Natural Resources Law Commons^™

Don’T Throw Caution To The Wind: In The Green Energy Transition, Not All Critical Minerals Will Be Goldmines, Perrine Toledano, Martin Dietrich Brauch, Solina Kennedy, Howard Mann

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

The green energy transition will be exceedingly mineral intensive. Manufacturing solar panels, wind turbine and batteries to power cleaner energies is set to significantly increase the demand for co-called “critical” minerals. Such a forecast prompts high expectations in mineral-rich countries and suggests promising opportunities for developing countries.

However, the projects to increase the primary extraction of critical minerals rest on bullish forecasts and uncertain terrain due to a number of factors explored in the paper that threaten to leave these investments obsolete and economically stranded.

Governments, international actors, and mining advocates seeking to optimize the value of green energy mineral …

Submission To Bonsucro Re Production Standard V5 (2019-21), Nami Patel, Sam Szoke-Burke

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

In July 2020, CCSI made a formal submission to Bonsucro, an international multi-stakeholder initiative and certification scheme concerned with promoting sustainable sugar cane production. The submission formed part of consultations for Bonsucro’s draft Production Standard version 5. CCSI’s submission focused on challenges associated with implementing, and auditing for compliance with, three aspects of Bonsucro’s draft standard, namely:

• Obtaining the free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) of Indigenous and traditional communities when establishing or expanding sugar production operations
• Implementing transparent and participatory processes to assess, monitor, and evaluate the environmental and social impacts of new and existing projects; and
• Establishing accessible …

Mechanisms For Consultation And Free, Prior And Informed Consent In The Negotiation Of Investment Contracts, Sam Szoke-Burke, Kaitlin Y. Cordes

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

Investor-state contracts are regularly used in low-and middle-income countries to grant concessions for land-based and natural resource investments, such as agricultural, extractive industry, forestry, or renewable energy projects. These contracts are rarely negotiated in the presence of, or with meaningful input from, the people who risk being adversely affected by the project. This practice will usually risk violating requirements for meaningful consultation, and, where applicable, free, prior and informed consent (FPIC), and is particularly concerning when the investor-state contract gives the investor company rights to lands or resources over which local communities have legitimate claims.

This article explores how consultation …

Best Practices In Data Driven Development Planning In Mining Regions, Nicolas Maennling, Josefina Correa

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

Strategic development planning has long been used by private and public sectors to guide actions that will lead to a determined goal in the medium- to long-term. The SDG framework has helped to create a common language of what development means, what the global objectives are by 2030, and how progress can be measured. With the world entering an era in which data is generated and used at an unprecedented scale, data and ICT systems should be used to better inform policy decision making and help evaluate progress to hold stakeholders accountable to their promises and performance. This report outlines …

Bringing Animal Protection Legislation Into Line With Its Purported Purposes: A Proposal For Equality Amongst Non-Human Animals, Jane Kotzmann, Gisela Nip

Pace Environmental Law Review

The United States has a strong history of enacting laws to protect animals from the pain and suffering inflicted by humans. Indeed, the passage of the Massachusetts’ Body of Liberties in 1641 made it the first country in the world to pass such laws. Nevertheless, contemporary animal protection laws in all jurisdictions of the United States are limited in their ability to adequately realize their primary purpose of protecting animals from unnecessary or unjustifiable pain and suffering. This is a result of limited statutory definitions of ‘animal’ and far-reaching exclusions commonly found in animal protection legislation. These exclusions frequently apply …

Pakootas V. Teck Cominco Metals, Ltd., Connlan W. Whyte

Public Land & Resources Law Review

Throughout the twentieth century, Teck Cominco Metals leaked metal pollutants into the Upper Columbia River that ultimately entered the United States and the Colville Indian Reservation. In 2004, after almost a decade of working with the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the Colville Tribes initiated a citizen suit under CERCLA against Teck for damaging the ecosystem of the Upper Columbia River. In 2018, the Ninth Circuit affirmed judgment against Teck for recovery costs and attorney’s fees.

Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Moon: Is Existing Law Sufficient To Enable Resource Extraction On The Moon?, Mark J. Sundahl, Jeffrey A. Murphy

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Law School News: Dennis W. Nixon: Doctor Of Laws, Honoris Causa 05-09-2020, Roger Williams University School Of Law

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Irena At 10: Post Paris Transitions And Energy Diplomacy Beyond Opec, The Energy Charter Treaty, And The Coronavirus, Nadia B. Ahmad

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

End Notes, Sustainable Development Law & Policy

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

State Preemption And Single Use Plastics: Is National Intervention Necessary?, Ethan D. King

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

The Right To Legally Sourced Lumber? How The Effective Enforcement Of The Lacey Act Is A U.S. Human Rights Obligation And Critical To Preventing Abuse In The Illegal Logging Industry, Melanie Hess

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

An Ace Up Their Sleeve Or A House Of Cards: Can The Epa's Affordable Clean Energy Rule Withstand Chevron Deference?, Shannon Zaret

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Lake Erie Bill Of Rights Gets The Ax: Is Legal Personhood For Nature Dead In The Water?, Devon Alexandra Berman

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

The Use Of The Regular Militaries For Natural Disaster Assistance: Climate Change And The Increasing Need For Changes To The Laws In The United States, China, Japan, The Philippines, And Other Countries, Donald D.A. Schaefer

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Editor's Note, Brianna Delduca, Hannah Gardenswartz

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

End Notes, Sustainable Development Law & Policy

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

How Syria's Failure To Uphold The Kyoto Protocol And Paris Agreement Exacerbated The Effects Of Climate Change In The Levant, Nivea A. Ohri

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Continuing A Broad Application Of Section 9 Of The Esa To Prevent Future Mass Extinctions, Alicia Martinez

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Does Importing Endangered Species' Body Parts Help Conservation? Discretion To Import Trophies Under The Trump Administration, Brianna Marie

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Ferc Ruling Undermines Energy Federalism And Arbitrarily Targets Mid-Atlantic Region Renewables, Philip Killeen

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Jam V. Ifc: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back?, Nicholas Johnson

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Can The Expansion Of 45q Effectively Spur Investment In Carbon Capture?, Shannon Zaret

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

No Take Backs: Presidential Authority And Public Land Withdrawls, Christian Termyn

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Editor's Note, Nicole Waxman, Elizabeth Platt

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

End Notes, Sustainable Development Law & Policy

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Ban On Plastic Microbeads: Too Narrow, Or Just Narrow Enough?, Liz Michalowska

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Real Property Sublessors Escape Cercla Owner Liability In The Second Circuit, Alison Shlom

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Using Artificial Intelligence To Improve Data Accuracy Of Air Pollutants Under The Clean Air Act, Lauren Palley

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Can Courts Stop Citizens From Prosecuting Criminal Cases Under The Clean Water Act?, Hannah Gardenswartz

Sustainable Development Law & Policy

No abstract provided.