pp. 205-232
“Incorporating Sustainable Development Concerns into the Development and Investment Process: The World Bank Experience.” In Exploitation and Management of Natural Resources in the 21st Century: The Challenge of Sustainable Development, (Malgosia Fitzmaurice and Milena Szuniewicz, eds.) Kluwer Law International, The Hague, 2003, pp. 91-112.
“The Environmental and Social Safeguard Policies of the World Bank and the evolving Role of the Inspection Panel” in Economic Globalization and Compliance with International Environmental Agreements, (Kanami Ishibashi, Alexandre Kiss and Dinah Shelton, eds.) Kluwer Law International, The Hague, 2003, pp. 139-156.
“International Financial Institutions and the Marine Environment: A view from the World Bank” in The Stockholm Declaration and Law of Marine Environment: Report of a Joint Conference Sponsored by the Center for Oceans Law and Policy, University of Virginia School of Law and the Faculty of Law, Stockholm University, (Myron H. Norquist, John Norton Moore and Said Mahmoudi, eds.), Kluwer Law International, The Hague, 2003, pp. 119-134.
“The World Bank’s Prototype Carbon Fund: Mobilising new Resources for Sustainable Development” in (Sabine Schemmer-Schulte and Ko-Yung Tung, eds.) Liber Amicorum for Ibrahim S.I. Shihata, Kluwer Law International, The Hague, 2001, pp. 265-341.
“Implementing the Law of the Sea Convention, the FAO Compliance Agreement and the UN Fish Stocks Agreement: A view from the World Bank” in The FAO and the Law of the Sea (Myron Nordquist, ed.)Kluwer Law International, The Hague, 2000, pp.167-181.
“Caution or Precaution: ‘A rose by any other name...?’ ”in “Symposium on the Southern Bluefin Tuna cases” in (1999) 10 Yearbook of International Environmental Law, Oxford University Press, pp. 25-32.
“Implementing Precaution Cautiously: The Precautionary Approach in the 1995 Straddling Stocks Agreement” in Developments in International Fisheries Law (Ellen Hey, ed.), Kluwer Law International, 1999, pp. 287-325.
“Introduction” in International Environmental Law and Sustainable Development (Alan Boyle and David Freestone, eds.) Oxford UP, 1999, pp.1-21. (with Alan Boyle).
“International Fisheries Law since Rio - the continued rise of the Precautionary Principle” in International Environmental Law and Sustainable Development (Alan Boyle and David Freestone, eds.) Oxford, 1999, pp. 135-164.
“The Challenge of Implementation: Some Concluding Notes” in International Law and Sustainable Development (Alan Boyle and David Freestone, eds.) Oxford, 1999, pp. 359-564.
Environmental Law: Concepts and Issues” in Partnerships for Global Ecosystems Management: Science Economics and Law: Proceedings and Reference Readings from the Fifth Annual World Bank Conference on Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Development. Ismail Serageldin and Joan Martin Brown (eds.), The World Bank, Washington DC, 1999. pp. 182-191. (with Laurence Boisson de Chazournes)
“The 1995 Straddling Stocks Agreement in Context” in Sustainable Fisheries for the 21st Century, (J. Speir, ed.), Tulane Institute for Environmental Law and Policy, New Orleans, 1998, pp 107-123.
“Towards an international environmental law of fisheries in the Year of the Oceans: oxymoron or paradigm shift?” IUCN/World Conservation Union, Environmental Law Programme Newsletter, May-September 1998, pp. 1-4.
“EC Action and Initiatives in Environmental Protection” in Beyond the Market: the EU and National Social Policy (David Hine and Hussein Kassim, eds.) The State and the European Union series, Routledge, 1998, pp. 178-211. (with Aaron McLoughlin).
“International Environmental Conventions” in Environmental Policy Section (Larry Kohler, ed.) of ILO Encyclopaedia of Occupational Health and Safety, International Labour Organisation, Geneva, 1998, Chapter 54, pp. 9-13.
“Towards Sustainable Tourism in the Wider Caribbean Region: Beyond Command and Control” in F. Weiss et al., Towards International Economic Law with a Human Face, Kluwer Law International, 1998, pp. 357-386. (with Professor N. Gunningham)
“The New International Environmental Law of Fisheries: The 1995 Straddling Stocks Agreement”, (1996) 7 Yearbook of International Environmental Law, pp. 3-49. (with Zen Makuch)
“The Impact of Subsidiarity” inJane Holder (ed.) The Impact of Community Environmental Law in the United Kingdom, Wiley, 1997, pp. 87-100 (with Han Somsen).
“The Enforcement of the Wild Birds Directive: a case study” in H. Somsen (ed.), Protecting the European Environment: Enforcing EC Environment Law, Blackstone Press, London, 1997, pp. 229-250.
“International Co-operation against Terrorism and the Development of International Law Principles of Jurisdiction” in R. Higgins and M. Flory (eds.), Terrorism and International Law: Anglo-French Perspectives, Sweet and Maxwell/Routledge, 1997, pp. 43-67.
“Legal Implications of Global Climate Change for Bangladesh” in R.A. Warrick and Q.K. Ahmad (eds), The Implications of Climate and Sea-Level Change for Bangladesh, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, 1996, pp. 289-334. (with M. Farooque and S. R. Jahan).
The Conservation of Marine Ecosystems under International Law” in M. Bowman and C. Redgwell (eds.), International Law and the Conservation of Marine Biodiversity, Kluwer Law International, 1996, pp. 91-107.
“Canada and EU reach Agreement to settle the Estai Dispute” (1995) 10 International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law, pp. 397-411; abridged version also published in (1995) 4 European Environmental Law Review pp. 270-272.
“The Effective Conservation and Management of High Seas Living Resources: Towards a new Regime?”(1995) 5 Canterbury Law Review, pp. 341-362.
“The Road From Rio: International Environmental Law after the Earth Summit” (1994) 6 Journal of Environmental Law, pp. 193-218.
“EC Environmental Law after Maastricht” (1994) 45 Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly, pp. 152-176 (with D. Ryland).
“The Principle of Co-operation: Terrorism” in A.V. Lowe and C. Warbrick (eds.), The United Nations and the Principles of International Law: Essays in Memory of Professor Michael Akehurst, Routledge, 1994, pp. 137-159.
“Sea Level Rise and Maritime Boundaries: international implica­tions of impacts and responses” in Gerald Blake (ed.) International Boundaries; Fresh Perspectives, Volume 5, Routledge, 1994, pp. 73-90 (with J.S. Pethick).
“Exclusive Economic Zones in the North Sea” (1993) 26 Marine Pollution Bulletin, pp. 176-178.
“The North Sea Declaration on the Co-ordinated Extension of Jurisdiction” (1993) 8 International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law, pp. 172-175.
“International Marine Environmental Treaties” in (P. Sand, Ed), The Effectiveness of International Environmental Treaties, Cambridge: Grotius Press, 1992, pp. 149-254 (with Alan Boyle, K. Kummer and D. Ong).
“The Maastricht Treaty and the Environment” [1992] 1 European Environmental Law Review pp. 20-22.
“Some Institutional Implications of the Establishment of Exclu­sive Economic Zones by the Member States of the European Community” (1992) 22 Ocean Development and International Law pp. 97-117. (Special issue on "Europe's Offshore Waters" edited by Professor Barbara Kwiatkowska.)
“The Precautionary Principle.” Chapter 2, in (Robin Churchill and David Freestone, eds) International Law and Global Climate Change, 1991, pp. 21-40.
“International Law and Sea Level Rise. ” Chapter 7, in (Robin Churchill and David Freestone, eds) International Law and Global Climate Change, 1991, pp. 109-125.
“Conclusions” (with Robin Churchill) in (Robin Churchill and David Freestone, eds) International Law and Global Climate Change, 1991, pp. 201-208.
“European Environmental Law and Policy” (1991) 18 Journal of Law and Society pp. 135- 154. (Environmental Law Special Issue, edited by R.R. Churchill, J. Gibson and L. Warren). Also published contemporaneously as Law, Policy and the Environment, Oxford, Basil Black­well, 1991.