Seminar Joining Forces for Nature – Recent Developments in International and European Environmental

Dr. Romy Klimke

The triple planetary crises – climate change, the loss of biodiversity, and pollution – necessitate coordinated and highly dedicated responses by the international community. With an unprecedented urgency, these crises relentlessly demonstrate that environmental protection may not be regarded as an isolated objective of international law, but as a cross-cutting task addressing a myriad of actors in various areas of international law. Accordingly, efforts to protect and restore nature are nowadays no longer confined to actors and mechanisms of international environmental law. Instead, environmental matters are also firmly on the agendas of international organisations whose mandate traditionally encompasses other concerns, such as trade and human rights. By embracing environmental concerns, these actors have contributed remarkably to a gradual ‘Greening’ of International Law, in general.

At the same time, the scale of the planetary crises requires a fundamental review of the international environmental governance architecture: Is it sufficiently equipped to effectively halt and manage global ecological deterioration, or does effective environmental governance require significant reforms? On an institutional level, such a reform might take the form of a new World Environmental Organization. On a normative level, attempts to fundamentally remodel environmental law might even challenge traditional understandings of legal subjectivity by advocating for a recognition of natural elements as rights-holders.

In light of the above, this seminar aims to provide a forum to discuss recent developments in international environmental law and beyond against the background of a global environmental governance architecture which finds itself increasingly under pressure. Using a broad selection of newer legal instruments, we will engage with essential questions of environmental law-making, such as: To what extent does international environmental law meaningfully respond (or fail to respond) to the planetary crises? Which types of laws and policies promise to be most effective? What is the role of NGOs, civil society, and courts? What kind of monitoring mechanisms and/or sanctions are necessary to effectively implement these legal frameworks? And how and why do environmental legal instruments allocate responsibilities and potential benefits? On a regional level, we will have a look at recent developments in EU law. While the EU is often hailed for its ambitious and exemplary legal solutions, its tendency to adopt unilateral acts with external effects irk developing countries who fear unachievable standards and overburdening bureaucracy.

The seminar will be held in English. Prior knowledge of international and European environmental law, international human rights law and other overlapping areas of international public law is helpful, but not required. 

SEMINAR TOPICS

Thematic area I: Fundamentals

• Mother Earth vs. A collection of things: Paradigms of nature in (international) environmental law (Planetary boundaries, Sustainability, Anthropocene, Conviviality, Harmony with Nature, Wild Law,…)
• The creation of international environmental law: Actors and law-making
• Do we need a World Environmental Organization? Background and arguments of a recurring debate

Thematic area II: Recent developments in international environmental treaty law and beyond

• A breakthrough for global biodiversity protection? The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF)
• Protecting ocean health and resilience? The Agreement on Marine Biodiversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ)  
• An international plastics convention: Background, current status of negotiations, and perspectives
• The global pact for the environment: Background, objectives, and current status of negotiations
• Ecocide: A new core crime in international criminal law?
• Protecting the environment in space: Legal approaches to solve the problem of space debris?
• An effective tool to safeguard wild fisheries? The WTO fisheries subsidies agreement
• The environmental rule of law: Background, relevant features and status quo of an emerging concept   

Thematic area III: Human rights and nature

• The human right to a healthy and clean environment at the level of the UN
• The human right to a healthy environment at the regional level of human rights protection (Latin America, Africa, Europe)
• Biocultural rights: Idea, legal framework, and relationship to human rights

 Thematic area IV: Beyond human rights: Rights of nature

• The turn to rights of nature: Background, selected cases, opportunities, and obstacles
• International rights of nature: Current development and paradigms
• Interrelations between the rights of nature and human rights: Potential conflicts or synergies?

Thematic area V: Developments in the Law of the EU

• The EU Nature Restoration Law: Effectively reversing the loss of ecosystems in Europe?
• The EU Deforestation Regulation: Applaudable legislative attempt or bureaucratic monster gone wrong?

A preliminary meeting will take place on October 18, at 11:10 a.m. (3^rd DS) in a virtual conference room.  

https://bildungsportal.sachsen.de/opal/auth/RepositoryEntry/46246330370?1