Environmental Law Commons^™

Corporate Social Responsibility/Sustainability Reporting Among The Fortune Global 250: Greenwashing Or Green Supply Chain?, John K. Lewis

Faculty and Staff - Articles & Papers

The sustainability reporting efforts of MNCs who are members of the Fortune Global 250 (FG250) was investigated. The focus was on sustainability reporting by MNCs of supply chain impacts. The reporting of FG250 MNCs was examined to determine if greenwashing was occurring or whether MNCs had committed to operating a green supply chain. A mixed methodology was used consisting of quantitative analysis of twenty-five MNC CSR/sustainability reports which were randomly selected from the FG250 listing. Qualitative analysis using content analysis was also conducted on the reports. Both methodologies concentrated on the sustainability reporting of the selected MNCs in regard to …

Business, Human Rights And The Iba Climate Justice Report, Sara Seck, Michael Slattery

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

The 2014 Climate Justice Report by the International Bar Association (IBA) makes many recommendations designed to contribute to the fight against climate change. One important step forward is its explicit recognition of the responsibility of business to respect human rights affected by climate change. This commentary explores the extent to which the IBA’s approach to this issue aligns with the business responsibility to respect human rights as described in the 2011 United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. The commentary also considers other international standards that incorporate business responsibilities for human rights in order to determine whether sufficient …

Human Rights And Extractive Industries: Environmental Law And Standards, Sara Seck

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

The importance of environmental laws and standards for sustainable development of extractive industries has been well recognized by the international community for decades. More recently, the relationship between human rights and environmental protection has received greater attention in light of increased global and local recognition of both substantive and procedural environmental rights. Extractive industries search for, discover and develop natural resources in countries in which the governmental and civil society institutions necessary to protect human rights may not exist or where governments lack the capacity or will to effectively ensure the protection of human rights. Allegations of human rights violations …

Indigenous Rights, Environmental Rights, Or Stakeholder Engagement? Comparing Ifc And Oecd Approaches To The Implementation Of The Business Responsibility To Respect Human Rights, Sara Seck

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises (OECD MNE Guidelines) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) Performance Standards on Environmental and Social Sustainability (IFC Performance Standards) are widely viewed as key international standards to which extractive companies operating internationally should comply. Indeed, these standards, together with the United Nations (UN) Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), are promoted by Canada in its November 2014 enhanced corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy for extractive sector companies operating abroad. The strategy states that the Canadian government expects companies operating outside of Canada to “respect human rights …

Maximizing The Potential Of The Paris Agreement: Effective Review Of Action And Support In A Bottom-Up Regime, Harro Van Asselt, Thomas Hale, Meinhard Doelle, Achala Abeysinghe, Manjana Milkoreit, Caroline Prolo, Bryce Rudyk

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

To succeed, the hybrid model of international climate policy embodied in the Paris Agreement requires countries to deliver their nationally determined contributions (NDCs) and to progressively increase collective and individual efforts over time. The effectiveness of this type of regime will require international review processes that provide robust information about countries’ efforts and trajectories and give substantial opportunities for state and non-state actor engagement with this information. The Paris Agreement creates three different review processes, but leaves critical details regarding each to future decisions: It provides for a review of implementation of individual NDCs under an “enhanced transparency framework”, comprising …

The Paris Agreement: Historic Breakthrough Or High Stakes Experiment?, Meinhard Doelle

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

This article offers an overview of the two key outcomes of the 2015 Paris climate negotiations, the Paris COP decision, and the Paris Agreement. They chart a new course for the UN climate regime that started in earnest in Copenhagen in 2009. The Paris Agreement represents a course away from the top down approach and rigid differentiation among parties reflected in the Kyoto Protocol, toward a bottom up and flexible approach focused on collective long term goals and principles. It represents an approach to reaching these long term goals that is focused on self differentiation, support, transparency and review. The …

Reviewing Implementation & Compliance Under The Paris Climate Agreement: Preliminary Thoughts On Process Design For Articles 13-15, Meinhard Doelle

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Articles 13 to 15 of the Paris Climate Agreement establish four key elements of an overall cycle of review as part of the pledge and review approach adopted in the Agreement, a technical review of progress reports filed by Parties, a multilateral review of these progress reports, a global stocktake of progress toward the collective long-term goal, and an implementation and compliance mechanism. The design, timing and sequencing of these reviews will have to be negotiated before the Paris Agreement can be fully operationalized. This working paper considers some of the key issues negotiators will have to consider in designing …

Functional Interactions And Maritime Regulation: The Mutual Accommodation Of Offshore Wind Farms And International Navigation And Shipping, Aldo Chircop, Peter L'Esperance

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

There is growing interest in Europe and North America in locating wind farms in ocean space within national jurisdiction. For many States, wind is the renewable energy of choice in the search for alternatives to fossil fuels to meet emissions reductions targets established by international agreement on a large scale. Locating windfarms in the marine environment is attractive because of the availability of open spaces to accommodate extensive arrays capable of producing power on a large scale, ideal wind conditions and less likelihood of impacts that trigger public opposition, such as noise, lowering of property values and interference with landscape …

Sustainable Arctic Shipping: Are Current International Rules For Polar Shipping Sufficient?, Aldo Chircop

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

On January 1, 2017, the International Code for Ships Operating in Polar Waters (Polar Code) will enter into force, ushering in a new era in regulation of shipping in Arctic and Antarctic waters. The Polar Code was adopted by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) after years of difficult deliberations. The adoption of the Code required amendment of two of the most important conventions concerning safety of life at sea and vessel-source pollution. A third convention on standards of training for seafarers was also amended after the Code was adopted and the changes will come into effect on January 1, 2018. …

Polyjural And Polycentric Sustainability Assessment: A Once-In-A-Generation Law Reform Opportunity, Jason Maclean, Meinhard Doelle, Chris Tollefson

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

The Canadian environmental assessment (EA) regime is broken. At a time when the Canadian economy is both increasingly sluggish and unsustainable, we have an obligation – and perhaps a once-in-a-generation opportunity – to fundamentally reform EA to enable it to finally live up to its promise of promoting sound and sustainability-based decisions. This task is even more pressing in light of the global commitment under the Paris Climate Change Agreement to rapidly transition to greenhouse gas emissions neutrality. Among the many priorities of meaningful EA reform – moving beyond project-level assessments, focusing on net positive contributions to sustainability, avoiding costly …

Fulfilling The Promise: Basic Components Of Next Generation Environmental Assessment, Robert B. Gibson, Meinhard Doelle, A. John Sinclair

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

This paper outlines the key elements of the next generation EA in Canada. It draws on decades of EA practice and academic literature. It summarizes the working conclusions of a lengthy monograph, which also sets out the broad context and the background of experience with environmental assessment law and practice in Canada. Readers who would like to explore the issues raised in this paper in more detail may wish to consult the monograph online.

Ocean Law Reform: A Multi-Level Comparative Law Analysis Of Nigerian Maritime Zone Legislation, Aldo Chircop, David Dzidzornu, Chidi Oguamanam

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Recently, Nigeria introduced a Bill in the House and Senate that aims at modernizing its maritime zone legislation to enable it to maximize benefits it has received from the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, 1982. Although Nigeria has been a party to the Convention for many years, the legislative initiative was triggered only recently by a mixture of events, including a submission to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf and the delimitation of maritime boundaries and adoption of joint development zones with neighboring States, including the implementation of a judgment of the International …

An Ode To Sea Turtles & Dolphins: Expanding Wto’S Mandate To Bridge The Trade-Environment Divide, Geary Choe

Cornell Law Library Cantwell Prize for Exemplary Student Research Papers

Geary Choe’s ambitious paper showcased a diverse and sophisticated understanding of research in public international law and interdisciplinary sources.

Choe’s paper proposes expanding the World Trade Organization’s mandate to carve out a new exception for trade-restrictive measures in multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs). His process involved analyzing international conventions, WTO panel and appellate body reports as well as non-legal materials written by economists, environmentalists and non-governmental organizations. Choe used that research to examine the historical tension between the competing interests of trade vs. environment and concluded with original proposals of how to reconcile them within the WTO’s legal framework.

Most rewardingly, …

Poetic Justice, Darrell Cannon

Public Interest Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

The Invisibility Of Female Farmworkers: How Current Workers' Rights Legislation Fails To Adequately Protect Female Farmworkers And Exposes Them To Serious Health And Safety Risks, Martha Laura Garcia

Public Interest Law Reporter

Migrant and seasonal farmworkers are one of the most isolated and vulnerable population groups in the United States. Not only is the nature of their work exhausting and dangerous, but many times, the workers face other challenges, like cultural and language barriers and limited access to legal, health, and educational services. Female farmworkers are particularly vulnerable to the many risks seasonal and migrant farmworkers face, with the additional challenge of having limited forms of legal relief. By giving an overview of current labor laws and presenting the main risks female farmworkers face, this article will demonstrate that labor laws and …

Tunnel Vision: How The System Chooses Its Target, Alison Hill

Public Interest Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

Many Poor Americans Are Not Getting Access To Clean Drinking Water, A Basic Human Right, Keimer Raymond

Public Interest Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

Reform Demanded By Minorities On Police's Use Of Excessive Force And The U.S. Government's Resistance To Change, Jessica Younan

Public Interest Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

Linkages To The Resource Sector: The Role Of Companies, Governments, And International Development Cooperation, Columbia Center On Sustainable Investment

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

With support from GIZ, CCSI prepared a report titled "Linkages to the Resource Sector: The Role of Companies, Governments, and International Development Cooperation." It outlines options for how these stakeholders can increase the economic linkages to the extractive industries sector not only in terms of ‘breadth’ (number of linkages) but also in terms of ‘depth’ (local value added). Apart from providing the theoretical framework for linkage creation and an overview of existing literature on this topic, the study highlights successful case study examples. Recommendations are provided for the three types of stakeholders.

Saving The Serengeti: Africa's New International Judicial Environmentalism, James T. Gathii

Faculty Publications & Other Works

This Article analyzes recent environmental law decisions of Africa's fledgling international courts. In 2014, for example, the East African Court of Justice stopped the government of Tanzania from building a road across Serengeti National Park because of its potential adverse environmental impacts. Decisions like these have inaugurated a new era of enhanced environmental judicial protection in Africa. This expansion into environmental law decision-making by Africa's international trade courts contrasts with other international courts that are designed to specialize on one issue area such as human rights or international trade, but not both. By contrast, Africa's international courts are simultaneously pushing …