CISDL

This major conference explores some of the more controversial issues in contemporary investment treaty law and practice, including emerging issues in the nature of investment treaties, evolving jurisprudential trends, and potential changes in direction for investment law and arbitration. The program includes four plenary sessions and 14 concurrent panels with over 60 presentations from an exciting mix of senior and up-and-coming experts drawn from universities, government and private practice.

Click here for the Conference Programme.
Click here to register.

The Copenhagen conference on climate change (COP15), from December 7 to 18 2009, was marked as one of the defining moments of our times in concerted international legal efforts regarding climate change. This Experts Panel discussion will involve leading international legal experts in the field of climate change, all of whom attended the COP15 conference. The focus of the discussion will be the event’s international legal implications and their concrete impact on developing and developed countries. Panellists will review the legal results as well as the inside workings of the conference in terms of the environmental impact of climate change, but also with regard to effects in such seminal areas as trade and investment, human rights or health. The panel discussion will be followed at 6h30PM by a Reception in the Atrium, with a Book Launch and the launch of the latest edition of the Journal for Sustainable Development Law & Policy ( JSDLP).

For more information, contact Patrick Reynaud: preynaud @ cisdl.org.

The Centre for International Sustainable Development Law (CISDL) and the International Development Law Organisation (IDLO) chaired the International Law & Policy Programme, a joint programme of special events on international law and policy for a low-carbon economy at the UNFCCC COP 15 Climate Conference in Copenhagen, engaging a consortium of partners from world-class universities, international organisations and leading civil society actors.

The International Law & Policy for a Low Carbon Economy Programme revolved around four principal events:

1 Building the Low-Carbon Economy beyond Copenhagen: The Global Law & Policy Research Agenda / Seminar - Programme

2 Climate Finance: Legal and Regulatory Issues / Course - Programme

3 Developing Sustainable & Equitable Legal Frameworks for the Global Low-Carbon Economy / Side-Event - Programme

4 Climate Justice & Sustainability / Reception - Programme

SIDE EVENT:

Impacts and Opportunities for Indigenous Peoples:
Developing Indigenous-Led Climate Ventures for a Sustainable Future

Many countries are adopting market-based instruments to promote sustainable development of a low-carbon economy, and to reduce climate change emissions. What are the trade and investment law implications? How can WTO and regional trade rules better support the effective and appropriate use of these instruments? This experts panel and participatory dialogue briefs WTO Ministerial participants on recent legal research and practice in new carbon trading systems and domestic carbon pricing measures, and on how economic instruments could better promote the adoption and transfer of clean energy technology. Hosted by Centre for International Sustainable Development Law (CISDL), in partnership with the law faculties of several leading universities, with support from Sustainable Prosperity, the event provides an opportunity to help define the emerging trade and investment law research agenda for Copenhagen and beyond.
Chair: Marie-Claire Cordonier Segger, Senior Director, Sustainable Prosperity & Director, CISDL
Jodie Keane, Overseas Development Institute*
Prof. Markus W Gehring, Professeur agregee, University of Ottawa & Lecturer, Cambridge University
Prof. Kate Miles, Professor, Sydney University Law Faculty & Legal Research Fellow, CISDL
Me. Verki M Tunteng, Legal Research Fellow, CISDL

Renewable Energy and Technology – Trade and Investment Law Implications
16.15hr – 18.15hr, Tues, Dec 01 / ICTSD Trade and Development Symposium 2009, Room A, WMO, Geneva

Renewable Energy and Technology to promote sustainable development, and to reduce climate change emissions are in an increasingly high demand. But how can trade and investment law foster rather than frustrate this technological shift? How can WTO and regional trade rules better support the effective and appropriate use of these energies and technologies? This experts panel and participatory dialogue briefs WTO Ministerial participants on recent legal research and practice in renewable energy systems and domestic energy reforms, and on how economic instruments could better promote the adoption and transfer of clean energy technology. Hosted by Centre for International Sustainable Development Law (CISDL), in partnership with the law faculties of several leading universities, with support from Sustainable Prosperity, the event provides an opportunity to help define the emerging trade and investment law research agenda for Copenhagen and beyond.

Chair & Keynote: Marie-Claire Cordonier Segger, Senior Director, Sustainable Prosperity & Director, CISDL
Prof. Markus W Gehring, Professeur agregee, University of Ottawa & Lecturer, Cambridge University
Prof. Kate Miles, Professor, Sydney University Law Faculty & Legal Research Fellow, CISDL
Me. Verki M Tunteng, Legal Research Fellow, CISDL

For more information, contact Prof. Markus W Gehring: mgehring @ cisdl.org.

CISDL Legal Research Fellow Sébastien Jodoin recently testified before the parliamentary Commission on Transportation and Environment at Quebec's National Assembly. Mr. Jodoin's intervention provided the Commission with an overview of key aspects of international climate change law and policy and their role in the determination of Quebec's climate change emissions reductions targets for the 2012-2020 period. In particular, his testimony focused on the principles of equity and of common, but differentiated responsibilities as well as recent developments in the international climate change negotiations. The brief he submitted to the commission can be found here. The video and transcript of his testimony can be found here and here.

CISDL Legal Research Fellow Sébastien Jodoin recently moderated a panel on intersecting interests in law and policy approaches to the right to water at a conference on "Water as Human Right: Context and Consequences" organised at the Faculty of Law of the University of Ottawa. The conference brought together leading lawyers and policy- makers to discuss the right to water and how it could affect various aspects of water governance and regulation in Canada. Further details about the conference are available at: http://www.waterandhumanrights.uottawa.ca/.

Hon. Justice Charles D. Gonthier: A Wise and Beloved Mentor
19 July 2009 / Montreal, Canada

It is with great sadness that we note the death of our beloved mentor and the Chair of our Board of Governors, Hon. Justice Charles D. Gonthier, former Judge of the Supreme Court of Canada, and Companion of the Order of Canada.

We will all miss him terribly, and can also celebrate the rich and meaningful life he had, especially the extraordinary contribution that he made to Canada, to global justice, to sustainable development and especially to all the young scholars and lawyers in our network whose lives he has touched so profoundly and whose work he has inspired over the years.

If colleagues wish to provide a brief note of condolences with special references to his achievements, no matter where in the world they happen to be based, the CISDL will be printing and compiling these messages, in order to provide them to Justice Gonthier's family. With the family, CISDL is discussing ways to honour his legacy, including the dedication of the CISDL’s new Series on ‘Treaty Implementation for Sustainable Development’ with Cambridge University Press to his memory.

Natural Resources Program

Natural resources law is a core theme in international sustainable development law. The aim of our research group is to use the diverse expertise of our researchers to develop legal and educational tools that can be used to promote and strengthen awareness of the myriad of issues affecting natural resource protection and development. Our research seeks to provide scholars, policymakers and the public with accurate and comprehensive information relating to international natural resources law. Our priority is the health and welfare of the communities impacted by natural resources issues and we believe strongly that solutions need to come from within rather than outside the community. To this end we try as far as it is possible to consult the people impacted by such issues and to work in collaboration with local experts in order to increase the soundness of our research. Our team is multidisciplinary and we collaborate regularly with researchers and other experts from various fields of study outside the law.

CISDL Researchers in Motion: Negotiating Eco-Health Law and Policy Workshop & Speaking Truth to Power: The Art of Linking Eco-Health Research and Policy-Making Knowledge Cafe & Experts Panel at the 2008 International Eco-Health Forum
1 - 5 December / Merida, Mexico

CISDL Director Marie-Claire Cordonier Segger and CISDL Lead Counsels Dr Maya Prabhu and Dr Maria Leichner Reynal (Executive Director of the Mercosur-based Fundacion Ecos), together with partners Dr Oscar Betancourt and Dr Raul Lopez from FUNSAD (Ecuador), Ms Shermaine Glasgow from CEHI (Caribbean) and Prof Jeffrey Orozco from CINPE (Costa Rica), hosted a workshop to train eco-health researchers and decision-makers on the art of negotiating new law and policy in Merida, Mexico, at the 2008 International Eco-Health Forum. The Workshop, using materials developed by the Americas Eco-Health Assessment Law Project that is funded by Canada's IDRC, was a five-hour success, covering principles, practices and processes of negotiating international and domestic law and policy in relation to eco-health issues. The partners also hosted an Experts Panel and Knowledge Cafe at the Forum, focusing on lessons learned by researchers and policy-makers in research projects on Urban Ecosystems and Human Health in Kwazulu Natal (South Africa); Manganese Exposure in the General Population in a Mining District of Mexico (Mexico); Risk Assessment from Leather Tanneries in Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia); Soapstone Handcraft in Brazil (Brazil); and our own Americas Eco-Health Impact Assessment Law project (speakers from Ecuador, St Lucia, Uruguay, Costa Rica and Canada). The researchers and policy makers shared stories about how the project researchers and policy makers started to work together, and how these initial interactions were beneficial for both parties; how the joint collaboration works in a multi stakeholder context where others are also involved, including community representation; the major challenges (such as different culture, languages) and accomplishments (a change on a particular legislation, or a new enforcement mechanism); the lessons learnt, and how, in each case, policy can be translated into project results’ sustainability. The Knowledge Cafe was extremely successful, resulting in many new ideas, connections, exchanges both in terms of what the projects are accomplishing, and also crucially, how they are doing it. Many thanks to Zsofia Oroz and Jean-Michel Labatut of IDRC for their guidance, support and encouragement. For more information on the Americas Eco-Health Assessment Law Project, see http://www.cisdl.org/ecohealth/index.htm.

Canadian Bar Association International Law Conference 2008: The Hard Edge of Soft Law - The Real Impact of Customary International Law and Soft Law in Canada
October 23, 2008 / Toronto

CISDL Director Marie-Claire Cordonier Segger gave a plenary address on "Application of Soft Law and Custom: The Resolution of Sustainable Development Disputes in International Treaty Regimes."

The intervention briefly discussed how soft law and custom are often used to buttress arguments and to resolve disputes that arise in the context of international treaty related to sustainable development, and the importance of these issues to Canada. It reviewed certain emerging customary principles and ‘soft law’ tools, and how they have been used to build consensus to address sustainable development concerns in treaty regimes related to climate change, biodiversity, heritage seeds, international trade and investment. It focused on the ‘integration principle’ in recent natural resource related disputes and treaty regimes, and also briefly other emerging soft law principles such as precaution, public participation, sustainable use of natural resources, common but differentiated responsibility and good governance. It concluded that these principles do not provide a ‘trump card’, but should form part of the arsenal of ‘smart lawyers’ and ‘smart regulators’ in resolving problems related to sustainable development, including in international negotiations and national regulatory processes.

Now in its sixth year, the CBA International Law Conference brought together leading international law experts to give practitioners insights into the most current developments in international law, and featured a keynote address by The Honourable John Manley, P.C. on Afghanistan and international law. The Conference was presented by the Canadian Bar Association's National Section on International Law and the Continuing Education Committee, and focused on topics of interest to practitioners in the areas of trade and investment, international dispute resolution, international business law and human rights and labour law.
For further details see Canadian Bar Association international law section

Roderick Haig-Brown Centenary Lecture in Environmental Law: “Globalization, International Justice and Our Planet”

CISDL Director Marie-Claire Cordonier Segger will give the Haig-Brown Centenary Lecture on 30 July 2008 at 7:00 p.m., in the Murray and Anne Fraser Building, University of Victoria Law Faculty, Victoria, Canada.

Prof Cordonier Segger, who is a visiting professor at the UVic Faculty of Law, has been invited by the Haig-Brown Centenary Committee and the University of Victoria Faculty of Law to address issues of economic globalization, environmental change and social injustice, and to also examine how the world is coping with these continuing developments. Although the risks for humanity and the Earth “have never been higher”, she proposes that these challenges also provide opportunities for improved global co-operation. “With courage, wisdom and vision, there is a chance for our many civilizations to start working together for a common future, one that understands and respects environmental limits, uses resources more sustainably and addresses longstanding global inequalities,” says Cordonier Segger. “International law has, in the past, been part of the problem. It can also be part of the solution.”

The Roderick Haig-Brown Centenary Lecture in Environmental Law is named in honour of Roderick Haig-Brown, a respected Canadian writer, naturalist and conservationist who was born in England in 1908 but lived in British Columbia for most of his life. Apart from his involvement with various environmental organizations, he served as a magistrate in Campbell River for over 30 years and was Chancellor of the University of Victoria from 1970 to 1972. The lecture is open to the public at no charge.

For further details see Law Faculty, University of Victoria [http://www.law.uvic.ca/NEW-Law-site/news_story.php?id=117]