1 Credit
Environmental & Social Standards for Development Finance
June 1 to 4 from 6 PM to 9 PM
Professor Charles E. Di Leva, Chief Officer, Environmental and Social Standards at World Bank.
Environmental and social standards for development finance help govern the use of hundreds of billions of dollars in projects in over one hundred and fifty countries. Many standards are rooted in and reflect key principles of international law. They impact the design, implementation and risk management of the projects financed by hundreds of international financial institutions, such as the World Bank, and the Equator Banks. In many cases, the standards serve as the basis for future legislation, or the focus of accountability investigations, such as those carried out by the World Bank Inspection Panel. By examining key standards through the lens of actual projects, this course will explore how and why the standards were developed, the most challenging aspects of their implementation, and how they help meet key goals of sustainable development and international law.
1 Credit
Law & Nature
June 7 to 11 from 2:30 PM to 5:00 PM
Professors: David Hunter and Ingrid Lesemann, rogram on Environmental and Energy Law
The modern environmental legal model is composed of anthropocentric industrialized laws that regard nature as property and a resource for human benefit and use. This model legalizes environmental harms by regulating how much pollution, destruction, and extraction can occur under law. In this course, we will examine an emerging field of environmental legal philosophy that embraces ancient traditions of indigenous people that incorporate respect for the interdependence of humans and nature. We will survey examples of constitutional and statutory remedies that value nature as a living being with inherent and legally enforceable rights in Ecuador, Bolivia, United States, Africa, and New Zealand.
1 Credit
Trade, Development & Environment
June 7 to 11 from 2:30 PM to 5:00 PM
Professor: Jake Caldwell, Principal, DJ Caldwell Group
This course will survey the law and policy of the World Trade Organization and related legal arrangements such as NAFTA, as well as national laws regarding "unfair" international trade practices. Topics will include: (1) political economy of the treaty framework; (2) tariff wars; (3) the relationship between international and domestic law; (4) bilateralism versus multilateralism; (5) the WTO dispute resolution system and its current challenges; (6) nondiscrimination obligations in international trade; (7) the interface between international trade law and domestic environmental/health/safety regulations and controversies relating to these issues, (8) subsidies in international trade; (9) antidumping law; (10) trade in services, and (11) national security issues.
1 Credit
Environmental Justice & & Community Lawyering
June 14 to 18 from 6 PM to 8:30 PM
Professor: Amanda C. Leiter, Bill Snape & Tutman
This course will pursue a broader conception of justice by acknowledging that climate change is one of the most difficult challenges faced by contemporary societies, especially low-income and communities of color who bear a disproportionate environmental burden. Further it will addresses future political and environmental impacts stemming from climate change. The course will include units on: (1) public health disparities stemming from the disproportionate siting of locally-unwanted land uses in poor neighborhoods of color; (2) access to natural resources and basic public services, including clean water, wastewater disposal, and open space; (3) tools in climate justice advocacy, and (5) environmental justice issues in climate change policy.