Could A Multilateral Phase-Out Treaty Help Solve the World’s Plastic Pollution Problem?

The globe is facing a plastic pollution problem. Single-use plastics have undoubtedly played an important role in international commercial development, but they now saturate the world’s coastlines and landfills. However, heightened public and private action and overall awareness indicate an increased willingness by the international community to develop the types of sustainable solutions necessary to … Read more

President Jair Bolsonaro’s Role in the Increased Deforestation of the Amazon Rainforest

The Amazon Rainforest has often been referred to as the “lungs of the Earth,” producing 20 percent of the world’s oxygen while absorbing greenhouse gases from the air.[1] Although the Amazon is located in South America, it is an international resource that is of critical importance in the fight against climate change. However, exploitation of … Read more

Sutton Colloquium 2012: Sustainable Development v. Sustainability

Join the Denver Journal of International Law and Policy, the Ved Nanda Center for International and Comparative Law, and the International Legal Studies Program for the 45th Annual Leonard v.B. Sutton Colloquium on Saturday, November 10, 2012.  This year, the Colloquium will consider sustainable development v. sustainability as the globe approaches the limits of growth in the 21st … Read more

Critical Analysis: Rio+20: World Leaders Gather to Address Sustainable Development While Resource Privatization Runs Amok

This week world leaders, numerous participating governments, non-government organizations, and members of the public sector will convene in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for the Rio+20 Conference on Sustainable Development. Rio+20 – short for The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development – marks the 20th anniversary of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development … Read more

Chinese Perspectives Part 4: Sustainable Development

Beijing Cityscape

One of the most frequently levied criticisms made against China is that its development, while economically impressive, is environmentally disastrous.  Judge Xue addressed this criticism directly by providing the demographic and economic context underlying China’s development, briefly outlining China’s history as it relates to sustainable development, and arguing that the Chinese government is indeed actively … Read more

InforMEA

InforMEA Logo

This summer, the United Nations launched a website with important implications for the future of international environmental law.  InforMEA, the United Nations Portal on Multilateral Environmental Agreements brings together information relating to 17 multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) from 12 Secretariats hosted by three UN organizations and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).  It … Read more