Francesco Sindico

Global Climate Change and the Fragmentation of International Law

Born into the wider body of international law, the climate regime needs to be understood in light of preexisting regimes. By drawing on the current debate about fragmentation in international law, this article highlights challenges for international lawyers and policymakers in navigating the relationship between the climate regime and the biodiversity regime, and the relationship between the climate regime and the multilateral trading system. This article concludes that a narrow focus on conflicts misrepresents the multifaceted nature of climate change and precludes an adequate jurisprudential understanding of the relationship between the climate regime and other regimes. An improved understanding, particularly with respect to interactions with the biodiversity regime, requires a broadening of the debate that takes account of the institutional aspects of these relationships that may allow enhanced political cooperation and coordination. Further, international law, and in particular the emerging concept of systemic integration, has the potential to make a positive contribution to the climate-trade interplay.

Climate Change: A Security (Council) Issue?

On 17 April 2007, the United Nations Security Council held a groundbreaking open debate at the ministerial level on the relationship between energy, security, and climate. As such, the meeting emphasised the need to reflect on the linkages between climate change and international security. This article explains how the topic reached the UN Security Council, highlighting the division in the international community between those who believe that climate change is a security challenge and that it is, therefore, a legitimate issue to bring before the UN Security Council, and those who believe that climate change is rather a matter of sustainable development which should be dealt with by other UN bodies.

Soft Law and the Elusive Quest for Sustainable Global Governance

John J. Kirton and Michael J. Trebilcock (eds.), Hard Choices, Soft Law: Voluntary Standards in Global Trade, Environment and Social Governance , Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing, 2004, ISBN 0754609669, 372 pp.

The Guarani Aquifer System and the International Law of Transboundary Aquifers

Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay signed the Guarani Aquifer Agreement on 2 August 2010. This is the first international treaty regarding the management of a specific transboundary aquifer to have been adopted after the UN International Law Commission (UNILC) adopted the Draft Articles on the Law of Transboundary Aquifers, which have been annexed to UN General Assembly Resolution 63/124. The latter encourages States to take into account the Draft Articles when devising arrangements for the management of specific transboundary aquifers. The Guarani Aquifer Agreement, therefore, is a first response to this call from the international community. In this article the background to the Guarani Aquifer Agreement is explored, including an overview of the key characteristics of the Guarani Aquifer System and the steps that have led to the adoption of the Guarani Aquifer Agreement. Sovereignty, the obligation to cooperate and the incipient institutional framework are discussed as key elements arising from the Guarani Aquifer Agreement. Finally, the article argues that a link between the latter and the UNILC Draft Articles can be appreciated. This link has important practical implications especially in relation to the applicability of the UNILC Draft Articles for interpretation purposes of the Guarani Aquifer Agreement.

The GMO Dispute before the WTO: Legal Implications for the Trade and Environment Debate

USA, Canada and Argentina have challenged before the World Trade Organisation the European Communities’ (EC) denial of Genetically Modified (GM) product imports, which took place from 1998 to 2004 . Against this background, the goal of this paper is twofold. Firstly, we will determine which WTO provisions would have been violated by the EC. Secondly, we will highlight the dispute’s most important legal issues in order to see to what extent the dispute might influence the ongoing trade and environment debate. The paper concludes that the role of the precautionary principle in the application of the EC legislation is one of the dispute’s main issues. Furthermore, the Panel findings on the legal nature of the precautionary principle, and on its relevance for the interpretation of WTO provisions, will finally determine the influence of the GMO dispute on the trade and environment debate.

Good transboundary water governance in the 2015 Sustainable Development Goals: a legal perspective

The goal of this article is to discuss whether the Sustainable Development Goals address the cooperation necessary to facilitate a system of transboundary water governance. For the purpose of this analysis, a Good Transboundary Water Governance Matrix has been developed. We find that transboundary water governance requires a holistic interpretation and implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals understood as a whole. In particular, good governance and, ultimately, sustainable development require stakeholders to focus not only on water (Goal 6) but also on Goal 16, which focuses on international cooperation.

Contours of an Indigenous Peoples’ Right to Water in Latin America under International Law

This article critically assesses the nature and the content of a possible human right to water for Indigenous People in the Latin American context. On the one hand, after introducing the deliberately unclear definition of Indigenous People, the article considers that a human right to water is embedded in Indigenous Peoples’ customary laws, which, according to legal pluralism, are to be considered as a legitimate source of law. The article then moves to the content of a possible human right to water for Indigenous People in the Latin American context. The importance of the jurisprudence of the Inter American Court of Human Rights is highlighted, and the obligation for States to consult with Indigenous People when dealing with their water resources is hailed as one of the key elements of a human right to water.

Climate and Trade in a Divided World: Can Measures Adopted in the North End Up Shaping Climate Change Legislative Frameworks in the South?

This chapter seeks to explore to what extent climate change policies in the North may end up shaping policies in the South by obliging exporters from developing countries to comply with specific climate change requirements. The essay begins by highlighting carbon leakage and competitiveness concerns as reasons why an industrialized country may consider targeting imports from developing countries. The chapter then focuses on United States legislative initiatives at the federal level proposing to link imports from developing countries to climate change policy. It then examines whether the current international trade rules enshrined in the World Trade Organization Agreements allow for such domestic climate change measures and what options are open to developing countries in case of a climate and trade dispute. It seeks to determine, in particular, whether relying on the multilateral trading system would actually benefit these countries. The conclusion suggests a way forward.

The Guarani Aquifer Agreement 2010

The Guarani Aquifer Agreement, signed in 2010, was the first international treaty to refer in its Preamble to General Assembly Resolution 63/124 on the Law of Transboundary Aquifers. The Agreement includes substantive, procedural and institutional provisions providing Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay with a legal framework for the management of the vast Guarani Aquifer System. This chapter provides an analysis of these provisions, but also discusses socio-legal developments after 2010 and the extent to which the Guarani Aquifer System can be managed by the four countries in the absence of an in-force Guarani Aquifer Agreement.

Water governance in the aftermath of Rio+20

AbstractThis article focuses on water governance in the aftermath of the 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (uncsd or Rio+20). Water governance is defined here as a process in which law has a transformational role by allowing policy goals to become tangible and enforceable rights and obligations. Against this conceptual background global water governance appears to be still fragmented and incoherent. More coordination efforts and further harmonisation is needed, but more importantly global institutions are required to allow international law to operate effectively. It is within this context that the uncsd can be seen as an international agenda setting process and three key water related topics appear to be on such agenda: water and sanitation; water and ecosystem services and water and climate change. The article concludes with a call in favour of considering water not just as a public good, but mainly as a driver for sustainable development.