ADRO 27F14 - GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL GOVERNANCE – A legal approach
The course is for any student who is interested in the current challenges of the global environmental governance either to serve in international organizations, NGOs, or any other public or private institution, or merely to be able to critically take part in this crucial debate of the 21st century.
This course is primarily designed to develop your understanding of the system of global environmental governance that has emerged following the Stockholm Conference in 1972. It will explore institutional structures and norms through which environmental issues are dealt with at the global level. Further, this course will increase opportunities for contributing to environmental awareness as specialists or as citizens, and strengthen your skills in designing and proposing solutions in this field.
Since the boundaries of states do not coincide with those of ecosystems, most environmental issues need to be addressed globally. The course will investigate a variety of topics including the concept of global environmental governance, the development of institutions and norms governing the protection of the environment, with special focus on key principles of international environmental law, multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs), cooperation among states and the growing significance of non-state actors (subnational governments, nongovernmental organizations, business and corporations), or the diversity of regulatory approaches and related policy tools.
In doing so, we will go through the gradual development of global environmental governance, from the Rio Earth Summit to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement and finish with a focus on the specific matters of climate and biodiversity.
There will be two exams during the semestre:
One midterm exam conceived as a multiple-choice questionnaire (30% of the final grade) ;
One final policy paper, to be completed at home (70% of the final grade).
Course content
Séance 1 : INTRODUCTION
Séance 2 : PART I – FOUNDATIONS (1/3)
Séance 3 : PART I – FOUNDATIONS (2/3)
Séance 4 : PART I – FOUNDATIONS (3/3)
Séance 5 : PART II – ACTORS & INSITUTIONS (States)
Séance 6 : PART II – ACTORS & INSITUTIONS (International institutions)
Séance 7 : PART II – ACTORS & INSITUTIONS (Non-State actors)
Séance 8 : PART III – POLICY INSTRUMENTS (Legal instruments: international law 1/2)
Séance 9 : PART III – POLICY INSTRUMENTS (Legal instruments: international law 2/2)
Séance 10 : PART III – POLICY INSTRUMENTS (Economic instruments: funding approaches)
Séance 11 : PART IV – KEY SECTORS (Climate change)
Séance 12 : PART IV – KEY SECTORS (Biodiversity / Other sectors)
P-M. Dupuy, J. Vinuales, International Environmental Law, 2nd ed., Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2018