Law Commons^™

Community Development Agreements: The Hardening And Evaluation Of A Norm, Luka G. Petrusevski

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Large scale mining projects generate highly variable outcomes. Proponents of mining cite benefits including job creation and revenue generation, while critics point to adverse social and economic impacts borne by mining-proximate communities. Community-based concerns about mining operations have raised ethical and social justice considerations relating to human-rights and consent. Community development agreements (CDAs) have emerged as an increasingly common tool to address such concerns and facilitate the delivery of tangible benefits from mining operations to affected communities. The effectiveness of CDAs, however, varies widely depending on the negotiated provisions and their implementation. This work contributes to the understanding of CDAs …

Canada's Customary Obligation To Prevent Transboundary Harm And The Reduction Of Emissions, Tyler Hammond

Master of Laws Research Papers Repository

This paper evaluates Canada’s obligations under customary international law to abide by the duty to prevent transboundary harm. The question asked is whether Canada has obligations stemming from the duty of prevention to reduce greenhouse gas emissions? Under the duty, states are required to make a due diligent effort to reduce activities that cause harm in other states. This effort does not necessitate an actual cessation of a particular activity. Therefore, this paper argues that the duty of prevention can be applied in the context of reducing greenhouse gas emissions; hence, Canada is obligated to take the necessary steps to …

Before The Ice Disappears: Pursuing Climate Justice For Inuit Women In The Context Of Mining In Nunavut, Angeline Bellehumeur

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The Arctic’s rapid warming is increasing the potential for mining activity in Nunavut, and, consequently, Inuit women are increasingly at risk of experiencing the adverse and gendered impacts of mining, including gender-based violence. Through a theoretical framework influenced by feminism, Indigenous legal scholarship and legal anthropology, this thesis examines the flaws in the mining industry’s voluntary efforts to acquiring a social licence to operate and in the Nunavut mining regulatory regime, while also considering how the law can provide legal recourse through tort actions and Inuit Impact Benefit Agreements. In every instance, is clear that climate justice for Inuit women …

A Comparative Review Of Climate Change And Sustainable Development In Canada And Nigeria: The Path To A Greener Future., Mary Uchechi Nnabara

Master of Laws Research Papers Repository

Over the years, climate change and sustainable development have become global concerns that have attracted global attention. This is owing to the fact that human activities calculated to bring about economic growth and sustainable development have wrecked great havoc and disrupted the balance that exists between growth and the environment. It has therefore become crucial for nations to work towards a common goal which is to fight against climate change in order to achieve sustainable development.

This can be achieved by reducing activities that contribute to greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and to climate change. Also, countries will need to …

Environmental Impact Assessment For Oil And Gas Projects: A Comparative Evaluation Of Canadian And Nigerian Laws, Omolola Anuoluwapo Fasina

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is a tool mandated by regulatory authorities to prevent environmental degradation and foster a sustainable environment. Procedural rights to access information and participate in decision-making are understood as key components of good environmental governance. This research compares the EIA laws in Nigeria and Canada and identifies areas of improvement in the EIA processes of both countries with regards to oil and gas activities, in light of existing international norms and, with a focus on public participation and climate change.

The research reveals that Canada, a developed country, has a more rigorous and effective public participation process …

Regulating For Resilience: Principled Flexibility And Environmental Co-Management In The Mackenzie Valley, Heather L. Potter

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The author examines the environmental regulatory regime in the Mackenzie Valley region of the Northwest Territories which includes the regulatory structure established by the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act and the private contractual instruments of environmental agreements, impact benefit agreements and socio-economic agreements. The author concludes that these instruments work together to form a complex regulatory system that is sometimes maladapted to the adaptive management framework necessary for effective regulation in an increasingly unstable arctic environment. The author argues that effective environmental management in the Mackenzie Valley requires a regulatory approach grounded in principled flexibility and shared environmental goals across …

Emissions Trading: A Policy Option For Fighting Climate Change In Africa, Gbenga Akinwande

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis shows how an emissions trading scheme can help African countries contribute to the goal of stabilizing the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. This is done through an assessment of the gaps in Africa’s climate change mitigation policy architecture and the potential benefits of emissions trading as a policy instrument—including lessons learned from emissions trading schemes implemented in the US, the EU, New Zealand, and Chile. The thesis concludes that adopting an emissions trading scheme as a policy instrument in Africa could potentially close the gaps in its policy architecture.

Restoring Humanity To Humanitarian Law: Borrowing From Environmental Law To Protect Civilians And The Environment, Kirsten Md Stefanik

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

As concerns about the environment increase and civilians continue to become casualties of armed conflict, we must reflect on traditional approaches and applications of International Humanitarian law [IHL]. While the current state of IHL provides protections for civilians and the environment, examples in practice of excessive harms to both suggest a gap exists in these protections. Current academic literature in the field tends to focus on either the protection of civilians or the protection of the environment, on either IHL or International Environmental law [IEL]. This is problematic as the two are inextricably linked: civilians and environment often, if not …

Corporate Social Responsibility In Canadian Banking A Case Study On The Equator Principles, Ian Osellame

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis considers the role of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the Canadian banking sector. Although the relevance of CSR continues to be debated, this analysis starts from the position that CSR is now a fact of life for modern banks and tests whether Canadian banks are demonstrating CSR behavior through their adoption of the Equator Principles: a series of guidelines on the management of social and environmental issues that banks voluntarily commit to follow in their project financing activities. This thesis concludes that examples of CSR behavior can be observed as Canadian banks continue to define the scope of …

“Winds Of Change”: Explaining Support For Wind Energy Developments In Ontario, Canada, Chad Jr Walker

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis addresses a major gap in the wind turbine and risk assessment literatures. It explains local support for wind energy in some areas in spite of vocal opposition in others. Findings from Port Burwell and Clear Creek, Ontario indicate that social and contextual forces may help explain much of the difference in opinion between the two communities. The case study was focused through 21 in-depth interviews. The interviews were analyzed verbatim using NVIVO 9 software. The findings were found to be consistent with Kasperson’s theory of the Social Amplification of Risk and seem to explain why Port Burwell is …

Beyond Indigenous Property Rights: Exploring The Emergence Of A Distinctive Connection Doctrine, Eric Dannemaier

Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium International (APRCi)

Human rights law has begun to offer normative protection for what remains of indigenous lands. Yet territory now better defended from conquest and encroachment is increasingly threatened by their byproducts. Water scarcity, food security, waste deposition, climate change—in short, the multiple impacts of industrial development—pose a new territorial challenge to indigenous communities that will test the reach and capacity of the human rights regime.

This Article examines that challenge and argues that a solution may lie in emerging human rights doctrine recognizing indigenous peoples’ land rights not as heirs to a European conception of property, but as peoples with a …

Blame It On Rio: Biodiscovery, Native Title, And Traditional Knowledge, Matthew Rimmer

Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium International (APRCi)

This article examines the legal responses to protect traditional knowledge of biodiversity in the wake of the Rio Convention on Biological Diversity. It considers the relative merits of the inter- locking regimes of contract law, environmental law, intellectual property law, and native title law. Part 1 considers the natural drug discovery industry in Australia. In particular , it looks at the operations of Amrad, Astra Zeneca R & D, and the Australian Institute of Marine Science. This section examines the key features of the draft regulations proposed under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth) - model contracts, …

A Taxonomy Of Environmental Justice, Robert R. Kuehn

Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium International (APRCi)

No abstract provided.