Thursday, March 30, 2017

ASIL: 100 Days - A Live Online Briefing Series - The Future of Environmental Agreements

As noted previously, the American Society of International Law is sponsoring "100 Days - A Live Online Briefing Series." The fourth session - on "The Future of Environmental Agreements" - is scheduled for Wednesday, April 5, 2017. Here's the idea:

Over the past several decades, international organizations and nation-states have entered into agreements of various kinds to mitigate environmental harms, including air and water pollution, the collapsing ocean ecosystem, vanishing forests and habitat, species extinction, the spread of hazardous chemicals, ozone depletion, and global climate change. The Trump Administration has indicated that it may seek to withdraw from a number of multilateral environmental agreements, including the Paris Agreement, signed by President Obama in 2016, and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, signed by President George H.W. Bush and ratified by a unanimous U.S. Senate in 1992.

This live online briefing, the fourth in the Society's series on "International Law and the Trump Administration," will feature former senior U.S. officials from both Republican and Democratic administrations who were responsible for formulating policy and representing the U.S. Government on international environmental issues. They will discuss the role of international law and institutions in protecting the environment; the strengths and weaknesses of multilateral environmental agreements that are currently in force; and the likely implications of U.S. withdrawal.