Story | 21 Dec, 2022

Report from the 2022 Oslo International Environmental Law Conference: The Transformative Power of Law

Highlights and key messages of the first two days of the 2022 Oslo International Environmental Law Conference

More than 400 participants joined the 2022 Oslo International Environmental Law Conference this week at the University of Oslo, Norway. During the first two days of the Conference, participants discussed transformative legal tools to address the global environmental challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution; governance approaches to accompany this transformation; the role of the judiciary; and the current challenges and opportunities of Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs).

Prof. Christina Voigt, Chair of the IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law (WCEL), opened the high-level ceremony by highlighting the transformative power of law to change human behavior. As Prof. Voigt pointed out, 2022 is a very important year for International Environmental Law (IEL) and governance as we celebrate the anniversary of important landmark instruments: 50 years since Stockholm 1972, 40 years since the adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and 30 years since the Rio Declaration and the adoption of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Convention on Biological Diversity. Despite these international efforts, and many others, we are currently experiencing a number of environmental challenges that take us further away from achieving international commitments such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). But we still have the opportunity to reverse these challenges through transformative change. In this regard, the law has the potential to be a powerful tool for such change at different scales. Prof. Voight addressed the audience with two guiding questions that would set the tone for the following days: “Can these environmental challenges be solved with the available legal tools? What is needed from law as a catalyst for transformative change?”

Following the opening remarks, the Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs, H.E. Anniken Huitfeldt, stressed that, in order to overcome environmental challenges, we need to make systemic changes and enhance the role of environmental law. The Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Oslo, Prof. Ragnhild Hennum, complemented that these changes should make use of available legal instruments, supported by different implementation tools, such as funding and capacity-building mechanisms. This is also in line with what Ms. Razan Al Mubarak, President of IUCN, stressed: both financial support and environmental regulations are needed, accompanied by knowledge and capacity building. Today, 176 countries have environmental laws, and many have already recognised the right to a healthy environment in their constitutions or national frameworks. What will the law's role be in the fight against the triple planetary crisis: climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution? Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), stressed the need for innovation and a reorientation of our priorities to protect the planet better by putting the environment at the center of the law, with ecological integrity and planetary boundaries as well as fulling intergenerational equity. In his presentation, Mr. Achim Steiner, Administrator of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), addressed three key focus areas: next-generation tools to hold accountability ensuring protection and justice, gender mainstreaming, and the role of human rights institutions to advance the right to a healthy environment. On this line, Parvez Hassan, Chair emeritus of IUCN WCEL, considered that the recent United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Resolution on the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment could act as a catalyst to integrate many international soft law instruments into Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs). As highlighted by Emmanuel Ugirashebuja, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Republic of Rwanda and former President of the East African Court of Justice, the role of law shall also be accompanied by political will, a key element for addressing environmental challenges.

In the first conference keynote, Prof. Patricia Kameri-Mbote noted that many MEAs were developed in the last five decades. Yet, this process was inversely proportional to the increase in environmental problems today. The UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction recorded 175 disasters from 2020 to 2022. Harmonized living between humans and nature should be echoed louder to not only prevent but also halt such catastrophes. The exercise of procedural rights (e.g., access to information, public participation, and access to justice) is essential to address the triple planetary challenges. This argument was recalled by Mr. Ayman Cherkaoui, Deputy-Chair of WCEL, who emphasized the positive progress on the right to a healthy environment that took place last July with the adoption of the UNGA Resolution No. A/RES/76/300. He also stressed that this conference needs to ensure an impactful response to address the triple planetary challenges.

Various tools are available to deal with the current global environmental challenges. Speakers at the First Plenary Roundtable “Global Environmental Challenges and The Environmental Rule of Law: An Exchange of Different Perspectives” addressed many challenges and opportunities of the international legal order. The issue of enforceability and the insufficient implementation of international obligations at the local level were among the challenges highlighted by the panelists. On the other hand, the panelists also emphasized diverse opportunities to overcome these challenges, such as the role of the youth and non-state actors, the promotion of legal indicators, the promotion of corporate responsibility and the advancement and development of participatory rights. As an outcome, speakers at the first plenary considered that the rule of law integrates environmental needs with the essential elements of law and provides the basis for improving and connecting with fundamental rights and obligations.

For years, the law has been believed to be a social engineering tool. It brings order to society, limits the power of authority, and resolves conflicts. Yet, it is vulnerable to change as it cannot easily and quickly respond to emerging problems such as environmental, economic externalities, and technological advancement. This fragility has been shown especially during the pandemic. Speakers in the second plenary suggested that the legal system should change to address the triple planetary crisis. This can be done by taking an ecocentric approach, respecting human rights and democracy. In addition, mainstreaming sustainable development principles like intergenerational equity, and seeking interpretation from international obligations in new cases is crucial.

“How powerful is IEL?” was the question posed to the panelists of the Third Plenary Roundtable. The Plenary reflected on the challenge of fragmentation in IEL and the impact on existing MEAs, as well as the insufficient implementation at the national level. This has implications for the effectiveness of international environmental instruments. Closing the gaps could be done by MEAs harmonization, litigation, and customary international law, among other tools. While the transformative power of IEL was highlighted by the panelists, they also reflected on its role as a catalyst. Synergies between different areas and regimes of international law, i.e., human rights and the environment and trade and the environment were also emphasized. As a result, implementation and compliance would benefit from bringing coherence within IEL.

The fourth plenary roundtable, chaired by Justice Antonio Herman Benjamin, gathered notable judges from across the globe to discuss how the judicial system could bring about systemic change. All panelists agreed that judges have a key role in interpreting the principles of international environmental law. When there is an imperfection in the law, judges could close the gap by looking deeper into human rights law, constitutional provisions, and more grounded laws. According to the panelists, judges need to be creative, progressive, and always on the side of the environment (in dubio pro natura) when doing so. For example, judges could use technology to overcome procedural challenges when dealing with a case. Furthermore, judges could look at old laws and legal principles in a new way to make a breakthrough. Moreover, judges could consult other countries’ decisions as it might contribute to pollinating the national judgment.

As an overarching conclusion, the first two days of the Conference have been fruitful, not only in identifying emerging global environmental problems and legal challenges but also in shaping the law to address those issues. This event is an impetus to reflect on how the law has contributed to global environmental protection, as this year sees a huge development of the IEL. Looking ahead, IEL has the potential to keep progressing in developing new tools and approaches that address global environmental problems and catalyze transformative change while continuing to consider the road we have come down so far.


Links:
https://www.iucnwcel2022.com/
https://www.iucnwcel2022.com/_files/ugd/742341_e3a38e3f158f42f4a0145aa9099cfb7f.pdf (Programme)


About the Authors:

Julieta_Sarno

Julieta Sarno is a PhD in Law candidate and a research assistant to Prof. Dr. Jelena Bäumler, Chair of Public Law and International Law with a focus on Sustainability at Leuphana University Lüneburg (Germany). Previously, Julieta worked in environmental management and public policy at the Argentine Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development. She also has experience in environmental issues in both the private and civil sectors and is a member of the IUCN WCEL Early-Career Specialist Group.
https://www.leuphana.de/institute/insugo/personen/julieta-sarno.html
Contact: julieta.sarno@leuphana.de
 

Marsya M Handayani

Marsya M Handayani is a researcher at Indonesian Center of Environmental Law (ICEL). Marsya’s research interests lie in the areas of climate change law, human rights, general environmental law and governance, and criminal law. Marsya pursued her master’s degree at Lancaster University (UK) with a focus on climate change loss and damage. She is a member of the IUCN WCEL Early-Career Specialist Group.
https://icel.or.id/badan-pelaksana/19.
Contact: marsya@icel.or.id