In July 2021 Maryland Carey Law faculty and students presented papers at the 18th Colloquium of the IUCN Academy of Environmental Law. The presentations were made by Professor Seema Kakade, Professor Robert Percival, Lecturer in Law Jingjing Zhang and students Jackie Kapinos '21 and Lauren Stettz '22.
The theme of this year’s Colloquium, hosted by the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, was “The Future of Environmental Law: Ambition and Reality.” Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, for the first time in the Academy’s history the Colloquium was held with an entirely virtual format. Over the course of five days scholars from 40 countries made more than 220 presentations on 65 panels conducted virtually.
Professor Kakade spoke on efforts to use enhanced monitoring technology to improve enforcement of limits on air pollution from ships. Percival and Zhang made a joint presentation on “How Global Environmental Law Can Promote Transnational Environmental Accountability,” focusing on strategies for holding multinational corporations accountable for environmental harm they cause in developing countries. Ms. Kapinos spoke on global efforts to control pollution from factory farms. Ms. Stettz’s presentation focused on the impact of the Equator Principles on financing of multinational development projects. The Equator Principles are a set of guidelines adopted by more than 100 financial institutions to reduce environmental and social risks of the projects they finance.
The IUCN Academy of Environmental Law is a consortium of environmental law professors from 214 academic institutions in 60 countries. Maryland Carey Law faculty and students previously have made presentations at Academy Colloquia in Malaysia in 2019, Scotland in 2018, the Philippines in 2017, Norway in 2016, Indonesia in 2015, Spain in 2014, and New Zealand in 2013. Maryland hosted the Colloquium in 2012. Since 2016, Maryland Carey Law and Pace Haub School of Law have served as the joint secretariat for the Academy. Learn more about the Academy and the Colloquium.
The next Academy Colloquium will be held from July 11-15, 2022 at the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia. The 20th Colloquium is scheduled for 2023 at the University of Eastern Finland in Joensuu.