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Topic · Law

Environmental law and policy

Environmental law and policy is a research topic within Law. Science Explorer counts 11k research works in it since 1951. 20.8% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers explores the legal recognition of nature's rights and the implications for environmental governance. It delves into topics such as climate change litigation, the Aarhus Convention, legal personhood for natural entities, human rights in the context of environmental protection, and the role of transnational corporations in sustainable development. The cluster also discusses global environmental constitutionalism and the intersection of indigenous rights with environmental law.

  • Rights of Nature
  • Environmental Law
  • Climate Change Litigation
  • Aarhus Convention
  • Legal Personhood
  • Human Rights
  • Transnational Corporations
  • Sustainable Development
  • Global Environmental Constitutionalism
  • Indigenous Rights
Research works
11k
fractional, since 1951
In the world top 10%
2.3k
per year above
Top-10% rate
20.8%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+35%
the tick is no change

Which countries lead Environmental law and policy research?

By volume, the United States and the United Kingdom publish the most (328 and 203 works in 2022–2025).

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 United States 328 works
  2. 2 United Kingdom 203 works
  3. 3 India 163 works
  4. 4 China 149 works
  5. 5 Indonesia 143 works
  6. 6 France 139 works
  7. 7 Brazil 130 works
  8. 8 Germany 121 works
  9. 9 Netherlands 107 works
  10. 10 Australia 96 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

United States: 20.8%United Kingdom: 12.9%India: 10.3%China: 9.4%6 others listed: 46.6%21%largest
United States328 · 20.8%United Kingdom203 · 12.9%India163 · 10.3%China149 · 9.4%6 others listed737 · 46.6%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Environmental law and policy research?

By volume in 2022–2025, Tilburg University publishes the most Environmental law and policy research, followed by University of Amsterdam and The University of Melbourne.

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Tilburg University Netherlands 22 works
  2. 2 University of Amsterdam Netherlands 15 works
  3. 3 The University of Melbourne Australia 12 works
  4. 4 Leiden University Netherlands 10 works
  5. 5 Universitat Rovira i Virgili Spain 10 works
  6. 6 Widener University United States 10 works
  7. 7 University of Oxford United Kingdom 10 works
  8. 8 University of Cambridge United Kingdom 9 works
  9. 9 Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy Germany 9 works
  10. 10 Utrecht University Netherlands 9 works

Where is Environmental law and policy research done?

The largest centres of Environmental law and policy research in 2022–2025 are London (United Kingdom), New York (United States), Paris (France) and Washington D.C. (United States). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Tilburg.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 London United Kingdom 62 works
  2. 2 New York United States 42 works
  3. 3 Paris France 39 works
  4. 4 Washington D.C. United States 30 works
  5. 5 Beijing China 28 works
  6. 6 Melbourne Australia 23 works
  7. 7 Amsterdam Netherlands 22 works
  8. 8 Moscow Russia 22 works
  9. 9 Madrid Spain 22 works
  10. 10 Tilburg Netherlands 22 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. TilburgNL · 21.6 works45×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Environmental law and policy than the world average.

See Environmental law and policy on the map

Where is the best place to study Environmental law and policy?

Among universities, judged by research, Tilburg University, University of Amsterdam and Leiden University score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%20%40%60%mean 35.76%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →Tilburg University: 22, 24.7%University of Amsterdam: 15, 39.4%Leiden University: 10, 20.2%University of Eastern Finland: 9, 41.7%Universitat Rovira i Virgili: 10, 27.0%Utrecht University: 9, 52.0%University of Groningen: 8, 40.6%Durham University: 8, 33.1%Chinese University of Hong Kong: 8, 39.8%University of Cambridge: 9, 39.1%University of Easter…University of Amster…Tilburg UniversityLeiden University
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1Tilburg University Netherlands 76.624.7%50.8×22 +151.3%
2University of Amsterdam Netherlands 73.339.4%11.1×15 +64.3%
3Leiden University Netherlands 62.620.2%11.9×10 +218.4%
4University of Eastern Finland Finland 59.541.7%17.0×9 +10.4%
5Universitat Rovira i Virgili Spain 57.327.0%26.4×10 +72.2%
6Utrecht University Netherlands 56.852.0%6.7×9 +12.8%
7University of Groningen Netherlands 51.740.6%6.6×8 +71.8%
8Durham University United Kingdom 50.933.1%8.7×8 —
9Chinese University of Hong Kong Hong Kong 50.139.8%4.5×8 +133.8%
10University of Cambridge United Kingdom 44.439.1%3.4×9 +101.7%

Universities only. Score blends excellence (30%), specialisation (25%), size (20%), growth (15%) and international reach (10%), 2015–2022; growth compares 2010–14 with 2015–19.

Is Environmental law and policy research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 35% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Environmental law and policy.

19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.