Volume 5: Issue 1 (2009)
Jeffrey McGee and Dr. Ros Taplin
Abstract: The Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate (“APP”) was formed in July 2005 by China, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia and the United States. Canada was accepted as the seventh partner nation of the APP in October 2007. The APP is a soft-law technology coopera- tion agreement on climate change that contains no international targets for greenhouse gas mitigation or formal differentiation in responsibility between developed and developing nations. The APP nations claim the partnership is consistent with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (“UNFCCC”). This article analyzes the founding documents and institutional structure of the APP to determine whether it is consistent with the key UNFCCC principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities” (“CBDR”). It is found that the APP fails to support important retributive and needs-based justice principles that are at the heart of the UNFCCC conception of CBDR. In weakening support for these justice principles the APP also fails to support the intra-generational equity aspects of sustainable development. The claims of consistency between the APP and the UNFCCC are therefore not justified.
Legal and Institutional Dynamics of Forest Management in Pakistan
Moeed Yusuf
Abstract: Pakistan’s current forest degradation rates are the second highest in the world. The country inherited a top-down, command and control forest management system from the British at independence and maintained it until a series of commendable forest sector reforms in the 1990s. However, a decade and a half later, degradation rates in the North West Frontier Province, an area that hosts Pakistan’s most productive timber forests, remain just as high. Two major factors have caused the dismal outcome: a disconnect between the policy and its on-ground imple- mentation, and institutional bottlenecks that have pre- vented genuine transformation while incentivizing the perpetuation of traditional implementation practices. At the heart of the problem lies a perverse governance con- text that makes structural shifts in management practices virtually impossible. The lack of political will evident in such cases is then a consequence, and not necessarily a cause, of the governance problem. At a micro level, this study points to an inverse relationship between public sector involvement in major initiatives and successful outcomes, highlights the need for clearly defined property and resource rights, and underscores the importance of understanding the heterogeneity of communities in or- der to better craft participatory reforms. However, this article contends that the perverse governance context cre- ates a framework in which even such positive develop- ments will inevitably be undermined by vested interests. Since reforming the governance system is a task that requires overarching policy changes transcending sec- toral boundaries, the current situation leaves a positive breakthrough in forest management at the mercy of a national level overhaul. The only short-term solution to forest degradation is a market-based alternative involv- ing rationalization of import duties/taxes to render the price of foreign timber competitive. Such a policy would allow Pakistan to sidetrack the institutional constraints behind excessive degradation.
Promoting Sustainable Biofuels Under the WTO Legal Regime
Marie-Ève Rancourt
Abstract: Facing multiple concerns associated with the rising global demand for biofuels, national policy-makers are developing measures to guar- antee their sustainable means of production. However, the implementation of such policies raises the question of potential conflicts between the promotion of sustainable imported biofu- els and trade restrictions under international trade law, mainly under the World Trade Organization (“WTO”). This article focuses on whether states can adopt measures that ban the import of non-sustainable biofuels while remaining in accordance with WTO rules. In particular, this paper considers the possible vio- lation of the “most-favoured-nation clause”, and the likelihood that the Article XX exceptions of the WTO/GATT Agreement could be invoked to justify the imposition of sustainability criteria in the production of biofuels. The ruling of the WTO Appellate Body in US–Shrimp indicates that environmental measures addressing global environmental problems should, to the greatest extent possible, be based on international con- sensus. As a substitute for fossil fuels, imposing sustainability criteria for biofuels represents a promising tool for addressing climate change. Addressing the degree to which such criteria are compatible with WTO trade rules can thus help to frame the policy tool-kit available in the post- Copenhagen climate change context.
Re-Zoning Alberta: Smart Regulation for Smart Growth
Matti Lemmens
Abstract: Euclidean zoning is a dominant planning tool for many Canadian municipalities, resulting in an overbearing focus on managing land uses. This article assesses recent reforms made to a provincially-coordinated land use framework in the Canadian province of Alberta. Several key federal, provincial, and municipal planning laws are relevant to this process, and are outlined in the article. The Government of Alberta was the first in Canada to adopt carbon emissions targets, subsequently revising its climate change strategy to encourage environmental planning strategies which conserve and use energy effi- ciently. The article evaluates current practices, as imple- mented in Edmonton, and concludes that the Euclidean zoning technique allocates land use in a manner incon- sistent with these environmental goals. Alternative plan- ning techniques, including form-based code and perfor- mance-based zoning, are put forward as methodologies better suited to the environmental goals promulgated by the Alberta Legislature. Historical development of plan- ning techniques and examples of their application in Canada are discussed. The article then analyzes currently available planning legislation, and suggests that it is pos- sible to incorporate the alternative planning practices of form-based code and performance-based zoning into the Euclidean framework. It is, however, unlikely that the Euclidean framework will be completely overhauled due to entrenched political attitudes. Nevertheless, the tools for smart growth are available, and for the sake of the environment, municipal development bylaws and plans must evolve.
Stephen Stec
Reviewed: Michael Kerr, Richard Janda & Chip Pitts, Corporate Social Responsibility: A Legal Analysis (Markham: LexisNexis, 2009)
