JURI
5750:
International Environmental Law
Professor Bodansky
University of Georgia
Spring 2008
Class Times & Location:
Tuesday, Thursday 8:05-9:20 AM
Hirsch Hall Room H
Office
Hours: Tuesday/Thursday
2:30-3:20
Office Location: Rusk Hall 209
Email: bodansky@uga.edu
Phone: (706) 542-7052
Fax: (706) 542-7404
Assistant: Shawn Lanphere, Rusk Hall 209
Email: shawlan@arches.uga.edu
Phone: (706) 542-9357
I. Overview
Over
the last 30 years, international environmental law has undergone a dramatic
expansion. In 1972, there were only a smattering of international environmental
treaties, primarily concerning the protection of the marine environment from
oil pollution and the conservation of migratory birds and marine mammals. Today,
literally hundreds of agreements have been negotiated, covering such diverse
topics as acid rain, depletion of the ozone layer, climate change, protection
of biological diversity, desertification, and transboundary movements of
hazardous wastes and chemicals.
This
course will provide a general introduction to the basic concepts and mechanisms
of international environmental law. The overarching question we will examine
is: What role can law play in addressing international environmental problems?
Rather
than survey the entire field of international environmental law, we will focus
in particular on the global climate change problem, as a means of examining the
basic issues of international environmental law, including:
- Why do states cooperate in developing international environmental norms? What factors promote or hinder cooperation?
- What legal mechanisms or approaches facilitate the development of international environmental standards?
- What types of international environmental standards are most effective? How do we evaluate effectiveness?
- What incentives do states have to comply with international environmental standards? What disincentives?
- How can we make international environmental law more robust?
- Alternatively, how can relatively strong national environmental law systems be used to address international environmental issues?
II. Course
Requirements
A. Written
Assignments
In
lieu of a final exam, there will be five written assignments, described below. In order to submit your papers, please post
them on the appropriate forum of the LexisNexis Web Course Discussion Board by
the end of the day they are due.
Treaty
Exercise (6-8 pages, due the day before we discuss your treaty in class) (25% of
grade)
The
treaty exercise consists of a series of short-answer questions, which require
you to examine the different parts of an international environmental agreement
that you will be assigned.
Paper
# 1: The Role of Customary International
Law (3-5 pages, due on January 30) (Papers 1 and 2: 25% of grade)
What roles, if any, might customary international
law play in addressing the climate change problem?
Paper #2:
You are an attorney in the United Nations
Secretariat. Last month, the UN General
Assembly voted to establish an Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for a
Forest Convention (INC-F), with the mandate of developing a convention to
protect the world's forests. According
to the General Assembly resolution, the convention is to contain "appropriate
commitments and mechanisms."
Draft a short "think piece" identifying the basic
provisions that the Convention should contain.
(You do not need to draft specific treaty language; instead you should
describe the provisions in a more general way.)
In preparing your answer, consider what the function of the Convention
should be and how the Convention could best serve its aims. As appropriate, draw on precedents from
existing international environmental agreements. Explain why you think particular elements
should or should not be included in the Convention.
Paper #3: Country Position on Climate Change (6-8 pages, due on April 11) (25%
of grade)
You
are working in the foreign ministry of a country that you will be
assigned. Prepare a position paper for the
upcoming negotiations on a successor to the Kyoto Protocol. In developing your position paper, you should
consider your country's contribution to the climate change problem, its
vulnerability to climate change, the policy options available to it, what it
should propose in the upcoming negotiations, and what its preferred outcome
would be.
Paper #4: Climate Change Strategy
Think Piece (8-10
pages, due on April 22) (25% of grade)
You
are working for a
B. Class
Attendance and Discussion
You
will be expected to attend class and participate in class discussion on a
regular basis. If you are not able to attend class on a particular day, please
let me know in advance.
III. Grading
Treaty
Exercise: 25%
Papers
1-2: 25% (for both papers combined)
Paper
3: 25%
Paper
4: 25%
Grades
may be revised upward for exceptional class participation and downward for
failure to attend class on a regular basis.
IV. Books
We
will use the following casebook:
- David Hunter, James Salzman & Durwood Zaelke, International Environmental Law and Policy (3d ed. Foundation Press 2007)
Supplemental
materials will also be available on the course LexisNexis web course page.
The
casebook has its own internet site (for the second edition), which includes
information on recent developments as well as links to many other international
environmental web sites:
V. Prerequisites
A
course in international law is not required. However, those without a background
in international law should read chapter 6 of the Casebook in its entirety
(international environmental lawmaking). You may also wish to consult the
following materials, which are on electronic
reserve:
VI. LexisNexis Web Course
- Peter Malanzuk, Akehurst's Modern Introduction to International Law (7th ed. 1997), chs. 1, 3
- Mark Janis, An Introduction to International Law (4th ed. 2003), ch. 1-3 (pp. 1-83)
I
have set up a LexisNexis Web Course for this class. Please enroll in the Web Course as soon as
possible. The LexisNexis web course can
be accessed at:
www.lexisnexis.com/lawschool/webcourses
I'll
be using the Web Course for posting assignments, making announcements, and
distributing supplemental readings. In
addition, we'll be using the Discussion Board feature of the Web Course to
exchange your treaty exercise answers and papers.
Please
feel free to use the Discussion Board as an extension of our classroom
discussions, or if you have any questions about the course, either of a procedural
nature (where are we in the syllabus?
when is an assignment due?) or a substantive nature (what is the
difference between a protocol and an annex?). I will try to respond to questions at least
once a week and, if time permits, more frequently.
Class Schedule
(tentative and subject to change)
Note: I will be out of town on Thursday, January 17,
and Thursday, April 10, so class on these days will need to be rescheduled. Make-up classes will be held on Friday, March
28, and Friday, April 18.
|
|
Date |
Topic |
|
|
1 |
1/8 |
What Is International Environmental Law? |
On Web Course page |
|
2 |
1/10 |
Case Study on Norwegian Whaling |
CB 1075-95 |
|
3 |
1/15 |
Introduction to Global Warming Problem |
CB 631-66 |
|
|
1/17 |
No class |
|
|
4 |
1/22 |
Background on Environmental Policy |
CB 123-61 |
|
5 |
1/24 |
History of International Environmental Law |
CB 162-215 |
|
6 |
1/29 |
Role of Customary Law |
CB 313-327, 334-40 |
|
|
1/30 |
Paper #1 Due |
|
|
7 |
1/31 |
Role of Customary Law -- Trail Smelter |
CB 538-52 |
|
8 |
2/5 |
Introduction to Treaty-Making |
CB 291-313 |
|
9 |
2/7 |
Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution |
CB 552-65 |
|
|
|
Treaty
exercises due the day before we discuss your treaty in class |
|
|
10 |
2/12 |
Ozone Regime -- Introduction; |
CB 566-598 |
|
11 |
2/14 |
Background on Implementation, Effectiveness and Compliance |
CB 366-79, 388-401 |
|
12 |
2/19 |
Ozone Regime --Implementation and Compliance |
CB 598-629 |
|
13 |
2/21 |
Oil Pollution from Ships -- MARPOL |
CB 791-815 |
|
14 |
2/25 |
Hazardous Chemicals -- |
CB 908-46 |
|
15 |
2/27 |
Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes -- |
CB 946-83 |
|
16 |
3/4 |
Endangered Species -- CITES |
CB 1095-1122 |
|
17 |
3/6 |
Habitat Protection -- |
CB 1123-60 |
|
|
|
Spring Break |
|
|
18 |
3/18 |
Habitat Protection -- Wetlands, World Heritage |
CB 1160-77 |
|
|
3/19 |
Paper #2 Due |
|
|
19 |
3/20 |
Habitat Protection -- Forests |
CB 1177-1214 |
|
20 |
3/25 |
Case Study on Global Warming - Introduction to UN Climate Change Regime |
CB 667-90 |
|
21 |
3/27 |
Climate Change: |
CB 690-98, 705-11 |
|
22 |
3/28 (Fr) |
Climate Change: |
CB 402-61; 698-70 |
|
23 |
4/1 |
Soft Law; Private Standard-Setting |
CB 353-360, 721-25. 1482-1503 |
|
24 |
4/3 |
Climate Change Litigation |
CB 716-21; TBA |
|
25 |
4/8 |
Trade Measures |
TBA |
|
|
4/10 |
No class |
|
|
|
4/11 |
Paper #3 Due |
|
|
26 |
4/15 |
|
CB 725-33; TBA |
|
27 |
4/17 |
|
TBA |
|
28 |
4/18 (Fr) |
Future Directions; Conclusion and Review (makeup class) |
CB 234-48 |
|
|
4/22 |
Paper #4 Due |
|