July 3, 2012: Panel 5A - Sustainable Development Case Studies

Sustainable Development Case Studies Video

Tue, 03 Jul 2012 14:40:00 PDT

The Clean Development Mechanism and Sustainability: Case Studies from Chile and Bolivia

Camille Parrod — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 14:40:00 PDT

In the aftermath of the United Nations’ “Rio+20” Conference, taking place in June 2012, this paper will provide a legal analysis of the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and its contribution to the concept of a green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication. After examining what is meant by a “green economy” when applied to the CDM, this study intends, through two case studies, to measure the CDM’s achievement of a sustainable development goal where the projects were implemented. Particularly, it will highlight the CDM’s major institutional and procedural shortcomings when it comes to achieving sustainable development in developing countries. The methane capture and combustion from swine manure treatment projects in Chile will demonstrate limits in the application of sustainable development criteria, while the carbon sequestration through reforestation in the Bolivian Tropics by smallholders of “The Federación de Comunidades Agropecuarias de Rurrenabaque (FECAR)” project will provide an example of good sustainable development practices. A more people-centred and inclusive CDM that respects and promotes the Rio principles could help achieve sustainable development through financial and technological support to the developing countries.

Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development in Developing Countries post- Rio

Tumai Murombo — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 14:40:00 PDT

Using South Africa as an example, this paper explores how environmental regulation has fared in a social and economic context where poverty alleviation, and socio-economic development are the top priorities of governments. While many developing countries have joined the bandwagon of environmental regulation to promote seemingly sustainable development, how to balance these inherently ‘conflicted' aspirations in practice remains a challenge. The paper explore various strategies for promoting sustainable development while conserving the environment such as environmental impact assessment, the use of framework legislation and assess the extent to which these are working in practice. The paper concludes by a radical proposal for an Afrocentric environmental paradigm that puts socio-economic development in its proper context when we talk of environmental regulation.

Co-Management of Natural Resources by Indigenous People and States: A Method to Promote Environmental Justice and Sustainability

Bradford Morse — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 14:40:00 PDT

This paper will explore the potential contributions that could be made to achieving environmental justice, as well as local, regional and global efforts toward environmental sustainability, through embracing the concept of co-management of nature in which the natural world is a participant represented by those humans retaining traditional knowledge of sustainable co-existence. In particular, my focus will be on the potential of partnerships between settler governments with access to ‘modern’ scientific knowledge combining with Indigenous peoples relying on their ‘traditional’ ecological knowledge. I will examine how recent reinterpretation of longstanding international human rights, along with the development of international environmental standards and the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples creates a supportive international law framework for newer approaches within nations that could bear positive results. The paper will then concentrate on how the presence of domestic legal pluralism, which has occurred in a number of countries in recent years through major constitutional reform or negotiated agreements, is enabling the development of joint management and decision-making over shared territories and natural resources that can generate more eco-friendly outcomes. This latter portion will concentrate on a few jurisdictions that may suggest the broader viability of this strategy.

Through the influence of treaties of a former era between Indigenous peoples and European colonisers, as well as new treaty settlements, we are witnessing the growth of new arrangements whereby parks, lakes and river systems, conservation lands, marine reserves and specific species of flora and fauna are being ‘managed’ in a manner that imbeds Indigenous principles of mutigenerational guardianship and stewardship responsibilities as well as direct Indigenous participation or co-governance into national and regional operational plans. It will be suggested that these developments create positive examples of new approaches to how we relate to our environment that can be of broader application.

Integrating Sustainable Development into Bilateral Trade Agreements

Shawkat Alam — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 14:40:00 PDT

It is now well established that trade and environmental policy are complementary in achieving sustainable development. Chapter 2 of Agenda 21 emphasises the need to promote sustainable economic ‘development through trade’. It states that this must be done through ‘a commitment to sound economic policies and management, an effective and predictable public administration, the integration of environmental concerns into decision-making and progress towards democratic government’ (UNESD, 1992, ch. 2, para 2.6). The Johannesburg Plan of Implementation 2002 of the World Summit on Sustainable Development has subsequently reinforced this call. The Preamble to the WTO Agreement commits to multilateral trade liberalisation in the pursuit of sustainable development and purports to protect and preserve the environment. Despite the recognition of this linkage, the current multilateral trading system is littered with the arbitrary and discriminatory use of environmental requirements for trade restrictive purposes as well as environmentally unsustainable free trade.

Furthermore, the trade-environment nexus needs to be upheld in all free trade arrangements – whether those arrangements are bilateral, regional, or multilateral. While, this nexus has been enshrined in some multilateral treaties, currently, incorporation of the trade-environment nexus has not been considered at the bilateral level. This paper will examine the prospects and challenges of bilateral economic integration and sustainable development pursuant to GATT Article 24. The paper will argue that integration of sustainable development into bilateral trade arrangements will create new avenues for regional and global trade liberalization and maximise trade-induced sustainable development.

The focus of this Paper is on how sustainable development principles can be enshrined in bilateral trade agreements between Australia and India with special reference to the primary sector, specifically agricultural products and natural resources. Both Australia and India are committed to economic development as well as environmental protection yet both countries treat the environment as a non-trade issue. Against this context, the paper will examine (i) the extent to which Australian bilateral trade treaties with India can integrate sustainable development;(ii) explore economic and other implications of focusing on sustainable development in trade treaties; and (iii)illustrate how bilateral preferential trade agreements can serve as stepping-stones for global trade liberalization.