Volume 1 includes a number of very early national decisions considered important in the development of international environmental law, whether because they were the background against which international decisions were shaped or because they are often referred to in commentaries and textbooks but are not widely available in English. Other decisions are included in Volume 1 because they are illustrative of national views of the content and direction of international law in this domain at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Volume 1 includes a number of very early national decisions considered important in the development of international environmental law, whether because they were the background against which international decisions were shaped or because they are often referred to in commentaries and textbooks but are not widely available in English. Other decisions are included in Volume 1 because they are illustrative of national views of the content and direction of international law in this domain at the beginning of the twentieth century.