Law Commons^™

Challenges And Opportunities Of A Forthcoming Strategic Assessment Of The Implications Of International Climate Change Mitigation Commitments For Individual Undertakings In Canada, Robert B. Gibson, Karine Péloffy, Meinhard Doelle

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Canada is preparing to initiate a challenging, but potentially ground-breaking, strategic assessment on the implications of its climate change mitigation commitments for project assessments. The strategic assessment is immediately needed to provide project-level guidance for decision makers who will be required under new federal legislation to consider the extent to which each assessed project “contributes to sustainability” and “hinders or contributes to” meeting Canada’s climate commitments. However, Canada, like many other countries, has not yet translated its Paris Agreementclimate commitments into an adequate suite of specific policies, pathways, budgets, and other directives for compliance. Consequently, the climate commitments’ strategic assessment …

Illness, Injury And Medical Deportations At The Frontier: The Canadian Legal Regime For Health Care Protections For Agricultural Migrant Workers, Constance Macintosh

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This paper explores how health interests and rights play out in the temporary agricultural worker regime. In particular, it illustrates how a system that–as discussed below–is formally positioned as granting such workers the same rights as nationals, may not in practice provide equivalent or meaningful protections. The assessment is not just about the social exclusion challenges that often undermine the ability or possibility of migrant workers to activate their legal rights (which is the usual critique of why post-national citizenship writing is overly optimistic), but about how the legal and regulatory system itself misses the mark.

Compliance In Transition: Is Facilitative Compliance Finding Its Place In The Paris Climate Regime, Meinhard Doelle

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The paper explores the current compliance negotiations under Article 15 of the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement. The paper provides an overview of the current state of the negotiations, and considers ways to conclude the negotiations toward an effective compliance system under the Paris Agreement. In the process, the paper explores key differences and similarities between Paris and Kyoto, and identifies possible lessons from the Kyoto compliance experience.

Conclusions: The Value Of An Innovation Framework For International Law, Sara L. Seck, Alastair Neil Craik

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The concluding chapter to Global Environmental Change and Innovation in International Law provides an assessment of the value of an innovation framework for further scholarship in the field of international environmental law. The authors note that thinking more systematically about how international law structures innovation and how innovation within law arises has potential to generate new insights into the role of law in the development of sustainable transitions and may provoke greater attention to the sources and processes of legal transformations themselves. Identifying the constraints to legal innovation, particularly in the context of increasingly complex system demands, was identified as …

Edging Towards Principled Ocean Governance: Law Of The Sea And Beyond, David Vanderzwaag

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Elisabeth Mann Borgese is well known for her commitment to advancing the legal order for the improved regulation of the world’s oceans. Her advocacy with respect to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) is the subject of other essays in this volume. However, in the decades since 1982, legal principles, sometimes linked to provisions in treaties, have become critical in the global quest for sustainable seas and healthy coastal communities. Principles, such as precautionary and ecosystem approaches, have influenced the negotiation, implementation, and interpretation of international agreements. They may also guide national ocean law and …

Conclusions: The Value Of An Innovation Framework For International Law, Alastair Neil Craik, Sara Seck

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

The concluding chapter to Global Environmental Change and Innovation in International Law provides an assessment of the value of an innovation framework for further scholarship in the field of international environmental law. The authors note that thinking more systematically about how international law structures innovation and how innovation within law arises has potential to generate new insights into the role of law in the development of sustainable transitions and may provoke greater attention to the sources and processes of legal transformations themselves. Identifying the constraints to legal innovation, particularly in the context of increasingly complex system demands, was identified as …

Book Review: Colin T Reid And Walters Nsoh, The Privatisation Of Biodiversity? New Approaches To Conservation Law, New Horizons In Environmental And Energy Law, Sara Seck

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The Privatisation of Biodiversity? New Approaches to Conservation Law, written by Colin T Reid and Walters Nsoh, is a recently published addition to the Edward Elgar book series New Horizons in Environmental and Energy Law. The book explores how “private rights and market devices” may serve as an alternative to “direct ‘command and control’ regulation”, and so ensure that the use of natural resources remains within ecological limits, while preventing the loss of habitat, habitat degradation, and species extinctions. A diverse range of mechanisms are considered under the “privatisation” heading, with “an emphasis on private law frameworks” that enable private …

Climate Change, Corporate Social Responsibility, And The Extractive Industries, Sara Seck

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During the negotiation of the Paris Agreement, many argued that the final text should integrate a human rights approach so as to better align climate governance under the UNFCCC with climate justice. Reference to human rights ultimately appeared only in the Preamble, despite submissions from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights that urgent and ambitious State action to combat climate change is an existing duty of international human rights law. Another submission highlighted the role of businesses as duty-bearers who must contribute to climate mitigation and be accountable for climate impacts. This article will consider an unexplored avenue through …

Lessons For The Treaty Process From The International Law Commission And International Environmental Law, Sara L. Seck

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The chapter examines Amnesty case studies in order to document the state practice identified and the gaps that need to be filled. The chapter will then consider the work of the ILC in its progressive codification of the law on prevention and loss allocation with respect to transboundary harm arising from hazardous activities, culminating in draft Articles8 and draft Principles,9 respectively, in 2001 and 2006. The modest claim of this chapter is that as the key United Nations body responsible for the progressive development and codification of international law, the work of the ILC should surely be of relevance to …

Refugees At Sea, Constance Macintosh

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The International Ocean Institute-Canada has produced this collection of over 80 insightful essays on the future of ocean governance and capacity development. The book honors the work of Elisabeth Mann Borgese (1918-2002), preeminent ocean advocate and founder of the IOI. More than 90 leading experts explore future challenges and opportunities for ocean governance and capacity development. Major themes include the law of the sea, ocean sciences, integrated coastal and ocean management, fisheries and aquaculture, communication and negotiations, maritime safety and security, ocean energy, and maritime transportation. The essay collection is aimed at professionals, students and citizens alike – covering themes …

Decarbonizing International Shipping: Potential Roles Of The Imo’S Initial Strategy And The Un Climate Regime, Meinhard Doelle, Aldo Chircop

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This article assesses the IMO’s 2018 Strategy to reduce GHG emissions from international shipping in light of the long-term goals of the Paris Climate Agreement, and considers its ambition, adequacy and effectiveness in ensuring a fair contribution to the global decarbonization effort. The article proceeds in four parts. In Part 1, we offer a brief history of efforts to reduce emissions from international shipping under the UN Climate Regime. This is followed in Part 2 with a similar overview of historical efforts under the IMO. In Part 3, we discuss the key elements of the 2018 IMO Strategy, followed by …

Decades Of Climate Policy Failure In Canada: Can We Break The Vicious Cycle?, Meinhard Doelle

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This paper explores the causes of 20 years of climate policy failure in Canada.

Paris To Projects Research Initiative, Robert B. Gibson, Karine Peloffy, Meinhard Doelle

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This working paper explores the key components and provisions that need to be incorporated into impact assessment legislation to ensure that assessed undertakings help meet Canadian climate change mitigation commitments and duties.

This discussion paper includes a summary that serves as a basic briefing note on the core climate components that should be included in the new federal legislation. It also includes a box presenting the tests for determining an undertaking's contributions to meeting Canada's international climate change mitigation commitments, and a more detailed discussion of implications for the new law.

Toward A Principled Design Of Provincial Cap & Trade Systems: Lessons From Nova Scotia's Proposal To Meet The Carbon Pricing Requirement In The Pan-Canadian Framework For Climate Change, Meinhard Doelle

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This article explores the Cap & Trade System proposed by the province of Nova Scotia in response to the call in the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change for all provinces to implement a carbon pricing mechanism. The proposed C & T system itself and the way it has been developed offers insights into ongoing debates in the governance of climate mitigation. The first debate is about the strength and weaknesses of various carbon pricing mechanisms, most notably the carbon tax and cap and trade systems. The second debate is about the relative importance of carbon pricing and …