Environmental Law Commons^™

Will International Law Save Us From Climate Disasters?, Michael B. Gerrard

Faculty Scholarship

I am going to address the role of international law in dealing with disasters that can be caused or worsened by climate change.

Articulating Moral Bases For Regional Responses To Deforestation And Climate Change: Africa, Amelia Chizwala Peterson

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

Deforestation and desertification, archenemies of efforts to maintain forests as sinks for greenhouse gas emissions, are marching on unabated in Africa, where 90 percent of forests were lost in West Africa over the last century alone. Wangari Maathai, founder of the Green Belt Movement, whose work to restore some of Kenya’s decimated forests predates the connections made by the climate science community between deforestation and climate change, wrote:

Today we are faced with a challenge that calls for a shift in our thinking, so that humanity stops threatening its lifesupport system. We are called to assist the Earth to heal …

"Soaring" Gas Prices: Policy Considerations For The European Union Emissions Trading System And Aviation, Kaylin Gaal

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

Agenda: Free, Prior And Informed Consent: Pathways For A New Millennium, University Of Colorado Boulder. Getches-Wilkinson Center For Natural Resources, Energy, And The Environment, University Of Colorado Boulder. School Of Law. American Indian Law Program

Free, Prior and Informed Consent: Pathways for a New Millennium (November 1)

Presented by the University of Colorado's American Indian Law Program and the Getches-Wilkinson Center for Natural Resources, Energy & the Environment.

The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), along with treaties, instruments, and decisions of international law, recognizes that indigenous peoples have the right to give "free, prior, and informed consent" to legislation and development affecting their lands, natural resources, and other interests, and to receive remedies for losses of property taken without such consent. With approximately 150 nations, including the United States, endorsing the UNDRIP, this requirement gives rise to emerging standards, obligations, and opportunities …

Indigenous Peoples’ Right Of Free Prior Informed Consent With Respect To Indigenous Lands, Territories And Resources (United Nations Workshop, 17-19 January 2005), Indian Law Resource Center

Free, Prior and Informed Consent: Pathways for a New Millennium (November 1)

3 pages.

U.N. Doc PFII/2004/WS.2/6

Principles Of International Law For Multilateral Development Banks: The Obligation To Respect Human Rights, Robert T. Coulter, Leonardo A. Crippa, Emily Wann

Free, Prior and Informed Consent: Pathways for a New Millennium (November 1)

41 pages.

"January, 2009"

www.indianlaw.org

Indigenous Peoples’ Right Of Free Prior Informed Consent With Respect To Indigenous Lands, Territories And Resources (June 28, 2010), Indian Law Resource Center

Free, Prior and Informed Consent: Pathways for a New Millennium (November 1)

3 pages.

"June 28, 2010"

Free, Prior And Informed Consent: Ilo 169 And Undrip, Kelsey Peterson

Free, Prior and Informed Consent: Pathways for a New Millennium (November 1)

2 pages.

"Kelsey Peterson, American Indian Law Program Fellow, University of Colorado Law School Class of 2015"

Leveraging Paraguay’S Hydropower For Sustainable Economic Development, Perrine Toledano, Nicolas Maennling

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

While internationally Paraguay is known for being the largest hydropower exporter in the world, the domestic economy suffers from regular outages and high system losses. The country is largely dependent on agricultural production, which has led to volatile economic performances in the past resulting from climatic circumstances and commodity price fluctuations. To address these two key policy challenges, the Government of Paraguay has approached The Earth Institute to: 1) explore the potential of a climate risk management system and sustainable agriculture activities to mitigate environmental vulnerability and 2) develop a high-level strategic plan to use Paraguay’s vast hydropower resources for …

Orbital Debris: Out Of Space, Meghan R. Plantz

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Joe M Stell Ombudsman Program - Taos Settlement Technical Work, Peggy Barroll

Publications

No abstract provided.

“Turn On The Lights” -Sustainable Energy Investment And Regulatory Policy: Charting The Hydrokinetic Path For Pakistan, Nadia B. Ahmad

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Tricky Business: A Decision-Making Framework For Legally Sound, Ethically Suspect Business Tactics, Corey A. Ciocchetti

Cardozo Public Law, Policy & Ethics Journal

Trick: "a crafty or underhanded device, maneuver, stratagem, or the like, intended to deceive or cheat." Tricks are designed to outwit others in a cunning and skillful manner. Despite well-written, philosophically sound codes of ethics and core values, businesses are not above employing tricky tactics to suit their pecuniary interests. These strategies often involve the legal system as the outwitted ask courts to vindicate their rights. However, the most successful tricks are skillfully crafted to survive legal scrutiny. This Article evaluates three tricky business tactics found lawful by the United States Supreme Court during its most recent term. The Article …

Insuring Island States: The Role Of Insurance For Small Island States In Responding To The Adverse Effects Of Sea Level Rise, Maria Antonia Tigre

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Student Publications

Small island states are likely to suffer the greatest impact of sea level rise. They are also generally low emitters of greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs), meaning they have contributed little to the problem of human-induced climate change. For an array of reasons, including their reduced economic and political power relative to the international power of other states, these smaller islands and states have come together, forming the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS). Jointly, they have been battling to gain the attention of the international community in their search for solutions. However, they are still left with many unanswered questions …

Towards A Network Of Marine Protected Areas In The South China Sea: Legal And Political Perspectives, Hai Dang Vu

PhD Dissertations

The once pristine and rich marine environment of the South China Sea is degrading at an alarming rate due to the rapid socioeconomic development of the region. Despite this, and because mainly of complicated sovereignty and maritime boundary disputes, coastal States have not been able to develop effective regional cooperation to safeguard the shared marine environment. This dissertation, “Towards a Network of Marine Protected Areas in the South China Sea: Legal and Political Perspectives”, researches legal and political measures to support the development of a network of marine protected areas in the South China Sea. Such a network, if properly …

Environmental Overreach: The Eu’S Carbon Tax On International Aviation, Surya Gablin Gunasekara

Washington and Lee Journal of Energy, Climate, and the Environment

On November 27, 2012—without the fanfare of a Rose Garden ceremony—President Obama signed into law a bill that forbids United States airlines from participating in the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (“EU ETS”). Environmental organizations bemoaned the President’s decision after having urged him to veto the bill. Supporters of the law hailed the passage as a win for American sovereignty, preventing an illegitimate and disingenuous environmental tax on U.S. carriers and passengers. This article addresses the aviation industry’s role in global climate change, and offers an in-depth analysis of the EU ETS and the European Commission’s decision to include international …

Groundwater Challenges In Spain: Lessons From The Western Mancha Aquifer, Pedro Martinez-Santos

Publications

No abstract provided.

Why The Extractive Industry Should Support Mandatory Transparency: A Shared Value Approach, Julien Topal, Perrine Toledano

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

The Transparency Amendment, included in the Dodd‐Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, can be an important tool in curtailing the resource curse that so heavily burdens resource‐rich developing countries by shedding light on opaque payments between the extractive sector and host countries. From the get‐go, however, extractive industry companies have fiercely opposed the new mandatory disclosure requirements as set out in this regulation. The corporate opposition is for the largest part motivated by the fear of a competitive disadvantage that derives from the fact that the amendment is housed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and thus …

Memo To The Obama Administration On The Burma Responsible Investment Reporting Requirements, Kaitlin Y. Cordes, Lisa E. Sachs

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

In September 2013, CCSI sent a memo to President Obama and his Administration in response to the first public reports submitted by U.S. companies in compliance with the Burma Responsible Investment Reporting Requirements. The memo applauded the U.S. Government’s efforts to encourage responsible investment in Burma, noting that robust due diligence is essential to ensuring that international investments contribute to sustainable development. Yet the memo also urged the Obama Administration to take steps to strengthen future reporting. In particular, CCSI urged the Administration to issue clarifying guidance that any U.S. investor submitting a report should (1) provide information on due …

The Sinking Of Sovereignty And Sovereign Rights? Mitigating The Impacts Of Climate Change To Maritime Jurisdiction And A Proposal For Solutions, I Made Andi Arsana

Indonesia Law Review

While some still debate whether or not climate change is a reality, one of its impacts, sea level rise, is factual. The cause and the rate of sea level rise might have been inconclusive but its impacts have been clearly felt. Sea level rise can also change the legal status of insular features (small islands/rocks and low tide elevation) that will also affect their capacity in making maritime claim. For an archipelagic State like Indonesia, small outer islands/rocks or low-tide elevation are important for location of basepoints forming the entire system of archipelagic baselines. This paper investigates the impact of …

On Solid Ground: Toward Effective Resource-Based Development, Lisa E. Sachs

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

The small island-state of Timor-Leste exemplifies the challenge of resource-based development for a poor country well-endowed with a valuable natural resource. Timor-Leste, which gained its independence in 2002, has accumulated $13 billion in its petroleum fund in less than a decade. Some of the largest multinational oil companies are operating in the country, and the revenues continue to flow. And yet, while Timor-Leste has seen very notable improvements in its development indicators in the past few years, it continues to face a massive challenge of converting financial wealth into economic development. There are also heated debates about how to spend …

Community Development Funds And Agreements In Guinea Under The New Mining Code, Columbia Center On Sustainable Investment

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

Guinea’s 2011 Mining Code introduced a large number of reforms directed to increasing transparency and the contribution of the mining sector to development, including requirements for the establishment of a local development fund and for community development agreements between mining companies and local communities. As part of the legal and fiscal analysis of the gold mining investments in Guinea, CCSI examined how these provisions could be implemented effectively. CCSI produced a report that makes recommendations as to how the Government, mining companies, civil society and communities can work together to maximize the benefits of local development funding in the Guinean …

Toward An International Standard Of Environment, George P. Smith Ii

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Cutting To The Chase: Corporate Liability For The Environmental Harm Under The Alien Tort Statute, Kiobel, And Congress, Tony Kupersmith

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

Rio+20 And Biodiversity: What Next? The International And Brazilian Perspectives, Nicholas A. Robinson

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Extended written remarks of the oral panel presentation by Professor Nicholas A. Robinson at the international colloquium in tribute to Ambassador Luiz Alberto Figueiredo do Machado on Rio+20 and Biodiversity: Assessing the Future We Want. Presented as part of the Inaugural Panel, held in the Senate Chamber of Brazil in Brasilia on 26 April 2013 and televised nationally.

International Deployment Of Microbial Pest Control Agents: Falling Between The Cracks Of The Convention On Biological Diversity And The Cartagena Biosafety Protocol?, Guy R. Knudsen

Pace Environmental Law Review

This paper considers one tangled web of conflicting developments. It involves the popular desire to replace chemical pesticides with more “natural” biological control strategies, plus a slowly emerging awareness of a less benign side to microbial pest control agents, based on their potential invasiveness and sometimes striking similarities to agents of bioterrorism and biological warfare. This desire, however, is overshadowed by concerns about the environmental release of genetically engineered organisms. I argue that as some of the concerns about ecological diversity, as captured by the Convention on Biodiversity, were channeled into the subsequent Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the Convention …

A Proposal For Addressing Violations Of Indigenous Peoples' Environmental And Human-Rights In The Inter-American Human Rights System, Natalia Gove

Student Works

International concerns in the areas of human rights, health, and environment have expanded considerably in the past several decades. International environmental law primarily focuses on environmental damage, rather than its impact on human beings. The focus of environmental treaties is primarily on constraining environmentally deleterious behavior, rather than preventing injuries to people. Part I of this paper will discuss the significance of environmental protection for indigenous peoples. Part II will analyze the linkage between environmental and human rights, as well as the lack of a direct enforcement mechanism for redressing violations of environmental rights. It will also describe the existing …

Why International Catch Shares Won't Save Ocean Biodiversity, Holly Doremus

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

Skepticism about the efficacy and efficiency of regulatory approaches has produced a wave of enthusiasm for market-based strategies for dealing with environmental conflicts. In the fisheries context, the most prominent of these strategies is the use of “catch shares,” which assign specific proportions of the total allowable catch to individuals who are then free to trade them with others. Catch shares are now in wide use domestically within many nations, and there are increasing calls for implementation of internationally tradable catch shares. Based on a review of theory, empirical evidence, and two contexts in which catch shares have been proposed, …

Great Debate: Mining In Latin America, Lisa E. Sachs

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

Mining represents a great opportunity for economic growth, especially for emerging economies. It is often seen as the path to prosperity. However, the mining industry is a double edged sword. Countries in Latin America are managing to attract significant foreign investment. In Chile, the extractive sector’s participation in the economy has tripled in the last 10 years, reaching 15% of GDP. In Colombia and Peru, it has doubled to 10% of GDP. The Santos administration in Colombia has made mining one of its top policy priorities.

However, there may be significant downsides to mining, as governments are forced to offer …

Prosecuting Those Bearing Greatest Responsibility: The Lessons Of The Special Court For Sierra Leone, Charles C. Jalloh

Articles

This Article examines the controversial article 1(1) of the Statute of the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) giving that tribunal the competence "to prosecute those who bear the greatest responsibility" for serious international and domestic crimes committed during the latter part of the notoriously brutal Sierra Leonean conflict. The debate that arose during the SCSL trials was whether this bare statement constituted a jurisdictional requirement that the prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt or merely a type of guideline for the exercise of prosecutorial discretion. The judges of the court split on the issue. This paper is the …