Roundtable on Deregistration and Gender Law Reform Internationally

In this roundtable discussion, early-career researchers working in the field of law, gender, and sexuality discuss international and trans-national developments to legal gender. ‘The Future of Legal Gender’ research project focused on the legislative framework of England and Wales to develop a prototype for decertification. The domestic legislation, however, was situated within a wider international context throughout the project. This roundtable discussion, therefore, provided an opportunity for reflection on the transnational issues raised by decertification, with a particular focus on developments arising in the jurisdiction(s) studied by the early career researchers. The roundtable began with a brief outline of these recent developments before moving to an open discussion on key themes including the value of reform on wider society, changes on-the-ground by non-state actors, and alternative processes for tackling gender inequalities without certifying legal gender. The online conversation took place on 28 June 2021 and has been transcribed and edited for continuity, clarity, and referencing

The sustainability of biofuels : a principled lifecycle assessment of the 2009 European Union Renewable Energy Directive and its framework

Drastic reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are needed in order to mitigate the effects of climate change. The European Union (EU), a leader in climate change mitigation, has adopted an ambitious strategy to achieve its mitigation goal. A piece of this strategy is the Renewable Energy Directive. The Directive establishes mandatory renewable energy targets for member states. Cognizant that in order to achieve the target of 10% of final energy consumption in the transport sector member states would have to rely heavily on biofuels, the EU, in the spirit of sustainable development, included in the Directive sustainability criteria for biofuels. The criteria were needed because, although biofuels can be carbon neutral and an effective replacement for fossil fuels, the production of biofuels can have serious environmental and socio-economic consequences. This thesis concludes that the Directive will not result in the sustainable production of biofuels. This conclusion is based on the principled lifecycle assessment of the Directive and its framework. This approach is a combination of core principles of sustainable development – integration, equity, precaution and polluter pays – and of the basic tenets of lifecycle assessment, a methodology designed to measure the lifecycle impacts of a product. Due to the reliance by member states on first generation biofuels, biofuels produced under the Directive’s regime are not likely to reduce GHG emissions compared to fossil fuels, and are likely to increase water pollution, the loss of biodiversity and food insecurity. The negative impacts of biofuels production are caused mainly by the agricultural production of feedstocks, especially through indirect land-use change. Furthermore, the cost of pollution is not internalized by the regime and biofuels subsidies are not linked to environmental concerns. Therefore, the lifecycle impacts of EU biofuels production do not accord with core principles of sustainable development. Only second and third generation biofuels, which are not yet available on a large-scale, seem to have the potential to be sustainable

The sustainability of biofuels : a principled lifecycle assessment of the 2009 European Union Renewable Energy Directive and its framework

Drastic reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are needed in order to mitigate the effects of climate change. The European Union (EU), a leader in climate change mitigation, has adopted an ambitious strategy to achieve its mitigation goal. A piece of this strategy is the Renewable Energy Directive. The Directive establishes mandatory renewable energy targets for member states. Cognizant that in order to achieve the target of 10% of final energy consumption in the transport sector member states would have to rely heavily on biofuels, the EU, in the spirit of sustainable development, included in the Directive sustainability criteria for biofuels. The criteria were needed because, although biofuels can be carbon neutral and an effective replacement for fossil fuels, the production of biofuels can have serious environmental and socio-economic consequences. This thesis concludes that the Directive will not result in the sustainable production of biofuels. This conclusion is based on the principled lifecycle assessment of the Directive and its framework. This approach is a combination of core principles of sustainable development – integration, equity, precaution and polluter pays – and of the basic tenets of lifecycle assessment, a methodology designed to measure the lifecycle impacts of a product. Due to the reliance by member states on first generation biofuels, biofuels produced under the Directive’s regime are not likely to reduce GHG emissions compared to fossil fuels, and are likely to increase water pollution, the loss of biodiversity and food insecurity. The negative impacts of biofuels production are caused mainly by the agricultural production of feedstocks, especially through indirect land-use change. Furthermore, the cost of pollution is not internalized by the regime and biofuels subsidies are not linked to environmental concerns. Therefore, the lifecycle impacts of EU biofuels production do not accord with core principles of sustainable development. Only second and third generation biofuels, which are not yet available on a large-scale, seem to have the potential to be sustainable.Law, Peter A. Allard School ofGraduat

The Principle of Intergration 20 Years after Rio: EU Environmental Governance and the Case of Biofuels

20 years after Rio, have we progressed in the application of the integration principle found in Principle 13 of the 1972 Stockholm Declaration the Human Environment, in Principle 4 of the 1992 Rio Declaration on Environment and Development and further developed at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development through the Johannesburg Declaration on Sustainable Development and the Johannesburg Implementation Plan? I propose to explore this question through the 2009 Renewable Energy Directive of the EU which has as one of its goal the sustainable development of biofuels, one of the most controversial forms of renewable energy. The Renewable Energy Directive requires member states to reach a certain quota of renewable energy which half of it must come from the transportation sector. Recognizing that this will likely require the extensive use of biofuels, the Directive establishes certain requirements to ensure that biofuels are produced in a sustainable manner. In summary, the principle of integration requires integrating environmental protection, economic development and human rights at the conceptual level of policies and laws and at the implementation stage of these policies and laws. Integration is thus a wide concept touching upon many issues of governance. True to the international statements on sustainable development, the requirements of the Directive reflect the principle of integration by trying to integrate the economic development of the biofuel industry with environmental concerns (mainly climate change and biodiversity) and, to a lesser extent, human rights (chiefly labour rights). These mechanisms take the form of sustainability criteria imposed on member states (to integrate environmental protection), and monitoring and reporting duties imposed on the European Commission (to integrate environmental protection and human rights). Integration through the Directive manifests itself, at least in theory, at the conceptual and the implementation stage. It seems, at least prima facie, that the Directive is a positive example of the “integration” of integration in governance. Nevertheless, the Directive has several lacunas, especially on the integration of human rights. The biggest concerns come from the globalized nature of biofuel and feedstock trade, and the application of the integration principle to non-EU states. How can we be assured of the sustainability of the EU system without some form of effective international governance on sustainable development? The EU Renewable Energy Directive is a good example of how the international community can deal with integration (at least environmental integration). Nonetheless, we must learn from this legal model to create the basis of a wider international policy (if not norm) on the principle of integration and sustainable development. Rio gave us the principles; let us hope that Rio+20 will give us the governance tools to properly apply them

The sustainability of biofuels : a principled lifecycle assessment of the 2009 European Union Renewable Energy Directive and its framework

Drastic reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are needed in order to mitigate the effects of climate change. The European Union (EU), a leader in climate change mitigation, has adopted an ambitious strategy to achieve its mitigation goal. A piece of this strategy is the Renewable Energy Directive. The Directive establishes mandatory renewable energy targets for member states. Cognizant that in order to achieve the target of 10% of final energy consumption in the transport sector member states would have to rely heavily on biofuels, the EU, in the spirit of sustainable development, included in the Directive sustainability criteria for biofuels. The criteria were needed because, although biofuels can be carbon neutral and an effective replacement for fossil fuels, the production of biofuels can have serious environmental and socio-economic consequences. This thesis concludes that the Directive will not result in the sustainable production of biofuels. This conclusion is based on the principled lifecycle assessment of the Directive and its framework. This approach is a combination of core principles of sustainable development – integration, equity, precaution and polluter pays – and of the basic tenets of lifecycle assessment, a methodology designed to measure the lifecycle impacts of a product. Due to the reliance by member states on first generation biofuels, biofuels produced under the Directive’s regime are not likely to reduce GHG emissions compared to fossil fuels, and are likely to increase water pollution, the loss of biodiversity and food insecurity. The negative impacts of biofuels production are caused mainly by the agricultural production of feedstocks, especially through indirect land-use change. Furthermore, the cost of pollution is not internalized by the regime and biofuels subsidies are not linked to environmental concerns. Therefore, the lifecycle impacts of EU biofuels production do not accord with core principles of sustainable development. Only second and third generation biofuels, which are not yet available on a large-scale, seem to have the potential to be sustainable