Peña Neira, Araya Meza, & Henríquez San Martín: Sustainable Development as a Principle of International Law: An Analysis Based on the Jurisprudence of the International Court of Justice

Sergio Peña Neira (Universidad Mayor - Law), Patricio Araya Meza, & Sebastian Henriquez San Martín have published Sustainable Development as a Principle of International Law: An Analysis Based on the Jurisprudence of the International Court of Justice (Revista Electrónica de Derecho Internacional Contemporáneo, Vol. 8, 2025). Here's the abstract:

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) and scholars in international law have long operatedwithin the framework of the principle of sustainable development. It can be argued that this concept has bynow attained recognition as a principle of international law. A legal institution may emerge from “legal factsand arguments”, including the dissenting opinions of the International Court of Justice, which although non-binding, can nevertheless influence the formation and evolution of international legal principles over time. Such is the case with the principle of sustainable development. This article addresses the construction of theprinciple of sustainable development in the jurisprudence of the ICJ—from its origins in a dissenting opinionto its consolidation as a principle of international law. The methodology used in this contribution is legal innature, based on systematic research on history, doctrine and case law, and carried out through a qualitativeapproach.

Lorenzo: International Financial Institutions and Sustainable Development: Lawmaking and Accountability

Johanna Aleria P. Lorenzo (Univ. of Amsterdam - Law) has published International Financial Institutions and Sustainable Development: Lawmaking and Accountability (Cambridge Univ. Press 2025). Here's the abstract:

Balancing theoretical and practice-oriented elements, this book introduces researchers, teachers, and students in international sustainable development law to the IFIs' safeguard policies. It also scrutinizes the case law of independent accountability mechanisms that interpret those policies and afford recourse to individuals and communities adversely affected by development projects. The book's focus on the procedural and substantive features of IFIs' safeguard systems contributes to a more concrete understanding of these organizations' participation in the international lawmaking process on sustainable development. It puts IFIs in the spotlight and provides an international legal critique of their activities to match their notoriety in popular consciousness and to enhance their accountability to those they harm. By approaching international (economic) law and sustainable development through the lens of economic, environmental, and social issues arising in development projects primarily in the Global South, the book presents a needed counterbalance to existing literature on the topic.

Call for Chapters: Sustainable Development & Trade Imbalances – Prospects for Developing Countries

A call for chapters has been issued for a forthcoming volume on "Sustainable Development & Trade Imbalances – Prospects for Developing Countries." The call is here.

Cordonier Segger, Gleason, & Stephenson: Research Handbook on Investment Law and Sustainable Development

Marie-Claire Cordonier Segger (Univ. of Cambridge - Law), Ted Gleason (Grenoble Ecole de Management), & Sean Stephenson (Dentons Canada LLP) have published Research Handbook on Investment Law and Sustainable Development (Edward Elgar Publishing 2025). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

This cutting-edge Research Handbook examines how investment law and policy can foster or frustrate sustainable development goals and accords. Expert authors explore opportunities for environmental, social, and economic rules to shape international investment flows, advancing global sustainability and justice.

Featuring contributions from leading professors and practitioners, the Research Handbook analyzes innovative legal procedures including sustainability impact assessment, examines new treaty provisions advancing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and considers emerging practices in dispute resolution. Chapters evaluate evolving international investment rules in light of recent law and policy changes, outlining strategies for incentivizing more sustainable development. Ultimately, they argue that international law can and should guide investment decisions which affect human rights, environmental protection and poverty eradication.

Call for Papers: 4th Young Sustainability Law Conference (Early Career Researchers)

A call for papers has been issued for the 4th Young Sustainability Law Conference, which will take place June 19–21, 2025, in Hamburg. The call is here.

Vidigal & Claussen: The Sustainability Revolution in International Trade Agreements

Geraldo Vidigal (Univ. of Ambsterdam - Law) & Kathleen Claussen (Georgetown Univ. - Law) have published The Sustainability Revolution in International Trade Agreements (Oxford Univ. Press 2024). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

Once seen as aspirational and relatively innocuous, 'sustainability' or 'sustainable development' provisions are now changing the face of international trade agreements. The Sustainability Revolution in International Trade Agreements gathers fundamental, first-hand analyses of these novel commitments across dozens of agreements, considering their legal, political, and economic aspects.

Drawing on perspectives from different parts of the world and engaging experts in the law and practice of sustainability provisions, this volume offers a comprehensive assessment of the latest developments and innovations in international trade agreements. It also evaluates the development challenges that sustainability requirements pose for countries with limited resources and capacity, for whom lower labour and environmental regulatory costs have been a competitive asset.

The present volume explores the intersectional aspects of sustainability - such as gender equality, biodiversity, animal welfare, and Indigenous rights - in addition to the more traditional dimensions of sustainability, namely economic development, environmental conservation, and improvement of labour standards.

There is little doubt that a sustainability revolution in global production patterns is needed. Considering the details of its operation - how it can come into being, who will bear the increased production costs, and how decisions on difficult trade-offs will be made - reveals the immense challenges involved in developing a new international law for sustainable trade. Read together, the chapters in this volume outline the contours this emerging legal framework, examine its practical operation, and offer important reflections upon the real extent and the foreseeable consequences of this sustainability revolution in international trade agreements.

Dzah: Sustainable Development, International Law, and a Turn to African Legal Cosmologies

Godwin Eli Kwadzo Dzah (Univ. of Alberta - Law) has published Sustainable Development, International Law, and a Turn to African Legal Cosmologies (Cambridge Univ. Press 2024). Here's the abstract:

This original book analyses and reimagines the concept of sustainable development in international law from a non-Western legal perspective. Built upon the intersection of law, politics, and history in the context of Africa, its peoples and their experiences, customary law and other legal cosmologies, this ground-breaking study applies a critical legal analysis to Africa's interaction with conceptualising and operationalising sustainable development. It proposes a turn to non-Western legal normativity as the foundational principle for reimagining sustainable development in international law. It highlights eco-legal philosophies and principles in remaking sustainable development where ecological integrity assumes a central focus in the reimagined conceptualisation and operationalisation of sustainable development. While this pioneering book highlights Africa as its analytical pivot, its arguments and proposals are useful beyond Africa. Connecting global discourses on nature, the environment, rights and development, Godwin Eli Kwadzo Dzah illuminates our current thinking on sustainable development in international law.

Latoszek & Kłos: Global Public Goods and Sustainable Development in the Practice of International Organizations: Responding to Challenges of Today’s World

Ewa Latoszek (SGH Warsaw School of Economics) & Agnieszka Kłos (SGH Warsaw School of Economics) have published Global Public Goods and Sustainable Development in the Practice of International Organizations: Responding to Challenges of Today’s World (Brill 2023). Here's the abstract:

This volume examines in an innovative and applied perspective the interdependence between the role of international organizations, the existence of global public goods and the need of sustainable development. Moreover, it is set within the context of current challenges in today’s world of dramatic transition and clearly responds to the need for filling the existing research gap in this area. It also demonstrates excellent knowledge of primary resources and a very good mastery of the various concepts and policy issues. Moreover, it offers an important added value to the theory, research and recent publications of the concerned broad study field.

Bantekas & Seatzu: The UN Sustainable Development Goals: A Commentary

Ilias Bantekas (Hamad bin Khalifa Univ. - Law) & Francesco Seatzu (Univ. of Cagliari - Law) have published The UN Sustainable Development Goals: A Commentary (Oxford Univ. Press 2023). Here's the abstract:

In September 2015, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This historic document constituted a transformative 'plan for action for people, planet and prosperity' with regards to the sustainable development efforts of all countries.

The Sustainable Development Goals serves as an expert compendium, the most authoritative ready-reference tool for anyone interested in the SDGs. Each chapter comprises a detailed target-by-target analysis of one of the SDGs, including a methodical analysis of the preparatory proceedings that shaped each goal in its present form, an exhaustive examination of their content, and a critical assessment from an international law perspective.

This commentary provides readers with the most up-to-date information on normative and legal questions arising from the incorporation of the SDGs into the international economic, social, and environmental legal frameworks, and on their implementation status.

Conference: Sustainable Development as Fundamental Pillar of Economic Governance and Public Affairs

On November 9-10, 2023, a conference on "Sustainable Development as Fundamental Pillar of Economic Governance and Public Affairs" will take place in Ravenna. The program is here.

Cordonier Segger, Wardell, & Harrington: CITES as a Tool for Sustainable Development

Marie-Claire Cordonier Segger (Univ. of Cambridge; Univ. of Waterloo), David Andrew Wardell (Center for International Forestry Research), & Alexandra Harrington (Albany Law School) have published CITES as a Tool for Sustainable Development (Cambridge Univ. Press 2023). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

Saving endangered species presents a critical and increasingly pressing challenge for conservation and sustainability movements, and is also matter of survival and livelihoods for the world's poorest and vulnerable communities. In 1973, a global Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) was adopted to stem the extinction of many species. In 2015, as part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 15) the United Nations called for urgent action to protect endangered species and their natural habitats. This volume focuses on the legal implementation of CITES to achieve the global SDGs. Activating interdisciplinary analysis and case studies across jurisdictions, the contributors analyse the potential for CITES to promote more sustainable development, proposing international and national regulatory innovations for implementing CITES. They consider recent innovations and key intervention points along flora and fauna value chains, advancing coherent recommendations to strengthen CITES implementation, including through the regulation of trade in endangered species globally and locally.

Conference: Persistent imbalances in international trade and the prospects for sustainable development: Focus on the developing countries

On June 30-July 1, 2023, a conference on "Persistent imbalances in international trade and the prospects for sustainable development: Focus on the developing countries" will be held at the University of Ljubljana and online. The program is here. Registration for online participation is here.

Conference: Human Rights and Sustainable Development

On July 14-15 2023, the Center for Global Economic and Environmental Opportunity at the University of Central Florida and the Centre for International Law and Human Rights at Lancaster University Law School will hold a conference, in the hybrid format, on "Human Rights and Sustainable Development," in Lancaster. Details are here.

Byers & Boley: Who Owns Outer Space? International Law, Astrophysics, and the Sustainable Development of Space

Michael Byers (Univ. of British Columbia - Political Science) & Aaron Boley (Univ. of British Columbia - Astronomy) have published Who Owns Outer Space? International Law, Astrophysics, and the Sustainable Development of Space (Cambridge Univ. Press 2023). This title is available open access. Here's the abstract:

From Space debris to asteroid strikes to anti-satellite weapons, humanity's rapid expansion into Space raises major environmental, safety, and security challenges. In this book, Michael Byers and Aaron Boley, an international lawyer and an astrophysicist, identify and interrogate these challenges and propose actionable solutions. They explore essential questions from, 'How do we ensure all of humanity benefits from the development of Space, and not just the world's richest people?' to 'Is it possible to avoid war in Space?' Byers and Boley explain the essential aspects of Space science, international law, and global governance in a fully transdisciplinary and highly accessible way. Addressing the latest and emerging developments in Space, they equip readers with the knowledge and tools to engage in current and critically important legal, policy, and scientific debates concerning the future development of Space.

Call for Papers: Human Rights and Sustainable Development

A call for papers has been issued for a conference on "Human Rights and Sustainable Development," to be held in the hybrid format, July 14-15, 2023, at Lancaster University. The call is here.

Call for Papers: Persistent imbalances in international trade and the prospects for sustainable development: Focus on the developing countries

A call for papers has been issued for a conference on "Persistent imbalances in international trade and the prospects for sustainable development: Focus on the developing countries," to be held June 30-July 1, 2023, at the University of Ljubljana. The call is here.

Call for Papers: Forests at the Crossroads of International Law

The University of Copenhagen Centre for International Law and Governance has issued a call for papers for a workshop on “Forests at the Crossroads of International Law,” which will take place September 4-5, 2023, in Copenhagen. The call is here.

Ebbesson & Hey: The Cambridge Handbook of the Sustainable Development Goals and International Law

Jonas Ebbesson (Stockholms Universitet) & Ellen Hey (Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam) have published The Cambridge Handbook of the Sustainable Development Goals and International Law (Cambridge Univ. Press 2022). Here's the abstract:

In 2015, the United Nations established seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) that aimed 'to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all' by 2030. The chapters within this collection address each of these SDGs, considering how they relate to one another and international law, and what institutions could aid their implementation. Development has been a contentious topic since the decolonization period after World War II, and issues surrounding sustainable development are necessarily impacted by the multifaceted relationship between the Global South and Global North. Confronting the context and challenge of sustainable development, this collection outlines how the international economic system problematizes the attainment of the SDGs. Introducing a novel, cosmopolitan approach, this book offers new ways of understanding sustainable development and suggests potential solutions so that we might finally achieve it.

Call for Papers: Sustainability in the Sea: A Gaze from the Mediterranean Barcelona

A call for papers has been issued for a conference on "Sustainability in the Sea: A Gaze from the Mediterranean Barcelona," to be held December 19, 2022. The call is here.

McIntyre, Ivanaj, & Ivanaj: The Role of Multinational Enterprises in Supporting the United Nations' SDGs

John R. McIntyre (Georgia Institute of Technology), Silvester Ivanaj (ICN Business School), & Vera Ivanaj (École nationale supérieure des industries chimiques) have published The Role of Multinational Enterprises in Supporting the United Nations' SDGs (Edward Elgar Publishing 2022). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

The Role of Multinational Enterprises in Supporting the United Nations’ SDGs is an exploration of the place of the private sector in implementing select Sustainable Development Goals. Beyond the abundant literature published by the United Nations and journal articles, there are few book-length treatments of the unique role that multinationals play as facilitators of goal implementation and agents of change. This volume aims to stimulate debate and research on MNEs’ best practices, fleshing out many of the seventeen goals through the lens of corporate strategic choices.

Sixteen carefully selected chapters present research advances in both study and best practices format, linking disciplines, knowledge systems, and stakeholders' perspectives to support a more sustainable business model and address the varied challenges on the road to the 2030 Agenda. They comprise a balanced mix of research methodologies: comprehensive literature reviews, theoretical frameworks, empirical studies, integrative reviews, and case studies.