International Law Commons^™

The Legal Framework For Direct Ocean Carbon Capture And Storage (Volume 1: International Law), Romany M. Webb, Korey Silverman-Roati

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

This paper focuses on the marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR) approach of direct ocean carbon capture and storage (DOCCS), which aims to remove some of the carbon currently stored in the ocean and thereby enable it to uptake additional carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. DOCCS is still undergoing research, but early studies suggest it could have significant carbon dioxide removal potential. However, DOCCS could also present environmental and other risks, including from the construction of new facilities, the intake and processing of water, and the handling and storage of carbon dioxide. Careful siting, design, and operation of DOCCS systems is …

Thinking Constructively About International Law, Monica Hakimi

Faculty Scholarship

The international order that has defined the post-World War II period is being radically transformed, presenting a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reconstitute its basic foundations. The pressing questions for international lawyers are about the roles their enterprise can and should play going forward. I argue in this Article that most lack the analytic framework they need even to begin tackling these questions. Worse, most seem mired in an old theory about law that corrupts how they approach their enterprise. My goals in the Article are to expose the prevalence of this bad theory and to present the grounds for discarding it, …

The Mysterious Federal Policy In Favor Of Arbitration: Festschrifts Squared, Robert H. Smit

Faculty Scholarship

As far as I can tell, John Fellas and I think alike on most things, both as practicing international arbitrators and as professors of international arbitration law. As arbitrators in practice, all of the awards we have rendered together — whether John chaired, I chaired or we both served as party-appointed arbitrators — were unanimous awards. As professors in academics, we both independently submitted essays — on the occasion of a festschrift in honor of Professor George Bermann — addressing related issues concerning the federal policy in favor of arbitration in the United States. John’s festschrift essay is entitled “ …

A Primer On International Agreements Relevant To Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal, Korey Silverman-Roati, Romany M. Webb

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

This primer provides an introduction to seven international agreements relevant to marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR) research activities in the ocean. Each of these agreements has implications for whether, when, where, and how in-ocean mCDR projects will go forward. The primer is intended to provide policymakers, non-government organizations (NGOs), scientists, and others working on mCDR with an introduction to the agreements and explain their relevance to mCDR. It also offers guidance to those wishing to engage in discussions regarding mCDR under the agreements, which could help resolve open legal questions on their applicability to, and governance of, mCDR.

The Supreme Court's Policy Favoring Arbitration And Its Limits, George A. Bermann

Faculty Scholarship

While the federal policy favoring arbitration is codified in the 1925 Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), the strength of that policy depends on the treatment that arbitration receives in federal courts and in the United States Supreme Court in particular.

Courts in all jurisdictions play an important role in fashioning the treatment of arbitration agreements, arbitral proceedings and arbitral awards. However, the judicial role in this regard is especially pronounced in the United States, in view of the problematic state of legislation on the subject. The federal legislation on arbitration is 100 years old and has never been meaningfully amended. The …

International Governance Of Ocean Iron Fertilization Research: A Case Study Of The Proposed Exploring Ocean Iron Solutions Field Experiments, Ashwin Murthy, Romany M. Webb

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

Ocean iron fertilization (OIF) has been a subject of scientific research since the 1980s. The primary international legal instruments regulating OIF are the 1972 Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter (London Convention or LC) and the 1996 Protocol to that Convention (London Protocol or LP). To guide regulation of research activities, under the LC and LP, the Assessment Framework was developed.

To demonstrate how domestic regulators might use the Assessment Framework, this paper explores its application to recently proposed OIF field trials advanced by the Exploring Ocean Iron Solutions (ExOIS) research consortium. …

The Icj’S Advisory Opinion On Climate Change, Maria Antonia Tigre, Maxim Bönnemann, Antoine De Spiegeleir

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

This open-access edited volume offers the first comprehensive analysis of the International Court of Justice’s 2025 Advisory Opinion on the obligations of States in respect of climate change, one of the most consequential developments in international climate law since the adoption of the Paris Agreement. Bringing together leading scholars and practitioners from across public international law, human rights law, environmental law, and global governance, the book examines how the Court reframed climate change as a matter of binding legal obligation rather than political discretion.

The contributions explore the Opinion’s articulation of state duties under treaties, customary international law, and general …

Out From The Shadows: Party Documents In Chinese Courts, Benjamin L. Liebman, Eva Gao, Xiaohan Wu, Rachel E. Stern, Margaret Roberts

Faculty Scholarship

The Communist Party’s influence over the Chinese legal system is generally assumed to be behind the scenes, largely invisible to outside observers. Since General Secretary Xi Jinping came to power in 2012, there has been renewed attention within and outside of China to the relationship between the Communist Party and the legal system. Much of this recent writing has emphasized the degree to which Xi’s efforts to affirm Party superiority and break down barriers between the Party and the State reflects a profound shift in governance and a reversal of a decades-long effort to distinguish between Party roles and those …

The Trump Administration Reverses U.S. Position On Unrwa Immunities, Lori Fisler Damrosch

Faculty Scholarship

On April 24, 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice submitted a letter in a civil lawsuit that maintains for the first time that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is not immune from U.S. civil litigation. The letter reverses the position taken by the previous administration in the same lawsuitFootnote 2 and alters nearly eight decades of U.S. practice concerning the immunities of UN entities that are considered subsidiary organs of UN principal organs and thus part of the United Nations itself. Heretofore, the government stated that such organs are entitled …

Most-Favored-Nation's False Promises, George A. Bermann

Faculty Scholarship

Most-favoured-nation (MFN) protection seems decidedly straightforward both in meaning and operation, certainly as compared to other investment protections, such as fair and equitable treatment, which are plagued with indeterminacy. But the clarity of meaning and ease of application of MFN clauses are largely illusory. An examination of arbitral case law reveals seriously underestimated uncertainties surrounding the doctrine’s scope and workings. But the problems with MFN run far deeper. MFN may have the virtue of enhancing the level of protection of foreign investments. But States do not only extend benefits; they also withhold them. MFN disrespects the balance that States sought …

International Legal Guidelines For Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal Governance Under The London Convention And London Protocol, Korey Silverman-Roati, Romany M. Webb

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

For the past two decades, parties to the London Convention and Protocol have negotiated rules, decisions, and amendments related to climate change. These efforts have principally focused on two sets of technologies – sub-seabed carbon dioxide storage and marine geoengineering. Initial discussions regarding marine geoengineering focused specifically on ocean fertilization but, more recently, the parties have considered an expanded array of marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR) approaches, including ocean alkalinity enhancement and ocean sinking of biomass. Throughout these discussions, the parties have invoked legal principles and guidelines, like the precautionary approach, to inform their assessment of how to apply the …

Methane Removal Under The Paris Agreement, Romany M. Webb

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

In the 2015 Paris Agreement, the international community agreed to “strengthen the global response to climate change” by limiting the “increase in global average temperatures to well below" 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, and ideally to 1.5 degrees Celsius. As recognized in the Agreement, to stay within these limits, global greenhouse gas emissions must be rapidly reduced, “so as to achieve a balance between anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of greenhouse gases in the second half of this century” — a situation commonly described as “net zero.” The need to reach net zero has prompted growing …

Transforming The World With Reparations?, Ingrid Brunk, Monica Hakimi

Faculty Scholarship

Claims for reparations in international law commonly reflect two competing visions--one transformative, the other corrective. The transformative vision looks to reparations to end the long tail of injustices that are associated with large-scale historic harms. The corrective vision is more confined; it focuses on repairing specific, legally cognizable harms and returning the agents or entities involved as closely as possible to the status quo ante. We argue in this Essay that these two visions have distinct conceptual logics, even though they often overlap in practice, and that the transformative vision cannot carry the burdens that are placed on it.

How Domestic Institutions Shape The Global Tech War, Anu Bradford, Eileen Li, Matthew C. Waxman

Faculty Scholarship

The United States (U.S.), China, and the European Union (EU) are engaged in a national security-driven economic competition over advanced technology. Many scholars and commentators focus on the external dimension of this geopolitical contest; that is, they describe the strategic choices by each actor in terms of geopolitical realities, threat perceptions, and relative power. However, this Article brings to the fore the internal dimension of the global tech war. We argue that each player’s strategy in the tech war is a function of its internal features, including basic constitutional powers, domestic legal institutions, and the relationships between the government and …

Thailand V. Katanyu Muenkhamruang “Pan”, Andrew Khoo, Human Rights Institute

Human Rights Institute

The criminal proceedings against Ms. Katanyu Muenkhamruang (“Pan”), a 27-year-old Thai student and pro-democracy activist, violated international fair trial standards and Thailand’s human rights obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Pan was convicted under Thailand’s sedition law and the Computer-Related Crimes Act for Facebook posts promoting peaceful anti-government protests in 2021. The trial revealed numerous due process violations, including violation of the presumption of innocence, reliance on unsubstantiated claims, and a lack of reasoned judgment. Despite the absence of direct evidence linking Pan to the alleged posts, the court inferred guilt, and arbitrarily disregarded exculpatory …

Igniting Action To Reduce Gas Flaring: Real Opportunities. Real Projects. Real Results., Andrew Bernstein, Mark Davis, Thomas Mitro, Perrine Toledano

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment

Gas flaring is a major global challenge. Despite bold commitments from governments, national oil companies (NOCs), international oil companies (IOCs), and leading independents, global flaring levels have stagnated at around 140–150 BCM per year, emitting up to 1 billion tonnes of CO2-equivalent greenhouse gases annually, while representing as much as $30 billion per year in potential lost revenue.

Numerous studies have outlined how flared gas can be captured and monetized – through power generation, fertilizers, petrochemicals, LNG and pipeline exports, among other use cases. Substantial reductions in flaring are not only technically achievable but can often create significant commercial value …

From Promise To Performance: Reforming Blended Finance For Scale, Perrine Toledano, Ana M. Camelo Vega, Tucker Wilke

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment

Blended finance has the potential to help close the sustainable development financing gap. Strategically combining public and philanthropic capital to unlock private investment, it has proven to be an effective tool to de-risk impact investments. But without bold, structural reform, it risks remaining a niche tool – promising in theory, underperforming in practice. Drawing on over 65 expert interviews and in-depth analysis, this report from the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment (CCSI) maps the systemic barriers preventing blended finance from operating at scale, and outlines a practical path forward. With bold leadership and coordinated reform, blended finance can become a …

The Role Of Advisory Opinions In International Law In The Context Of The Climate Crisis, Maria Antonia Tigre, Armando Rocha

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

Between December 2022 and March 2023, three requests for an advisory opinion were submitted to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR), and the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Furthermore, a request for an advisory opinion from the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (AfCtHPR) is being prepared. As such, 2024–2025 marks an unprecedented moment in global climate litigation: as of November 2024, we are on the verge of having four of the world’s most important international and regional courts and tribunals answering crucial legal questions on the (ex …

Trade Integration, Petros C. Mavroidis

Faculty Scholarship

Accounts concerning the world trading system usually start the debate from the negotiation of the GATT. Trade integration before the First World War, though, had been quite remarkable, and the study of this era enriches our understanding of modern institutions in at least two ways. First, a number of GATT provisions had already been shaped during discussions following the advent of the League of Nations. Second, trade integration before the First World War did not manage to put a brake on belligerent behaviour, putting to rest the old Montesquieuan idea of doux commerce. Recent developments (like the invasion of …

The Limits And Promise Of Global Antitrust Law, Anu Bradford, Adam S. Chilton, Katerina Linos

Faculty Scholarship

A large body of evidence suggests that open, competitive markets are a key driver of economic development. In recognition of this fact, many of the world’s leading economies not only adopted their own antitrust laws to promote competition, but they also urged developing countries around the world to do the same. This resulted in a remarkable proliferation of global antitrust law over the last several decades. Many studies have empirically examined the effect of this development, and, consistent with the hopes of policymakers, they have largely found that adopting antitrust laws produces positive economic outcomes.

In this Article, we reassess …

The End Of The U.S.-Backed International Order And The Future Of International Law, Monica Hakimi, Jacob Katz Cogan

Faculty Scholarship

The international order that the United States has for decades led and maintained is undergoing dramatic change. In this Essay, we explain that international law during this period was constituted with, and dependent on, U.S. power; that the two became (in odd-couple fashion) entwined together; and that, as the international order changes, the international legal system, its content and its architecture, will also inevitably change.

Exorcising Hobbes's Ghost: A Future For Constitutional And International Law, Monica Hakimi

Faculty Scholarship

Daryl Levinson wants to liberate constitutional law from the ghost of Thomas Hobbes. More than 350 years ago, Hobbes advanced a conception of law that, for all the efforts to move past it, continues to resonate. In the strictest iteration of the Hobbesian conception, law cannot exist apart from Leviathan, a sovereign state that is the “sole source of legal authority” in a defined territory. As the only possible source of law, Leviathan cannot itself be subject to law. “[I]t exercise[s] legally limitless power over its citizens and interact[s] with other Leviathans in a lawless international arena”. It is also …

Existential Threats And Deterrence: Japan’S Legal Pathway To Enhanced Collective Security In Asia, Nobuhisa Ishizuka

Faculty Scholarship

With the Japanese Cabinet’s decision in December 2022 to comprehensively upgrade Japan’s security posture, and its rapid build-up of its defense capabilities, Japan’s role in Asia’s security architecture has been undergoing a fundamental shift. This article places Japan’s 2015 Peace and Security Legislation in the context of the U.N. collective security system and argues that its most significant achievement has been to expand Japan’s power to engage more proactively in the Asian collective security order. To date, commentators have focused on the legislation’s role in expanding the Japanese constitution’s limitations on the use of force to permit collective self-defense. This …

The Need To Explore The Potential Of Marine Cdr With A One-Earth Strategy: A Guide For Policy-Makers, Philip W. Boyd, Jean-Pierre Gattuso, Minhan Dai, Louis Legendre, Terre Satterfield, Romany M. Webb

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

Rapid, deep and sustained reductions in carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions are essential to achieve the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement of keeping the long-term global average surface temperature increase well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5°C . In addition, the 2021 IPCC Report explains that carbon dioxide removal (CDR) will be needed to offset residual CO₂ emissions from activities and sectors that are difficult to decarbonize by 2050. The objective of CDR is removal of atmospheric CO2 from residual emissions and its durable storage in reservoirs, which is an additional critical element …

Custom And Adjudication In International Law Through The Civil Law Tradition In Colombia, Juan Felipe Silva Bustamante

LL.M. Essays & Theses

International Law has often been described as a decentralized domain, in the sense that the authority to create the law doesn’t derive from a sole center of power. This is especially true in the context of normative production through Customary International Law. Multiple and disaggregated expressions of state practice and opinio iuris come together in the formation of custom, and a variety of actors, which authority is often contested, including international organizations and tribunals, play a major role in identifying the rules of customary law.

One could also speak of decentralization, or at least of non-systematization, in the domain of …

Removing Methane Via Soil Amendments: The Legal Framework, Korey Silverman-Roati, Romany M. Webb

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

Rapid and sustained reductions in human-driven methane emissions are critical to limiting warming in line with the 2015 Paris Agreement. Reductions in certain methane emissions, particularly from the fossil fuel sector, can be implemented cheaply and efficiently. Other forms of methane emissions, like those from agricultural sources, are more difficult to control. This fact, coupled with concerns that climate change could unlock significant additional natural emissions from tropical wetlands and melting permafrost, has increased interest in atmospheric methane removal (“AMR”).

AMR refers to human interventions to accelerate the conversion of methane in the atmosphere to a form that causes less …

The Legality Of Revenue Disbursement From An Economic Measure Agreed At The International Maritime Organization For Purposes Other Than The Decarbonisation Of International Shipping, Blánaid Sheeran

Sabin Center for Climate Change Law

This analysis fills a gap in the existing legal literature on the adoption of a greenhouse gas (GHG) pricing mechanism at the International Maritime Organization (IMO or Organization). First, it investigates whether the adoption of a GHG pricing mechanism which includes the potential use of funds for purposes aside from the decarbonisation of international shipping is within the general competence of the IMO. Providing an affirmative interpretation, it then considers the adoption of such a measure as an amendment to Annex VI of the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL). The analysis concludes that a broad …

The International Court Of Justice: New Challenges In The Hague For Adjudication Of Interstate Disputes, John Bellinger, Catherine Amirfar, Sarah H. Cleveland, Juan Manuel Gómez-Robledo Verduzco

Faculty Scholarship

This panel was convened on Thursday, March 30, 2023 at 10:30 a.m. by its moderator Catherine Amirfar of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, who introduced the panelists: Sarah Cleveland of Columbia University Law School; and Juan Manuel Gómez-Robledo Verduzco, the Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations for Mexico.

Taking The Lead On Climate Action And Sustainable Development: Recommendations For Strategic National Transition Planning At The Centre Of A Whole-Of-System Climate Response, Mark Manning, Riona Bowhay, Megan Bowman, Peter Knaack, Lisa E. Sachs, Agnieszka Smolenska, Fiona Stewart, Thomas Tayler, Perrine Toledano, Harald Walkate

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment

As the global economy transitions to a just, low-emissions, climate-resilient, and nature-positive future, we can expect every sector to transform. However, systemic transformation requires strategic transition planning, effective coordination, and communication across the economy. To facilitate this, governments can play a decisive role by managing change and setting incentives and constraints for private actors. Similarly, private sector actors can enhance their corporate strategies and financing decisions to support this transition. Transition plans serve as a roadmap to transformation by outlining a strategic vision and identifying capital needs, external factors, and dependencies.

CCSI is collaborating with experts at CETEx, King’s College, …

Questionable Arbitrator Habits, Robert H. Smit

Faculty Scholarship

International arbitrators do some things in conducting arbitrations, that tend to go without saying, but that I struggle to accept without question. I speak not of major procedural missteps that run afoul of principles of due process or of procedural “best practices” codified in soft law instruments like the IBA Rules on the Taking of Evidence. Rather, I speak of some of the smaller, uncodified procedural behaviors — procedural habits, I call them — that international arbitrators adopt within the confines, and between the interstices, of those codified due process and soft law “best practice” parameters. I speak of widely …