The first official workshop of the Interest Group on International Environmental Law took place in Cambridge (2-4 Sept. 2010) as part of the European Society of International Law’s fourth biennial conference. We are very glad to report that the workshop was a real success, with more than forty persons attending the two panels.

A report has been prepared by Lorna Davey from the University of Cambridge and can be downloaded here. Many thanks to Lorna for her help before, during and after the workshop.

We hope to publish a selection of papers from the Cambridge workshop before the end of 2011. More information will follow shortly.

A few participants from the 2010 Cambridge Workshop. From left to right: Jaye Ellis (McGill University), Harro van Asselt (Oxford University), Alejandra Torres Camprubi (Universidad Autonoma de Madrid), Kishan Kohday (UNDP), Usha Natarajan (American University in Cairo), Susana Borras (Rovira i Virgili University), Rosa Maria Fernandez-Egea (Universidad Autonoma de Madrid)

Fairness in International Environmental Law

Cambridge, 2 Sept. 2010

Faculty of Law – Room LG17

Final Program

Opening (9h30-9h45)

Panel 1: Theory, Practice and Discourse on Fairness in International Environmental Law (9h45-11h00)

Chair: Mario Prost

- Natasha Affolder (University of British Columbia):
“‘International’, ‘Environmental’, ‘Law’: Lessons in Scholarly Boundary Drawing and Marginalization”

- Susana Borràs (Rovira i Virgili University):
“The Tribunals for Environmental Justice”

- Jaye Ellis (McGill University):
“Unilateral Exercises in Public Authority: Addressing Issues of Fairness”

- Kishan Khoday (UNDP) and Usha Natarajan (Centre for International Sustainable Development Law)
“Sustainable Development in the Third World or How Much Should a Person Consume”

Coffee Break (11h00-11h15)

Panel 2: Making Fairness a Reality in the International Regime on Climate Change (11h15-12h20)

Chair: Alejandra Torres Camprubi

- Jorge Vinuales (Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies – Geneva)
“Balancing Fairness and Effectiveness in the Redesign of the Climate Change Regime”

- Aurora Mateos (Consultant, Legal advisor of the Republic of Timor Leste at COP-15)
“Climate Change at Copenhagen and afterwards: reasons of a limited progress and prospects for Mexico (COP-16)”

- Rosa Maria Fernandez-Egea (Universidad Autonoma de Madrid)
“Economic Mechanisms to Fight Climate Change: a Critical View of their Legitimization”

- Jerneja Penca (European University Institute)
“Fitting REDD within the Green Agenda: An Appraisal of Fairness in the Emerging Forestry Mechanism”

CLOSING REMARKS: 12h20-12h30

The Interest Group on International Environmental Law is pleased to announce that its first workshop will be held during the Fourth Biennial Conference of the European Society of International Law in Cambridge (2-4 Sept. 2010;  see conference website here).

The theme of the workshop is: Fairness in International Environmental Law.

The call for papers has just been released and can be found here.

I wanted to draw your attention to a major study that the European Commission has recently issued terms of reference for, as I thought it might be of interest to a number of your members. It is intended to support the work of Professor John Ruggie, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Business and Human Rights, by exploring the current environmental and human rights obligations of EU-domiciled companies in their overseas operations under EU, national, and international law, with a view to developing policy proposals at the EU level. The EC is going to announce the successful tenderer very soon – the link to the winning team once that announcement is made will be posted then. Meanwhile, the tender can be found here:  http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/newsroom/cf/itemlongdetail.cfm?item_id=3334

Besides, Professor Ruggie gave a speech last this month at an EU Presidency conference held in Stockholm on extraterritorial jurisdiction. The speech refers to some comparative work we are undertaking, including in the area of the environment. The speech can be found here.

Finally, I would like to draw your attention on a joint EU Presidency statement from the meeting of the Swedish and Spanish governments on the role of the EU in promoting and importantly regulating CSR,  including implementing Professor Ruggie’s ”Protect, Respect and Remedy” Framework. The joint statement can be found here.

For those who may be interested, John Ruggie’s web portal is available at:

http://www.business-humanrights.org/SpecialRepPortal/Home

Rachel Davis (Legal advisor to Professor John Ruggie, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General on Business and Human Rights)

As we gear up for the ESIL/ASIL research forum in Helsinki, I thought I would inaugurate this new webpage on a light note by bringing your attention to a blog written by my friend and colleague Frédéric Mégret of McGill University.

In The Nomadic Academic Mégret reflects on what it means to be a scholar in our globalised digital age. Whilst the blog is primarily interested in new technologies, and how they affect our research and teaching, it also offers some provocative thoughts on the ‘environmentally sustainable academic’.

Should we really travel half way round the world for a 10 minute presentation? Should conferences be grouped in time and space or should we resort more systematically to web conferencing? Do the benefits of academic conferencing always offset the carbon footprint of those attending? Should we go paper-free and convert to e-publishing? How can we change things in a system where we, as professionals, are partly judged on how many conferences we go to?

These are challenging, if not irritating, questions. We like to believe that we are part of the solution, not part of the problem. Besides, most of us spend a considerable amount of time teaching and writing on environmental problems. Can we not just enjoy our free drink?

Mégret’s Nomadic Academic may be a bit of a party pooper. Still, these are questions worth thinking about as we hop on a plane en route to our next academic gathering.

Mario Prost.