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Enforcing International Human Rights Law Against Corporations, Barnali Choudhury

All Papers

International human rights law is generally thought to apply directly to states, not to corporations since the latter is not a subject of international law. Some domestic courts are, however, enforcing these norms against corporations in domestic settings. Canadian courts have, for instance, recognized that corporations can be liable for breach of customary international law norms while UK courts have enforced international human rights norms indirectly against corporations relying on a combination of domestic corporate and tort law.

At the same time, some states are choosing to enforce international human rights norms against corporations using regulatory initiatives. These initiatives, known …

Are The Mdbs Accountable? Reflecting On The Independent Accountability Mechanisms Of The Multilateral Development Banks, Susan Park

Perspectives

The International Accountability Mechanisms of the Multilateral Development Banks provide important insights into how to hold intergovernmental organizations to account for their environmental and social impacts. This perspective identifies how the IAMs hold the Banks to account according to the six standard questions of accountability: who is accountable, to whom, for what are they accountable, and what are the standards, processes, and sanctions employed to demonstrate that the MDBs are accountable. This highlights what the IAMs can and cannot hold the MDBs to account for, and how this might shape further international grievance mechanisms for people seeking to defend their …

Effectiveness Of The Existing International Humanitarian Law Provisions In Protecting The Natural Environment During Internal Armed Conflicts, Joharah M. Alkahtani

Dissertations & Theses

The environment is inherently at risk in any armed conflict and the natural environment is always a victim of wars. In order to properly protect the environment, the international community must explicitly recognize the civilian nature of the environment and bar all damages to it notwithstanding its extent, longevity and severity. The current study focuses on the environmental protection during armed conflicts. In World War I, parties employed the indiscriminate use of chemical weapons as a way of gaining military advantage over their enemies. The world responded by adopting the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and …

Integrating Environmental Protection Into Asean Trading System, Kittinut Supsoontornkul

Dissertations & Theses

Integrating environmental protection into ASEAN trading system is pivotal for ensuring long-term economic development and environmental sustainability. Due to its resource-based economy, ASEAN's economic performance highly depends on the sustainable condition of the environment. The ASEAN approach prioritizing economic growth without environmental consideration leads to environmental degradation and economic loss. Many transboundary environmental problems in ASEAN result from unsustainable production methods aiming to maximize advantages in trade competition. There are growing international efforts in addressing production and process methods as a part of the sustainable development goal. Major trading partners of ASEAN increasingly employ unilateral environmental trade measures and environmental …

Equipping The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation For The Low-Carbon Transition: How Are Other National Oil Companies Adapting?, Perrine Toledano, Martin Dietrich Brauch, Tehtena Mebratu-Tsegaye, Francisco Javier Pardinas Favela

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation’s (NNPC) persistent governance challenges have both hampered Nigeria’s oil sector development and deprived the country of public resources. The oil, climate, and COVID-19 crises and the ramp-up of the low-carbon transition exacerbate this reality, with the national oil company (NOC) delivering sub-optimal returns to its stakeholders.

Other NOCs have taken meaningful steps to become players in the low-carbon energy transition domestically or in­ternationally – for example, Sau­di Arabia’s Saudi Aramco, Norway’s Equinor, Brazil’s Petrobras, Malaysia’s Petronas, and Algeria’s Sonatrach. These NOCs can serve as sources of inspiration for NNPC. These five NOCs have also undergone …

Getting The Most Out Of Extractive Industries Transparency: How A More Explicit Treatment Of Political Considerations Could Strengthen The Impact Of Transparency Efforts, Columbia Center On Sustainable Investment

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

Work on transparency in the extractive industries (EI) has achieved important successes over the last two decades. For example, significant commitments to disclosure have been secured, the volume of publicly available information about critical activities has increased considerably, and norms around certain information being in the public domain have been established. There is also a growing library of use cases for this information. Nonetheless, important work remains to be done to translate these efforts into impact.

Political context is crucial to determining the fate of transparency efforts. Therefore, grappling with political context more effectively will also be key to unlocking …

Environmental Injustice: How Treaties Undermine The Right To A Healthy Environment, Lisa E. Sachs, Lise Johnson, Ella Merrill

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

Our planet faces unprecedented threats, including irreversible global warming, loss in biodiversity, and water pollution and water scarcity. The impacts of these environmental crises also threaten human rights and exacerbate inequality. Slowing these worsening environmental trends – and addressing the impacts of environmental change on populations – will require cumulative policy responses at the national and international level.

Transnational Perspectives On The Paris Climate Agreement Beyond Paris: Redressing American Defaults In Caring For Earth’S Biosphere, Nicholas A. Robinson

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Anxiety about the fate of human civilization is rising. International Law has an essential role to play in sustaining community of nations. Without enhancing International Environmental Law, the biosphere that sustains all nations is imperiled. Laws in the United States can either impede or advance global environmental stewardship. What is entailed in such a choice?

The biosphere is changing. At a time when extraordinary technological prowess allows governments the capacity to know how deeply they are altering Earth's biosphere, nations experience a perverse inability to cooperate together. The Arctic is melting rapidly, with knock on effects for sea level rise …

Framing The Global Pact For The Environment: Why It’S Needed, What It Does, And How It Does It, Teresa Parejo Navajas, Nathan Lobel

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

We face a critical environmental crisis. Humanity consumes unsustainably; we use resources at a rate fifty percent faster than they are reproduced by the planet. The population is growing exponentially and climate change, the most important challenge of this century, is already wreaking havoc around the world. Despite numerous existing international environmental treaties, the Earth, and, therefore, human safety and prosperity, is in peril. According to a recent study by scientists from Stanford University and the National Autonomous University of Mexico, the ongoing “sixth mass extinction” threatens to cause an “assault on the foundations of human civilization.” In November 2017, …

Foundations For Sustainable Development: Harmonizing Islam, Nature And Law, Norah Bin Hamad

Dissertations & Theses

Human society is weakening Earth’s environment, its only home. In 2015, nations agreed on a new set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to guide restoring and sustaining the wellbeing of peoples everywhere. If the SDGs are to succeed, all cultural and religious communities will need to urgently implement them. Islam offers a holistic view of God’s creation and the Qur’an clearly sets forth duties to care for the Earth. In the past, most people have ignored the world-wide trends of environmental degradation which scientist have reported. There is a pressing need to expand education and public awareness about the threats …

Shooting Stars And Dancing Fish: A Walk To The World We Want, Tony Oposa

Environmental Law Program Publications @ Haub Law

From the foreword by Durwood Zaelke, President, Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development, Washington, DC.

“Since the beginning of time, human knowledge and culture have been passed down through stories. Short stories, songs, prayers, poems, even paintings can stick in your mind forever. These have always been the most powerful ways we learn and remember.

Tony is not only one of the world’s greatest lawyers, he is also one of the world’s greatest storytellers.

This book, in which he generously shares his experiences, his scars, and most importantly his humanity, is Tony’s gift to generations to come.

But he does …

Corporate Agricultural Investment And The Right To Food: Addressing Disparate Protections And Promoting Rights-Consistent Outcomes, Kaitlin Y. Cordes, Anna Bulman

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

Over the past decade, the world has witnessed heightened corporate interest in large-scale land-based agricultural investment. While such investments can potentially have positive effects for local communities, they also can have wide-ranging negative impacts on human rights, including through forced displacement and the loss of livelihoods. This Article examines the impact of large-scale corporate agricultural investment on the right to food, as well as on human rights more generally. It considers the protections offered by the investment and human rights legal regimes to both corporations and individuals, including recent international developments relating to transnational corporate accountability and efforts to integrate …

Thawing Out: The Role Of The Arctic Council Service In A Melting Arctic, Taylor J. Enos

Pell Scholars and Senior Theses

With the changing natural and political climate of the Arctic, conflicts over resource extraction and navigation will become inevitable. Empowering an intergovernmental institution like the Arctic Council Service may be the only solution. This paper analyzes the importance and history of the Arctic as a political environment, which is prone to abuse in the very near future at the hands of Russia and the United States.

Tpp Would Let Foreign Investors Bypass The Canadian Public Interest, Lisa E. Sachs, Lise Johnson

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

In early October, prime ministerial candidate Justin Trudeau promised Canadians “a full and open public debate” on the Trans-Pacific Partnership. With 30 chapters that would bind Canada to sweeping agreements on everything from services to intellectual property to the environment to procurement, there is much to debate.

The Integration Of Environmental Law Into International Investment Treaties And Trade Agreements: Negotiation Process And The Legalization Of Commitments, Madison Condon

Faculty Scholarship

There were seventeen international investment agreements (“IIAs”) signed around the world in 2012, and each one of them contained some provision relating to the protection of the environment. In comparison, no investment treaty signed before 1985, and fewer than ten percent of treaties signed between 1985 and 2001, contained any reference to the environment at all. Environmental language has become increasingly common in bilateral investment treaties (“BITs”), and to an even greater degree in other IIAs, such as free trade agreements (“FTAs”). The legal implications of the integration of environmental law and norms into investment law treaties have yet to …

The International Sugar Trade And Sustainable Development: Curtailing The Sugar Rush, Nadia B. Ahmad

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Slides: Meeting The Needs Of Women Through Clean Cooking Solutions, Corinne Hart

2012 Energy Justice Conference and Technology Exposition (September 17-18)

Presenter: Corinne Hart, Program Manager, Gender and Markets, Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves

20 slides

Reclaiming Global Environmental Leadership: Why The United States Should Ratify Ten Pending Environmental Treaties, Noah M. Sachs

Law Faculty Publications

For more than a century, the United States has taken the lead in organizing international responses to international environmental problems. The long list of environmental agreements spearheaded by the United States extends from early treaties with Canada and Mexico on boundary waters and migratory birds to global agreements restricting trade in endangered species and protecting against ozone depletion.

In the last two decades, however, U.S. environmental leadership has faltered. The best known example is the lack of an effective response to climate change, underscored by the U.S. decision not to join the Kyoto Protocol. But that is not the only …

Wider Role For Our Miners In Africa, Lisa E. Sachs, Joel Negin, Glenn Denning

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

The Australian government is rapidly increasing aid to Africa. But the real story about the country's engagement in Africa is the massive investment by Australian companies in extractive industries.

More than 150 Australian resource companies are active in more than 40 African countries with a total investment greater than $20 billion, including in coal in Mozambique, copper and uranium in Zambia, gold in Eritrea and uranium in Malawi.

Zambezi Valley Development Study, Lisa E. Sachs, Perrine Toledano

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

In June 2011, CCSI released a consultative draft report on Resource-Based Sustainable Development in the Lower Zambezi Basin, the result of a year-long inquiry into how the vast resource deposits in Tete province, combined with other major investments along the Nacala and Beira corridors, can be the basis for sustainable, equitable and inclusive growth in the Lower Zambezi Basin.

The report recommends a framework of actions by Mozambique and its public and private partners to ensure that Mozambique reaps a major boost to economic development from its vast resource endowments, while also respecting the profitability of private-sector investments in …

El Surgimiento Del Derecho Ambiental Global, Robert V. Percival

Faculty Scholarship

Legal systems across the globe are responding to environmental concerns in surprising new ways. As nations upgrade their environmental standards, some are transplanting law and regulatory policy innovations derived from the experience of other countries, including nations with very different legal and cultural traditions. New national, regional, and international initiatives have been undertaken both by governments and private organizations. Greater cross-border collaboration between government officials, nongovernmental organizations, multinational corporations and other entities is shaping environmental policy in ways that blur traditional private/public land domestic/international distinctions. The result has been the emergence of a kind of “global environmental law” – law …

The Permissible Reach Of National Environmental Policies, Henrik Horn, Petros C. Mavroidis

Faculty Scholarship

Trading nations exchange tariff concessions in the context of trade liberalizing rounds. Tariffs, nonetheless, are not the only instrument affecting the value of a concession. Domestic instruments affect it as well, but public order is not negotiable, and, consequently, is not scheduled. Public order is unilaterally defined, but must respect the default rules concerning allocation of jurisdiction which are common to all WTO Members and bind them by virtue of their appurtenance to the international community. In this paper, we focus on the interaction between trade and environment. The purpose of this study is to highlight how these rules and …

Development Decision Making And The Content Of International Development Law, Daniel D. Bradlow

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

International development law deals with the rights and duties of states and other actors in the development process. As the consensus view of the development process disintegrated during the 1970s and 1980s, the agreement on the content of international development law also began to break down. Today there are two competing idealized views of development. The first, the traditional view, maintains that development is about economic growth, which can be distinguished from other social, cultural, environmental, and political development issues in society. The second, the modern view, maintains that development is an integrated process of change involving intertwined economic, social, …

Ecocide And Genocide In Iraq: International Law, The Marsh Arabs, And Environmental Damage In Non-International Conflicts, Aaron Schwabach

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Water Of Life: Our Common Future, Marcos Terena

Allocating and Managing Water for a Sustainable Future: Lessons from Around the World (Summer Conference, June 11-14)

6 pages.

Introduction And Symposium Overview: The Changing Labor Markets Of The Western Hemisphere: Labor Issues Relating To The Ftaa, Ann C. Hodges

Law Faculty Publications

In 1994, thirty-four countries in the Western Hemisphere met in Miami to begin negotiations designed to establish a comprehensive free trade agreement. The initial meeting led to a "Declaration of Principles" and a "Plan of Action" which committed the signatory countries to take steps toward open markets and free trade in the hemisphere. Subsequent meetings in 1998 and 2001 have moved the countries toward creation of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), with an expectation that the agreement will be in place by 2005.

The United Nations And Civil Society, Jayantha Dhanapala

A Cartography of Governance: Exploring the Province of Environmental NGOs (April 7-8)

7 pages.

Enforcement And The Success Of International Environmental Law, Mary Ellen O'Connell

Journal Articles

Professor O'Connell discusses the traditional methods used for international law "enforcement," and she argues that international law is generally obeyed. Its enforcement is based primarily on compliance, not enforcement. Accordingly, the author argues against using international enforcement mechanisms to enforce international environmental law. Instead, she posits that domestic courts should be used for international environmental law enforcement; however, certain obstacles, such as sovereign immunity, the doctrine of standing, and the principle of forum non conveniens, must be overcome. Professor O'Connell argues that it may be possible to overcome many of these court-made obstacles to enforcing international law through domestic courts. …

Using Trade To Enforce International Environmental Law: Implications For United States Law, Mary Ellen O'Connell

Journal Articles

The United States has enviable domestic environmental protection laws. However, good domestic environmental protection raises two concerns: effectiveness and competitiveness. In response to these two problems of environmental protection—effectiveness and competitiveness—members of Congress introduced over thirty bills in 1990 to amend U.S. trade laws. The bills were designed to either press other states to adopt environmental protection standards similar to the United States own or to at least minimize the competitive disadvantage for U.S. business inherent in U.S. regulations. The bills took one of two approaches: either they aimed at restricting access to U.S. markets for those states failing to …

Developing A World Vision: An Introduction To International Environmental Policy, Beverly Mcqueary Smith

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.