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Environmental law plays a key role in shaping policy for sustainability. In particular, the types of legal instruments, institutions, and the response of law to the inherent variability in socio-ecological systems are critical. 1 Environmental protection has typically involved a command-and-control approach that is implemented in response to specific environmental problems. 2 Often the response is reactive and applied to crisis situations. Ruhl contends that command-and-control approaches to environmental problems have been very successful at dealing with air and water pollution, because the regulations were able to address the" low-hanging fruit"(eg, point-source pollution, waste disposal) problems which are relatively easy to address. 3 The next wave of environmental challenges (eg, cross-boundary water disputes, climate change) are not so easily addressed within the current law and policy framework, because …