CISDL News & Press Releases

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT LEGAL EXPERTS PANEL AND
HIGH LEVEL PARTNERSHIP LAUNCH
INTERNATIONAL LAW FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT:
Principles, Practices and Prospects

Thursday, August 29, 2002/6.30 - 8.00pm, Ballroom 3, Sandton Convention Centre,
World Summit for Sustainable Development, Johannesburg, South Africa

The 2002 WSSD Sustainable Development Legal Experts Panel is a forum for dialogue on areas of intersection in international economic, social and environmental law. An expert panel will deliver the results of three major 2002 international law conferences in New Delhi, India; Montreal, Canada and Durban, South Africa, and profile other high level legal events. WSSD delegates from governments and international agencies, professional associations and firms, and civil society are invited to join our esteemed high level guests for the Johannesburg Launch of the book, Weaving the Rules for Our Common Future: Principles, Practice and Prospects of International Sustainable Development Law.

Draft Programme

Sustainable Development Legal Experts Panel:

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT LAW PRINCIPLES, International Law Association Committee on the Legal Aspects of Sustainable Development, Nicolas Schrijver (4 mins)

SUSTAINABLE JUSTICE 2002, Centre for International Sustainable Development Law, Marie-Claire Cordonier Segger and Ashfaq Khalfan (4 mins)

ENVIRONMENTAL LAW FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT, The World Conservation Union (IUCN) and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Bakary Kante (4 mins)

ENVIROLAW CONFERENCE 2002, EnviroLaw Solutions, Francois Joubert (4 mins)

Keynote Speakers:
Hon. Penual Maduna, Minister of Justice, South Africa (8 mins)
Hon. Phillipe Roch, Secretary of State for the Environment, Switzerland (8 mins)
Dr. Brian Emmett, Vice President, Canadian International Development Agency, Canada (8 mins)*

Questions, Discussion (50 mins)

Toasts to Launch the 2002 'Montreal Mandate' - the International Jurists Mandate on the Implementation of International Law for Sustainable Development.
* Representation in process of confirmation for time and date.

EVENT OVERVIEW:
How can climate change be slowed by changing rules on trade and investment? What are human rights obligations in relation to development law and financing, and how to protect the human right to a clean environment? How can corporate social responsibility contribute to sustainable livelihoods for marginalised peoples, and what is the role of laws governing micro-enterprise or land tenure? What is the link between environmental accords (such as the 2001 Cartegena Protocol on Biosafety) and the World Trade Organisation (in the 2001 'Doha Development Agenda' of the WTO)?

The World Summit for Sustainable Development debates raise many tangled international and domestic legal issues. International accords and principles, and domestic legislation, have developed over the past ten years. Still, these laws are not always implemented or enforced. The problem is not the laws or policies, but their governance. Social, economic and environmental laws often overlap or even conflict, rather than complementing each other. This, combined with a lack of capacity and knowledge, can block access to justice and prevent compliance with sustainable development law. It is not only possible but necessary to change this situation.

The legal community is a powerful force to harness for sustainable development. International jurists, legal scholars and professionals, including community lawyers and the media, can make a strong contribution to strengthened sustainable development governance on national and international levels. This event at the 2002 World Summit for Sustainable Development (WSSD) will bring key actors together to consider principles, innovative new instruments and success stories, highlight the contribution of international law to sustainable development, and launch a new legal experts partnership to strengthen and support international law for sustainable development.