This module lasts approximately 5 hours.
Conservation of biodiversity, including through sustainable forest management, has been a longstanding policy priority for Canada, with the first national strategy drafted in 1995, and an ongoing program of work to towards achievement of domestic targets in line with international priorities as identified in the 2020 Strategic Plan. This course focuses on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 15 to protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss, highlighting potential contributions of international law and policy in delivering targets 15.1 – 15.9.
The course provides a cursory survey of principal national and international law, policy and governance measures that have the potential to contribute to realizing SDG 15. It considers options for legal and policy preparedness, notes potential for mainstreaming and more integrated implementation at the international and national levels, and offers some recommendations to deal with these issues.
The course includes an accompanying PowerPoint and covers:
- Introduction offers brief background to the issues, the structure of the course, and an overview of the intended audience.
- Legal Innovations & Practices from Across Canada to Achieve SDG 15 provides an initial survey of federal, provincial, and territorial approaches which support achievement of specific targets under the SDG.
- International Legal Dimensions of SDG 15 highlighting legal obligations under international instruments related to biodiversity.
- Legal Preparedness for Achieving SDG 15 with Canadians summarizes findings and provides mechanisms for enhancing efforts across all levels of government.
The analysis suggests that the SDG 15 targets are supported by international environmental governance systems and legal measures, including multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs), as well as Canadian domestic instruments and institutions which provide pre-existing pathways to support national implementation. While law and governance mechanisms which support achievement of the SDG 15 have been identified, there remain significant areas of opportunity to promote greater policy cohesion, refinement, scaling up of ambition, and engagement with civil society actors.
Primary Instructors
Prof. Dr. Marie-Claire Cordonier Segger
Professor Dr Marie-Claire Cordonier Segger, DPhil (Oxon) MEM (Yale) BCL and LLB (McGill), BA Hons, Full Professor of Law, University of Waterloo, Fellow at C-EENRG and LCIL, University of Cambridge, International Advisor, IC3, is a distinguished professor, scholar and expert jurist in law and governance on sustainable development.
She serves as Senior Director of the CISDL in a pro bono academic capacity, where she mentors CISDL lawyers and fellows, and guides new international legal scholarship and education. She is also a Full Professor of Law (part-time) at the University of Waterloo and Fellow of the Balsillie School of International Affairs in Canada; and Fellow and Advisor of the Centre for Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Governance (C-EENRG) and Affiliated Fellow of the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law (LCIL) in the University of Cambridge. Her current research focuses on law and governance regimes related to climate change; natural resources and biodiversity management; investment, trade and the green economy; among other emerging sustainable development challenges. She received the 2016 international Justitia Regnorum Fundamentum Award for her leadership on behalf of future generations, among other international awards and honours.
Professor Cordonier Segger has edited/authored 20 books and 120+ papers in five languages, edits the Cambridge University Press Implementing Treaties on Sustainable Development Series, and serves on the Editorial Boards of 6 law journals. As an expert jurist, she is active in international sustainable development debates. She advises United Nations treaty negotiations and organizations, serving as Executive Secretary of the Climate Law and Governance Initiative in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and Chair of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Biodiversity Law & Governance Initiative. She is Rapporteur for the International Law Association’s Committee on Sustainable Resources Management; Chair of the World Bank Law Justice and Development’s Climate Law Community of Practice; and member of various Boards of Directors and Foundations.
Mr. Freedom-Kai Phillips
Freedom-Kai Phillips, BSc honors (E. Michigan), MA (Seton Hall), LLB (Dalhousie), LLM (Ottawa), is a PhD Candidate at the University of Cambridge, Operations Director and a Legal Research Fellow with the Centre for International Sustainable Development Law (CISDL), a Fellow with the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), and a member of the IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law. Mr. Phillips has most recently served as Senior Research Associate with the International Law Research Program (ILRP) at the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), and previously as Interim Director of the Centre for Law Technology and Society at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law, and Legal Researcher for the Ramsar Convention Secretariat. His research focuses on access and benefit sharing (ABS), governance of marine and terrestrial biodiversity, ocean climate interfaces, carbon offsetting and renewable energy promotion, and legal measures to support achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Dr. Alexandra R. Harrington
Dr. Alexandra R. Harrington, J.D., LL.M., D.C.L. (McGill), Professor, University of Albany School of Law, and Fulbright Canada Special Foundation Fellow at the Balsillie School of International Affairs in Waterloo, Canada.Dr. Harrington is the author of the book International Organizations and the Law and the forthcoming International Law and Global Governance: Treaty Regimes and Sustainable Development Goals Interpretation. She is the Director of Studies for the International Law Association Colombian branch, a member of the International Law Association Committee on the Role of International Law in Sustainable Natural Resource Management for Development, and an adjunct professor at Albany Law School. She also provides guest lectures globally on topics related to international law, environmental law, global governance and sustainable development.Dr. Harrington has served as a consultant for entities such as the Commission for Environmental Cooperation of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation and UN Environment. Dr. Harrington’s publications address a variety of fields relating to international law, including environmental law, legal issues relating to climate change, natural resources regulation, international organizations, international human rights law, international child’s rights, international trade law, corporate social responsibility, and criminal law. Dr. Harrington routinely presents her works at domestic and international conferences.
Along with other CISDL contributors