This Reflection considers some of the challenges faced by international law due to the advent of ... more This Reflection considers some of the challenges faced by international law due to the advent of the Anthropocene. It argues that the underlying reasons for the advent of the Anthropocene are deeply engrained in international law, in particular in international economic law and some of the trade-based mechanisms that are part of multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs). It also shows that these same underlying reasons are closely linked to the colonial legacy of international law. However, the Anthropocene might offer a unique opportunity to break with this colonial legacy. For, we now know that exporting environmental problems from the ‘core’ to the ‘periphery’, from developed to developing states, is not only morally objectionable but does not pay off. In other words, we now know that changes in the Earth’s system will manifest themselves across the globe, no matter where the human activity at their origin is located. However, in order to overcome these challenges, we will hav...
This essay considers the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) at a time at which humans a... more This essay considers the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) at a time at which humans are dramatically changing the planet, prompting scientists to suggest that we are living in a new geological epoch: “the Anthropocene.” The Anthropocene, even if an essentially contested concept, prompts reconsideration of our interhuman socioeconomic relations and our understanding of the human-nature interface, both of which come with significant challenges. This essay suggests that the UDHR offers the space for engaging with these challenges, if we adopt an Anthropocene-relevant reading of its provisions. This essay also argues that such a reading of the UDHR, on its own, is unlikely to lead to the adoption of an Anthropocene-relevant reading of other international instruments, international economic instruments in particular. It points to enhanced regime interaction as a way to address this issue.
Gro Harm Brundtland, 1987 1 1. 1. Gro Harm Brundtland in the Chairman's Foreword to the report of... more Gro Harm Brundtland, 1987 1 1. 1. Gro Harm Brundtland in the Chairman's Foreword to the report of the World Commission on Environment and Development (also known as the Brundtland Commission), Our Common Future (Oxford, Oxford University Press 1987) p. ix. 2. The term 'decision-making process' in this essay refers to the totality of rules which determine decision-making, including, for instance, rules relating to transparency, public participation and monitoring of compliance and also decision-making procedures. The term 'decision-making procedure' in this essay refers to the procedure by means of which a decision is finally taken and includes, for example, issues such as participation in meetings and voting arrangements.
This essay focuses on the (non)application of the precautionary principle in the Hormones Case. I... more This essay focuses on the (non)application of the precautionary principle in the Hormones Case. It concludes that the finding of the Appellate Body that the precautionary principle, as such, cannot overrule the explicit wording of Articles 5.1 and 5.2 of the SPS Agreement is debatable, if a similar principle or concept were to exist in health law – a line of thought that is not pursued by the Appellate Body in its consideration of the precautionary principle. In addition, the article includes considerations about the problems that arises if substantive unity is sought in a procedurally non-unified system for international dispute settlement.
The International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law, 2012
This essay explores the persistence of the concept of maximum sustainable yield (MSY) in global m... more This essay explores the persistence of the concept of maximum sustainable yield (MSY) in global multilateral fishing law. It argues that MSY has contributed to the unsustainable governance of fishing activities by focusing on open access and catch-based management, instead of effort-based management. In response to the dire state of world fish stocks, it has been proposed to cut subsidies to the sector, restrict trade in endangered fish species, install marine protected areas and mainstream the Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) ecosystem approach to fisheries (EAF). This essay proposes that the FAO’s EAF, which links in to social-ecological resilience thinking, suggests a new philosophy for fisheries management that offers a basis for introducing the aforementioned measures.
Background note by the Secretary-General for the High-Level event on the Millennium Development G... more Background note by the Secretary-General for the High-Level event on the Millennium Development Goals, to be held on 25 September, 2008 (hereinafter Committing to action). The documents emphasize, among other things, the link between environmental degradation and poverty in the sense that the poor stand to suffer most from environmental degradation; the link between securing access to water and sanitation and the under-participation of girls in education; and emphasize the importance of proper governance, including the rule of law, for attaining economic development. 3 I am indebted to Illeana Porras for the phrase 'archeological research of the MDGs'. She spontaneously offered the phrase during a conversation about the topic of this essay when we met in Helsinki.
How does resilience research matter for legal scholarship and law, and the other way around, how ... more How does resilience research matter for legal scholarship and law, and the other way around, how does law and legal scholarship matter for resilience research and for socialecological resilience? Resilience research, besides describing and theorizing how social-ecological systems work, seeks to identify factors that enhance the resilience of such systems or reduce it for the sake of transformations into new development paths. It thus has an essential normative dimension and through that dimension intends to influence policy to develop in more resilient ways. Law also seeks to pursue normative ends related to concepts such as justice and the rule of law. By way of its concepts, rules, procedures, and institutions, law seeks to protect certain societal values such as equality before the law and nondiscrimination. In addition, law is used as an instrument to achieve various environmental and social objectives such as the protection of habitats, the prohibition to market and use hazardous chemicals, or the construction of buildings to withstand floods and earthquakes. However, these same concepts, rules, procedures, and institutions also affect society's capacity to address change, complexity, and adaptation. We suggest that it is therefore important for resilience researchers to engage with law and for legal researchers to engage with resilience thinking if more sustainable societal structures are to be attained.
The International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law
The Collective Arrangement, subscribed to by OSPAR and NEAFC and presented as a model by these or... more The Collective Arrangement, subscribed to by OSPAR and NEAFC and presented as a model by these organisations, suggests that regional seas organisations, such as OSPAR, are to act as standard setters for the conservation of marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ). The model suggests that regional seas organisations and other organisations, such as NEAFC, the IMO and the ISA, then are to regulate human activities for which they are competent within these conservation standards. This article explores whether the Collective Arrangement might indeed function as a model for ocean governance in ABNJ and merits encouragement in a future BBNJ agreement. It concludes that the Collective Arrangement, as a model, raises both opportunities and challenges but that it might not be transplantable to other areas beyond national jurisdiction, given that the elements that characterise cooperation in the North-East Atlantic are not present in most other areas in ABNJ.
This Reflection considers some of the challenges faced by international law due to the advent of ... more This Reflection considers some of the challenges faced by international law due to the advent of the Anthropocene. It argues that the underlying reasons for the advent of the Anthropocene are deeply engrained in international law, in particular in international economic law and some of the trade-based mechanisms that are part of multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs). It also shows that these same underlying reasons are closely linked to the colonial legacy of international law. However, the Anthropocene might offer a unique opportunity to break with this colonial legacy. For, we now know that exporting environmental problems from the ‘core’ to the ‘periphery’, from developed to developing states, is not only morally objectionable but does not pay off. In other words, we now know that changes in the Earth’s system will manifest themselves across the globe, no matter where the human activity at their origin is located. However, in order to overcome these challenges, we will hav...
This essay considers the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) at a time at which humans a... more This essay considers the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) at a time at which humans are dramatically changing the planet, prompting scientists to suggest that we are living in a new geological epoch: “the Anthropocene.” The Anthropocene, even if an essentially contested concept, prompts reconsideration of our interhuman socioeconomic relations and our understanding of the human-nature interface, both of which come with significant challenges. This essay suggests that the UDHR offers the space for engaging with these challenges, if we adopt an Anthropocene-relevant reading of its provisions. This essay also argues that such a reading of the UDHR, on its own, is unlikely to lead to the adoption of an Anthropocene-relevant reading of other international instruments, international economic instruments in particular. It points to enhanced regime interaction as a way to address this issue.
Gro Harm Brundtland, 1987 1 1. 1. Gro Harm Brundtland in the Chairman's Foreword to the report of... more Gro Harm Brundtland, 1987 1 1. 1. Gro Harm Brundtland in the Chairman's Foreword to the report of the World Commission on Environment and Development (also known as the Brundtland Commission), Our Common Future (Oxford, Oxford University Press 1987) p. ix. 2. The term 'decision-making process' in this essay refers to the totality of rules which determine decision-making, including, for instance, rules relating to transparency, public participation and monitoring of compliance and also decision-making procedures. The term 'decision-making procedure' in this essay refers to the procedure by means of which a decision is finally taken and includes, for example, issues such as participation in meetings and voting arrangements.
This essay focuses on the (non)application of the precautionary principle in the Hormones Case. I... more This essay focuses on the (non)application of the precautionary principle in the Hormones Case. It concludes that the finding of the Appellate Body that the precautionary principle, as such, cannot overrule the explicit wording of Articles 5.1 and 5.2 of the SPS Agreement is debatable, if a similar principle or concept were to exist in health law – a line of thought that is not pursued by the Appellate Body in its consideration of the precautionary principle. In addition, the article includes considerations about the problems that arises if substantive unity is sought in a procedurally non-unified system for international dispute settlement.
The International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law, 2012
This essay explores the persistence of the concept of maximum sustainable yield (MSY) in global m... more This essay explores the persistence of the concept of maximum sustainable yield (MSY) in global multilateral fishing law. It argues that MSY has contributed to the unsustainable governance of fishing activities by focusing on open access and catch-based management, instead of effort-based management. In response to the dire state of world fish stocks, it has been proposed to cut subsidies to the sector, restrict trade in endangered fish species, install marine protected areas and mainstream the Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) ecosystem approach to fisheries (EAF). This essay proposes that the FAO’s EAF, which links in to social-ecological resilience thinking, suggests a new philosophy for fisheries management that offers a basis for introducing the aforementioned measures.
Background note by the Secretary-General for the High-Level event on the Millennium Development G... more Background note by the Secretary-General for the High-Level event on the Millennium Development Goals, to be held on 25 September, 2008 (hereinafter Committing to action). The documents emphasize, among other things, the link between environmental degradation and poverty in the sense that the poor stand to suffer most from environmental degradation; the link between securing access to water and sanitation and the under-participation of girls in education; and emphasize the importance of proper governance, including the rule of law, for attaining economic development. 3 I am indebted to Illeana Porras for the phrase 'archeological research of the MDGs'. She spontaneously offered the phrase during a conversation about the topic of this essay when we met in Helsinki.
How does resilience research matter for legal scholarship and law, and the other way around, how ... more How does resilience research matter for legal scholarship and law, and the other way around, how does law and legal scholarship matter for resilience research and for socialecological resilience? Resilience research, besides describing and theorizing how social-ecological systems work, seeks to identify factors that enhance the resilience of such systems or reduce it for the sake of transformations into new development paths. It thus has an essential normative dimension and through that dimension intends to influence policy to develop in more resilient ways. Law also seeks to pursue normative ends related to concepts such as justice and the rule of law. By way of its concepts, rules, procedures, and institutions, law seeks to protect certain societal values such as equality before the law and nondiscrimination. In addition, law is used as an instrument to achieve various environmental and social objectives such as the protection of habitats, the prohibition to market and use hazardous chemicals, or the construction of buildings to withstand floods and earthquakes. However, these same concepts, rules, procedures, and institutions also affect society's capacity to address change, complexity, and adaptation. We suggest that it is therefore important for resilience researchers to engage with law and for legal researchers to engage with resilience thinking if more sustainable societal structures are to be attained.
The International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law
The Collective Arrangement, subscribed to by OSPAR and NEAFC and presented as a model by these or... more The Collective Arrangement, subscribed to by OSPAR and NEAFC and presented as a model by these organisations, suggests that regional seas organisations, such as OSPAR, are to act as standard setters for the conservation of marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ). The model suggests that regional seas organisations and other organisations, such as NEAFC, the IMO and the ISA, then are to regulate human activities for which they are competent within these conservation standards. This article explores whether the Collective Arrangement might indeed function as a model for ocean governance in ABNJ and merits encouragement in a future BBNJ agreement. It concludes that the Collective Arrangement, as a model, raises both opportunities and challenges but that it might not be transplantable to other areas beyond national jurisdiction, given that the elements that characterise cooperation in the North-East Atlantic are not present in most other areas in ABNJ.
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