Pub Date : 2021-09-01DOI: 10.1177/14614529211017631
D. Shapovalova
This volume is very timely, as energy and climate law literature have been developing in parallel, without much integration, leaving a gap in the analysis of regulatory interventions needed to decarbonise energy systems while maintaining the security of supply. Energy law, as a relatively young discipline, is still in the search of a holistic and balanced approach, taking into account the context in which energy regulation exists and operates: justice and equity considerations, environmental concerns, technological constraints and breakthroughs. Energy law scholarship is for the most part split into silos of oil and gas lawyers, renewable energy lawyers, networks and utilities lawyers. This book is an important step towards integration and maturing of the discipline. The book is in two parts, firstly focusing on energy security in the era of decarbonisation (chapters 1–9) and secondly, case studies in energy transition from various countries and regions (chapters 10–16). Most chapters in part 1 centre on private rights and the energy industry, highlighting that ‘governance cannot be monolithic’ (p. 124) and must involve private actors in a meaningful way. Protections accorded to energy industry actors by international investment law have been both the catalyst and the hurdle to decarbonisation. On the one hand, instruments like the Energy Charter Treaty are often used to protect renewable energy producers from subsidies rollbacks; on the other, fossil fuel investors use investment law to bring lawsuits against governments’ decarbonisation actions that might amount to expropriation. This debate is the central topic of chapter 6, which concludes that investment law should be reformed to provide ‘greater transparency’ (p. 174) to investors on States’ energy and climate policies and to introduce appropriate compensation to both investors and the affected communities. The role of the oil and gas industry in climate change governance and decarbonisation, discussed in chapter 8, is important and controversial – climate treaties do not impose obligations on private actors, but the industry’s influence on governments around the world is strong and ongoing. Finally, chapter 9 provides a critical analysis of carbon taxation, arguing that the market alone cannot be effective in decarbonising the energy supply and ‘there is no way to avoid a more interventionist approach to the climate crisis’ (p. 241). The chapters in part 2 meaningfully build on the foundation of part 1 by focusing on specific jurisdictions. Analysis in these chapters brings forward the often-conflicting policy objectives of climate and energy regulation, common to all case studies whether they are ‘resource-rich developing countries’ (p. 3) or developed economies. The former understandably prioritise energy security over climate considerations, evident from analysis in chapters 13 and 16 on energy law in Nigeria and Southern Africa, respectively. At the same time, it is clear that despite
这本书非常及时，因为能源和气候法文献一直在并行发展，没有太多的整合，在分析能源系统脱碳同时保持供应安全所需的监管干预方面留下了空白。能源法作为一门相对年轻的学科，仍在寻求一种全面和平衡的方法，考虑到能源监管存在和运作的背景:正义和公平的考虑、环境问题、技术限制和突破。能源法奖学金在很大程度上分为石油和天然气律师、可再生能源律师、网络和公用事业律师。这本书是迈向学科整合和成熟的重要一步。本书分为两部分，首先关注脱碳时代的能源安全(第1-9章)，其次是各国和地区能源转型的案例研究(第10-16章)。第一部分的大部分章节以私人权利和能源工业为中心，强调“治理不能是单一的”(第124页)，必须以有意义的方式让私人行动者参与进来。国际投资法对能源行业参与者的保护既是脱碳的催化剂，也是障碍。一方面，《能源宪章条约》(Energy Charter Treaty)等文书经常被用来保护可再生能源生产商免受补贴削减的影响;另一方面，化石燃料投资者利用投资法对政府可能相当于征用的脱碳行动提起诉讼。这一辩论是第6章的中心主题，该章的结论是，应改革投资法，向投资者提供有关国家能源和气候政策的“更大透明度”(第174页)，并向投资者和受影响社区提供适当的补偿。第8章讨论了石油和天然气行业在气候变化治理和脱碳中的作用，这是重要的，也是有争议的——气候条约并没有对私人行为体施加义务，但该行业对世界各国政府的影响是强大的，而且是持续的。最后，第9章对碳税进行了批判性分析，认为单靠市场不能有效地使能源供应脱碳，而且“没有办法避免对气候危机采取更多干预主义的方法”(第241页)。第2部分的各章在第1部分的基础上有意义地建立了对具体司法管辖区的关注。这些章节的分析提出了气候和能源监管经常相互冲突的政策目标，这是所有案例研究的共同点，无论它们是“资源丰富的发展中国家”(第3页)还是发达经济体。可以理解，前者将能源安全置于气候考虑之上，这一点从第13章和第16章分别对尼日利亚和南部非洲能源法的分析中可以看出。与此同时，很明显，尽管提供能源是共同的挑战，环境法评论
{"title":"Book review: Decarbonisation and the Energy Industry: Law, Policy and Regulation in Low-Carbon Energy Markets","authors":"D. Shapovalova","doi":"10.1177/14614529211017631","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/14614529211017631","url":null,"abstract":"This volume is very timely, as energy and climate law literature have been developing in parallel, without much integration, leaving a gap in the analysis of regulatory interventions needed to decarbonise energy systems while maintaining the security of supply. Energy law, as a relatively young discipline, is still in the search of a holistic and balanced approach, taking into account the context in which energy regulation exists and operates: justice and equity considerations, environmental concerns, technological constraints and breakthroughs. Energy law scholarship is for the most part split into silos of oil and gas lawyers, renewable energy lawyers, networks and utilities lawyers. This book is an important step towards integration and maturing of the discipline. The book is in two parts, firstly focusing on energy security in the era of decarbonisation (chapters 1–9) and secondly, case studies in energy transition from various countries and regions (chapters 10–16). Most chapters in part 1 centre on private rights and the energy industry, highlighting that ‘governance cannot be monolithic’ (p. 124) and must involve private actors in a meaningful way. Protections accorded to energy industry actors by international investment law have been both the catalyst and the hurdle to decarbonisation. On the one hand, instruments like the Energy Charter Treaty are often used to protect renewable energy producers from subsidies rollbacks; on the other, fossil fuel investors use investment law to bring lawsuits against governments’ decarbonisation actions that might amount to expropriation. This debate is the central topic of chapter 6, which concludes that investment law should be reformed to provide ‘greater transparency’ (p. 174) to investors on States’ energy and climate policies and to introduce appropriate compensation to both investors and the affected communities. The role of the oil and gas industry in climate change governance and decarbonisation, discussed in chapter 8, is important and controversial – climate treaties do not impose obligations on private actors, but the industry’s influence on governments around the world is strong and ongoing. Finally, chapter 9 provides a critical analysis of carbon taxation, arguing that the market alone cannot be effective in decarbonising the energy supply and ‘there is no way to avoid a more interventionist approach to the climate crisis’ (p. 241). The chapters in part 2 meaningfully build on the foundation of part 1 by focusing on specific jurisdictions. Analysis in these chapters brings forward the often-conflicting policy objectives of climate and energy regulation, common to all case studies whether they are ‘resource-rich developing countries’ (p. 3) or developed economies. The former understandably prioritise energy security over climate considerations, evident from analysis in chapters 13 and 16 on energy law in Nigeria and Southern Africa, respectively. At the same time, it is clear that despite ","PeriodicalId":52213,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Law Review","volume":"49 1","pages":"297 - 298"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"83075273","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-09-01DOI: 10.1177/14614529211041723
Kanika Jamwal
This opinion argues for including indigenous peoples as ‘expert’ consultants in India's Apex Committee for Implementation of Paris Agreement. Alongside its monitoring and reporting functions, the Apex Committee for Implementation of Paris Agreement is expected to perform substantive functions, including, developing policies and programmes to make India's domestic climate actions compliant with its international obligations under the Paris Agreement. The argument is based on the understanding that indigenous peoples possess a deeper understanding of their ecosystems and share a special relationship with it. Therefore, their knowledge is key to sustainable ecosystem management. At the same time, a co-dependent relationship with Nature makes them disproportionately vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Unlike other vulnerable groups, the impact on indigenous peoples ripples beyond their economic survival, and threatens their collective physical and spiritual identity. Accordingly, this opinion suggests direct participation of indigenous peoples in conceptualising and implementing policies and programmes aimed at addressing climate change. To that end, it problematizes the narrow understanding of ‘experts’ reflected in the gazette notification establishing the Apex Committee for Implementation of Paris Agreement, and draws upon United Nations’ practice(s) enabling participation of indigenous peoples as 'experts' in its specialised agencies and organs. Accordingly, the opinion also suggests a potential means to operationalize their inclusion in the Apex Committee for Implementation of Paris Agreement.
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Pub Date : 2021-06-19DOI: 10.1177/14614529211031203
G. Gill, G. Ramachandran
There is an urgency to address societal challenges due to earth's environmental crisis and its capacity to sustain human well-being. In this context, ‘transformations towards sustainability’ move to centre-stage and are increasingly institutionalised within global scientific and policy discourses. Sustainability transformations involve reorientation and restructuring of governance processes and actions. Though the governance of transformation involves multiple actors, this article examines the role of the judiciary in steering a transformation process towards a sustainable and equitable future. Judicial intervention, as a strategic tool, can effect change in human action thereby enabling transformative changes. Drawing on social science literature, the article offers a novel interdisciplinary analysis of illustrative Indian climate change legal decisions located within the sustainability transformations discourse underpinned by the environmental rule of law. The Indian judiciary, noted for expansive thinking, and acting as a ‘lever of transformation’, is slowly addressing climate cases. These cases categorised as – climate conscious, climate accountability and climate futurity – reflect progressive cumulative outcomes, albeit incremental, but they nevertheless enable conditions for transformative change.
{"title":"Sustainability transformations, environmental rule of law and the Indian judiciary: Connecting the dots through climate change litigation","authors":"G. Gill, G. Ramachandran","doi":"10.1177/14614529211031203","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/14614529211031203","url":null,"abstract":"There is an urgency to address societal challenges due to earth's environmental crisis and its capacity to sustain human well-being. In this context, ‘transformations towards sustainability’ move to centre-stage and are increasingly institutionalised within global scientific and policy discourses. Sustainability transformations involve reorientation and restructuring of governance processes and actions. Though the governance of transformation involves multiple actors, this article examines the role of the judiciary in steering a transformation process towards a sustainable and equitable future. Judicial intervention, as a strategic tool, can effect change in human action thereby enabling transformative changes. Drawing on social science literature, the article offers a novel interdisciplinary analysis of illustrative Indian climate change legal decisions located within the sustainability transformations discourse underpinned by the environmental rule of law. The Indian judiciary, noted for expansive thinking, and acting as a ‘lever of transformation’, is slowly addressing climate cases. These cases categorised as – climate conscious, climate accountability and climate futurity – reflect progressive cumulative outcomes, albeit incremental, but they nevertheless enable conditions for transformative change.","PeriodicalId":52213,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Law Review","volume":"66 1","pages":"228 - 247"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-06-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76514134","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-06-01DOI: 10.1177/14614529211013604
Sakshi
The recent case by Girija Sámeby against the Swedish State, asserting its exclusive right to hunt and fish, has ignited many conversations. While the favourable treatment of the Sámi claim by the Supreme Court has elicited celebratory responses, the case has been considered a moment of reckoning for the broader Indigenous rights framework in Sweden. The initial claim by the Girija reindeer herding community that it had the exclusive right not only to hunt and fish but also to lease such a right to others has made its way to the Supreme Court and is now affirmed. Unsurprisingly, the court, faced with an unprecedented challenge of determining the remit of rights in the commercial realm, has fallen back on known doctrines, such as ‘immemorial prescription’, to resolve the case. Nonetheless, the underlying concerns for Indigenous rights over land, self-determination, sovereignty, and the postcolonial reconciliation process remain to be examined within and outside juridical spaces. Although recognition of Indigenous voice has witnessed some progress in the realm of the executive and the legislature, the judiciary is yet to develop a progressive jurisprudence concerning Indigenous culture, economic, and social rights. The Girija Sámeby case may well be the first of its kind where the judiciary is proactive in recognising the changing nature of Indigenous autonomy, self-determination, and economy.
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Pub Date : 2021-06-01DOI: 10.1177/14614529211021194
L. Warren
In January 2021 the UK government granted an application for authorisation to use thiamethoxam, a neonicotinoid pesticide, to protect commercial sugar beet crops from attack by viruses transmitted by aphids. This was the first time such an authorisation had been granted in the United Kingdom (UK) and there were concerns that it signalled a weakening of environmental standards now that the UK was no longer part of the European Union. In fact, similar authorisations had been granted by several European Member States in the last 2 years, despite the ban on the use of neonicotinoids introduced in 2018. Nevertheless, the reasons for granting the authorisation do suggest that the balance between adopting a precautionary approach to environmental protection and taking emergency action to protect economic interests may have shifted. It was acknowledged that the proposed mitigation to safeguard bees and other wildlife was not entirely satisfactory. In the end, due to unforeseen weather conditions it meant that the pesticide is not necessary, which in itself demonstrates that short-term emergency measures are unsuitable for dealing with the problem. If the sugar beet industry is to continue to prosper in the UK, it will need to be managed in a way that provides resistance to virus infection without the use of controversial chemicals.
{"title":"To bee or not to beet with neonicotinoids","authors":"L. Warren","doi":"10.1177/14614529211021194","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/14614529211021194","url":null,"abstract":"In January 2021 the UK government granted an application for authorisation to use thiamethoxam, a neonicotinoid pesticide, to protect commercial sugar beet crops from attack by viruses transmitted by aphids. This was the first time such an authorisation had been granted in the United Kingdom (UK) and there were concerns that it signalled a weakening of environmental standards now that the UK was no longer part of the European Union. In fact, similar authorisations had been granted by several European Member States in the last 2 years, despite the ban on the use of neonicotinoids introduced in 2018. Nevertheless, the reasons for granting the authorisation do suggest that the balance between adopting a precautionary approach to environmental protection and taking emergency action to protect economic interests may have shifted. It was acknowledged that the proposed mitigation to safeguard bees and other wildlife was not entirely satisfactory. In the end, due to unforeseen weather conditions it meant that the pesticide is not necessary, which in itself demonstrates that short-term emergency measures are unsuitable for dealing with the problem. If the sugar beet industry is to continue to prosper in the UK, it will need to be managed in a way that provides resistance to virus infection without the use of controversial chemicals.","PeriodicalId":52213,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Law Review","volume":"28 1","pages":"103 - 109"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"74524453","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-06-01DOI: 10.1177/14614529211006953
Evelyn Li Wang
‘Environmental rights’ is one of the most elusive phrases in modern environmental governance due to the vagueness of content and the breadth of scope. Yet, continuous efforts have been made to translate human rights obligations into more tangible environmental standards. The edited collection, Environmental Rights: The Development of Standards, is therefore an eagerly awaited guide to the many types of standards that have emerged in the field and exploration of the topic is comprehensive and sophisticated. The book addresses not only environmental standards from a specific regime at the international, regional, national and subnational levels but also those related to a particular type of right or initiative. This includes the right to water, rights of nature, free prior and informed consent, and multinational environmental agreements (p. 16). Composed of 18 chapters, the volume begins with a historical narrative of the development of environmental rights. In the introductory chapter, ambiguities caused by the broad scope of environmental rights are discussed to highlight the need for greater precision in the levels of environmental protection. Specifically, for the substantive right to an environment that is ‘healthy’, ‘safe’ and ‘clean’, uncertainties remain, as legal practitioners question the exact meaning of these objectives. For procedural environmental rights, including the right to information, participation and judicial remedy, there are issues around the precise levels of information disclosure, public involvement and judicial access (p. 2). This book therefore tackles a key question: What are the standards of environmental protection developed within the field of environmental rights? In developing their answers, all authors make the underlying assumption that human rights instruments are important tools for environmental protection, but that the precise levels of protection conferred by environmental rights demand further clarification. They aim to clarify or provide guidance on the standards of protection relating to environmental rights from various perspectives. Some highlight the specific standards that have developed in international institutions, regional regimes and national constitutions and legislation. Specifically, Atapattu explores how international human rights covenants have developed environmental rights by creatively interpreting existing rights (p. 18), including the right to life, indigenous groups’ right to culture, the right to food and water and the right to health. It is concluded that the Human Rights Committee and the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights apply flexible yet subjective standards such as ‘effective’, ‘adequate’ or ‘sufficient’ (p. 38). Morrow investigates the standards for triggering judicial intervention in environment-based claims in the European Court of Human Rights. She identifies that the intervention demands a fair balance between individual rights and public interest, the Envi
“环境权”由于其内容的模糊性和范围的广泛性，是现代环境治理中最难以捉摸的词语之一。然而，一直在努力将人权义务转化为更具体的环境标准。编辑后的文集《环境权利:标准的发展》是一本备受期待的指南，介绍了该领域出现的许多类型的标准，对该主题的探索是全面而复杂的。这本书不仅从国际、区域、国家和国家以下各级的具体制度讨论环境标准，而且还涉及与特定类型的权利或倡议有关的环境标准。这包括水权、自然权利、事先自由和知情同意以及多国环境协定(第16页)。全书共分18章，开篇是对环境权发展的历史叙述。在导言一章中，讨论了环境权利范围广泛所造成的歧义，以强调在环境保护的层次上需要更精确。具体而言，对于享有"健康"、"安全"和"清洁"环境的实质性权利而言，由于法律从业人员质疑这些目标的确切含义，不确定性仍然存在。对于包括知情权、参与权、司法救济权在内的程序性环境权利而言，信息公开、公众参与和司法准入的具体程度存在问题(第2页)。因此，本书解决了一个关键问题:在环境权利领域内形成的环境保护标准是什么?在提出答案时，所有作者都作出一个基本假设，即人权文书是环境保护的重要工具，但环境权利所赋予的保护的确切程度需要进一步澄清。它们旨在从不同角度阐明或指导与环境权利有关的保护标准。一些国家强调了在国际机构、区域制度和国家宪法和立法中制定的具体标准。具体而言，Atapattu探讨了国际人权公约如何创造性地解释现有权利，包括生命权、土著群体的文化权、食物和水权以及健康权，从而发展了环境权利(第18页)。结论是，人权事务委员会和经济、社会和文化权利委员会采用灵活而主观的标准，如“有效”、“适当”或“充分”(第38页)。莫罗调查了欧洲人权法院在环境诉讼中触发司法干预的标准。《环境法评论》(Environmental Law Review)指出，干预需要在个人权利和公共利益之间取得公平的平衡
{"title":"Book Review: Environmental Rights: The Development of Standards","authors":"Evelyn Li Wang","doi":"10.1177/14614529211006953","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/14614529211006953","url":null,"abstract":"‘Environmental rights’ is one of the most elusive phrases in modern environmental governance due to the vagueness of content and the breadth of scope. Yet, continuous efforts have been made to translate human rights obligations into more tangible environmental standards. The edited collection, Environmental Rights: The Development of Standards, is therefore an eagerly awaited guide to the many types of standards that have emerged in the field and exploration of the topic is comprehensive and sophisticated. The book addresses not only environmental standards from a specific regime at the international, regional, national and subnational levels but also those related to a particular type of right or initiative. This includes the right to water, rights of nature, free prior and informed consent, and multinational environmental agreements (p. 16). Composed of 18 chapters, the volume begins with a historical narrative of the development of environmental rights. In the introductory chapter, ambiguities caused by the broad scope of environmental rights are discussed to highlight the need for greater precision in the levels of environmental protection. Specifically, for the substantive right to an environment that is ‘healthy’, ‘safe’ and ‘clean’, uncertainties remain, as legal practitioners question the exact meaning of these objectives. For procedural environmental rights, including the right to information, participation and judicial remedy, there are issues around the precise levels of information disclosure, public involvement and judicial access (p. 2). This book therefore tackles a key question: What are the standards of environmental protection developed within the field of environmental rights? In developing their answers, all authors make the underlying assumption that human rights instruments are important tools for environmental protection, but that the precise levels of protection conferred by environmental rights demand further clarification. They aim to clarify or provide guidance on the standards of protection relating to environmental rights from various perspectives. Some highlight the specific standards that have developed in international institutions, regional regimes and national constitutions and legislation. Specifically, Atapattu explores how international human rights covenants have developed environmental rights by creatively interpreting existing rights (p. 18), including the right to life, indigenous groups’ right to culture, the right to food and water and the right to health. It is concluded that the Human Rights Committee and the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights apply flexible yet subjective standards such as ‘effective’, ‘adequate’ or ‘sufficient’ (p. 38). Morrow investigates the standards for triggering judicial intervention in environment-based claims in the European Court of Human Rights. She identifies that the intervention demands a fair balance between individual rights and public interest, the Envi","PeriodicalId":52213,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Law Review","volume":"8 1","pages":"198 - 200"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78500734","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-06-01DOI: 10.1177/14614529211019493
M. Crowe, Parissa Najah, Shada Mellor, Henry Percy-Raine, J. Cottrell
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Pub Date : 2021-05-04DOI: 10.1177/14614529211012295
Rudresh Mandal
This article argues that humanity is locked into a system culminating in the tragedy of the commons (ToC), and swift action is required to course-correct. Undeniably, companies are the single-largest users of natural resources. To that extent, this article puts forward two interrelated proposals on refining directors’ duties under Section 166 of the Indian Companies Act 2013 and CSR under Section 135 to help avert the ToC. Part I of this article outlines Hardin’s theory of the ToC and examines why corporations fit his definition of the self-interested, rational economic agent. Part II analyses the stakeholder theory embedded in the Indian Companies Act 2013 and highlights its enforcement lacunae. It subsequently proposes a new directorial duty to conduct company business in accordance with principles of sustainable development. Thereafter, Part III proceeds to re-conceptualise the notion of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in Section 135 of the Companies Act 2013 to position CSR as an avenue towards averting the ToC. Part IV concludes. The proposals put forth by this article in Parts II and III do not require paradigm shifts but are consistent with the stakeholder orientation of Indian corporate law, and therefore more easily attainable than most other countries.
{"title":"Directors’ duties, CSR and the tragedy of the commons in India: Mutual coercion mutually agreed upon","authors":"Rudresh Mandal","doi":"10.1177/14614529211012295","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/14614529211012295","url":null,"abstract":"This article argues that humanity is locked into a system culminating in the tragedy of the commons (ToC), and swift action is required to course-correct. Undeniably, companies are the single-largest users of natural resources. To that extent, this article puts forward two interrelated proposals on refining directors’ duties under Section 166 of the Indian Companies Act 2013 and CSR under Section 135 to help avert the ToC. Part I of this article outlines Hardin’s theory of the ToC and examines why corporations fit his definition of the self-interested, rational economic agent. Part II analyses the stakeholder theory embedded in the Indian Companies Act 2013 and highlights its enforcement lacunae. It subsequently proposes a new directorial duty to conduct company business in accordance with principles of sustainable development. Thereafter, Part III proceeds to re-conceptualise the notion of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in Section 135 of the Companies Act 2013 to position CSR as an avenue towards averting the ToC. Part IV concludes. The proposals put forth by this article in Parts II and III do not require paradigm shifts but are consistent with the stakeholder orientation of Indian corporate law, and therefore more easily attainable than most other countries.","PeriodicalId":52213,"journal":{"name":"Environmental Law Review","volume":"23 1","pages":"144 - 168"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-05-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73193995","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-05-03DOI: 10.1177/14614529211006069
L. Dawson, J. Ahuja, Robert Lee
The UK Government has announced its plans to bring forward the deadline for phasing out all petrol and diesel vehicles from 2040 to 2030, 10 years earlier than planned. This is a radical acceleration in the transition to electric mobility. The need to draw up coherent and robust UK regulatory structures for managing the end-of-life consequences of this transition is now more urgent than ever. This article explores the potential role of extended producer responsibility (EPR) in facilitating the safe and sustainable management of electric vehicle (EV) batteries at their end of life. It outlines the current EV battery problem from the perspective of end-of-life management, before exploring the utility of EPR in achieving a circular economy approach and reviewing the current EPR frameworks that would apply to this waste stream once a battery is no longer powerful enough to drive an EV. We conclude that current EPR frameworks for battery management are neither sufficiently clear nor suitably robust to ensure safe and sustainable electric lithium ion battery management and suggest how these could be remodelled to achieve better outcomes in this area.
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Pub Date : 2021-03-30DOI: 10.1177/1461452920985654
Monserrat Madariaga Gómez de Cuenca
This article provides a critical account of the genesis of the first Chilean climate change law. Analysis and discussion on national climate policies and laws must take into account the constitutio...
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