Please find below descriptions of both our current and completed projects.
Project Lead: Petra Minnerop
Field: International Environmental Law and Policy
SDG:
Description:
Counting Down to 2030: Integrating Research and Climate Action Impact from Local to Global. The Centre for Sustainable Development Law and Policy, the Durham Energy Institute will co-convene a one-day conference with Durham County Council on Friday, 14th October 2022, in Durham County Hall.
The conference will bring leaders and experts from local government, public services, academia, and private sector partners together. The aim is to start a discussion around the key issues that arise in implementing the Paris Agreement’s temperature target in the run up to COP27, and to establish how we can work together to achieve net-zero in Durham County Council. Achieving this climate target will require strong cooperation between the public, the private, and the university sector. During COP26, the significance of this cooperation has become ever more prominent.
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Field: Energy Law and Policy
Between September 2021 and May 2022, Dr Petra Minnerop led a project on the legal support for Lao PDR for an economic- technological feasibility study for the increase in renewable electricity generation capacity in Lao PDR. This project was supported by IRAB. Mr Denis Kusaasira provided legal expertise on power purchase agreements and energy markets design. The outcome of the legal work comprises two reports for the government of Lao PDR and two workshops for government officials.
The first report aims to unpack the Glasgow Climate Pact and Article 6 of the Paris Rulebook. It examines the legal obligations of contracting Parties under the Paris Agreement and provides a country-specific analysis on Lao PDR. It also identifies the specific legal framework in Lao PDR on climate energy and regulation and the policy objectives of the country. The report found that Lao PDR a significant potential to attract investment in renewable energy, mostly hydropower and solar energy. The NDC refers to hydropower export plans under the 2030 unconditional mitigation plan. The country’s hydropower potential is estimated to be 23,000MW, due to its location in the Mekong River area. The ability to utilise its hydrological resources will exert a strong influence on the country’s ability to graduate from least-developed country status by 2024 as planned in its national socioeconomic development plan.
Markets will play a signficiant role for the energy transition, and Lao PDR can benefit from investment into its renewable energy sector. Legal advice will be important to make best use of the available options. It will be important to apply a stronger procedure for the submission of its nationally determined contribution (NDC) and to develop corresponding long-term low greenhouse gas emission development strategies.
The second report found that that Lao PDR would benefit from developing standard PPAs to guide the negotiations for wind and solar PPAs. The assistance of experienced advisors, and consultation with project developers, their banks and lawyers will be critical in developing such standard PPAs. Some of the key terms to be considered in designing a standard bankable PPA are presented in this policy brief. In addition to standard PPAs, Lao PDR should consider developing standard Project Implementation Agreements and Lenders’ Direct Agreements, which are also critical for bankability of renewable energy PPAs. This approach has worked in Uganda, under the Global Energy Transfer Feed-in Tariff programme (the “GET FiT programme”).
Project Lead: Petra Minnerop, Nilufer Oral (External - National University of Singapore, Singapore) and Christina Voigt (External - University of Oslo, Norway)
Field: International Law and Policy on Climate Change
In the run-up to COP26, Petra Minnerop co-organised with Professor Oral, Director of the Centre for International Law at the National University of Singapore, and Professor Christina Voigt (IUCN/WCEL and co-Chair of the Paris Agreement Implementation and Compliance Committee) a preparatory lecture series “On the Road to COP26 Preparatory Lecture Series”.
The series offered expert insights into various topics that were negotiated at COP26 and has strengthened the institutional collaboration with partners. The lecture series was followed by a post-COP26 roundtable with all lecturers.
Dr Petra Minnerop convened with colleagues from NUS, Imperial College London, Oxford University, Dundee University, London School for Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Ohio State University, an international conference on the theme of “Challenges to a Sustainable Recovery: International Law, Climate Change and Public Health”. The contributions to the conference will be published in 2023 in a Special Issue of the Global Policy Journal.
Project Leads: Petra Minnerop, Adebola Adeyemi and Smith Azubuike
Field: International Environmental Law and Policy on Climate Change
CSDLP has received an ESRC IAA grant to work on the project Building Capacity to Enhancing Compliance with (domestic legal) implementation of the Paris Agreement. This project analysed the 2021 Ugandan Climate Change Act. This project is now followed by an ESRC IAA and Research Impact Fund supported project on Implementing Regulations to the 2021 Ugandan Climate Change Act.
Uganda sees challenges in coupling implementation of Ugandan Climate Change Act with latest oil and gas exploration plans of the President. CSDLP Representatives have had a meeting with the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Energy and Mining. In association with the Head of Director for Environment, Health, Safety and Security, of Petroleum Authority of Uganda, the project will review current exploration policy to include climate safeguarding standards with ethical considerations.
Field: International Climate Change Law and Policy
On 22/23 June 2023, an international conference will be held on ‘The Global Stocktake and International Law: Paradigm, Process and Ambition’. The event is part of a two leg conference project with the Centre for International Law (CIL) at the National University of Singapore (NUS).
This conference aims to reconnect academia and decision-makers within the scope of a key process in the architecture of the 2015 Paris Agreement: the global stocktake.
Find more about the event here
Project Lead: Laura Marsiliani
Dr Laura Marsiliani is working on an international collaboration on several projects that investigate important energy economic aspects for emerging economies, with a particular focus on Bangladesh. Within a fit-for-purpose DSGE model, we are currently exploring the macroeconomic, sectoral and welfare effects of:
Since the mid-1990s the net total assets of funds incorporating Environmental, Social and Governance Factors has increased more than 400% in many countries. The research project by Dr Laura Marsiliani, Thomas Renstrom and Luca Spataro focuses on issues in connection to sustainable finance and private green investments, their role for protecting the environment and whether government intervention is still desirable. We first explore the finance channel through which investors have an influence on corporate decision making regarding pollution abatement and decarbonisation ('greener production'). We then analyse the firms’ incentives (through the capital market) in reducing pollution. We solve for the equilibrium when households differ in the moral objectives. In this context, we also explore the role of the government, in particular the effect of pollution taxes and abatement subsidies. The project is flexible enough to include issues of just transition to a net zero economy.
Project Lead: Angelia Jia Wang
Field: Intellectual Property Law
This project is on developing the current legal framework on 3D printing technologies and digital platforms from an IP and competition law perspective. 3D printing technologies are becoming faster, more robust and more ubiquitous. 3D printing is environmentally friendly as it saves the waste of raw materials, and localised production consumes less with the supply chain. The research is novel in that it employs the theories of organisational behaviours when scrutinising the organisation of design, production and distribution of 3D printing. It challenges some of the conventional wisdom on the law and regulation of design and manufacture in a digital environment and aims to provide recommendations for legal and regulatory reform. The outcome will be a workshop held in October 2022 at CSDLP and an article published in a peer-reviewed IP law journal (under review).
This project lies within the Centre's research interests as the localisation of contents of games that recognises and preserves the culture of a particular community of a targeted market. It examines the copyright issues involved in the translation, modification, and derivation of original works. It also engages in a discussion of the broader theme of how to preserve cultural heritage with creative commons, people who are not only consumers of games but also active participants and even creators of the contents of the games, within the copyright law framework. The outcome will be an international conference held in September 2022 and two journal articles (work-in-progress, one being a co-authored piece). This project is financially supported by the Durham University Seedcorn grant and the School of Law.
This project will be on IP law and sustainable lifestyle, particularly in rural areas. Sustainable development means communities should be able to benefit from local knowledge and local talents. IP, including geographical indications, collective marks and certifications, can protect locally featured products and increase the premium of the products on the market. Those IP mechanisms help preserve local culture and attract the youth to stay in their hometown to maintain as well as innovate based on their cultures, skills, techniques and local knowledge. I will investigate whether the current IP law system has provided effective protection for the local knowledge and products and explore how the legal system can be improved to benefit local communities. A comparative approach will be taken by scrutinising the practice of a few countries and regions, tentatively including the Tibetan areas in China, Scotland, South Africa, and India. This project is to be fully implemented from 2023 onwards.
Project Leads: Jane Rooneyand Dr Lee McConnell (External - Bristol University)
Field: Human Rights Law
This network will investigate the interactions between multinational corporations engaged in the extraction of natural resources, and the security forces of the foreign States in which they operate. It will explore the causes and effects of the often violent encounters between these actors and local communities in resource-rich territories. The network aims to examine the extent to which legal/policy frameworks recognise and respond to the interfaces between these actors with a view to proposing plausible reforms aimed at remedying past harms and strengthening the observance of fundamental human rights.
Project Lead: Smith Azubuike
This book examines the pathways to decarbonising African cities, structured around strategies and applications in renewable energy, waste management, healthcare, telecommunication, education and governance reconfigurations for Petro-cities. The authors highlight infrastructural, governance and policy approaches to drive decarbonisation throughout the book. The opening chapter focuses on propositions for solar urban planning and the scope for decarbonisation in waste management, then examines innovative strategies for a low-carbon healthcare sector. The authors then discuss the use of hybrid power systems at remote telecommunication sites, their deployment on university campuses, and how this can be optimised to reduce carbon emissions. Further chapters explore government, private sector and civil society actions for decarbonising Kenyan cities and an overview of the political and economic choices for decarbonising Petro-cities. Finally, the closing chapter proposes mechanisms for translating COP26 takeaways into decarbonisation policies and a low-carbon framework for African cities.
Risk Allocation and Distributive Justice in the Energy Industry: Law, Policy and Practice for Environmental Sustainability
This book examines the practice of risk allocation in the offshore energy industry through the public policy lens to offer a novel perspective on the concept of gross negligence in risk allocation in offshore petroleum drilling contracts. This novel perspective is founded on the proportionality element of distributive justice in burden distribution. The assessment of how mutual indemnity clauses, a risk allocation tool, apply as an absolute shield against liability arising from gross negligence reveals that a moral hazard results from the practice, contrary to the tenets of public policy. This practice discourages environmental sustainability during offshore drilling operations.
In the analysis, this book considers the risk allocation practice in PSC and Concession regimes (Nigeria, Indonesia, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America) and offers a detailed examination of how the various jurisdictions use mutual indemnity clauses to determine the liability of parties in drilling contracts. The book considers gross negligence a sui generis risk and provides a definitional pathway for determining when gross negligence occurs and how it should apply to offshore energy drilling contracts to encourage a pollution-free drilling operation. As such, the author argues that mutual indemnity clauses should not apply as an absolute shield but should be qualified for liability arising from gross negligence to discourage moral hazard during offshore drilling operations. In addition, the book proposes that liability arising from gross negligence should be distributed according to the proportion of the parties who benefit from the drilling operations. The essence is to discourage environmentally unsustainable practices that can cause pollution damage during petroleum drilling operations.
Project Lead: Rozemarijn Roland-Holst
Field: International Environmental Law
The CSDLP hosts the ECR Workshop on Cross-disciplinary Sustainability Challengesin Durham in June 2023. The workshop provides a platform for early-career researchers working on sustainability challenges and/or themes pertaining to sustainable development from a range of disciplinary angles, including law, political science, international relations, geography and the humanities. The workshop is intended to provide an informal and constructive setting for early-career researchers to present their work, receive feedback from, and build connections with, research communities across relevant disciplines, and to explore potential policy impacts and implications of their work.
Project Lead: Rozemarijn Roland Holst
Dr Rozemarijn Roland Holst is a member of the team assisting the Commission of Small Island States on Climate Change and International Law (COSIS) with their submissions to the advisory proceedings before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS).
COSIS submitted its request for an ITLOS Advisory Opinion on climate change on 12 December 2022. The questions submitted to the ITLOS concern the obligations of states parties to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea to prevent, reduce and control pollution of the marine environment, and to protect and preserve the marine environment from the impacts of climate change. In parallel, COSIS is participating in the advisory proceedings before the International Court of Justice on the obligations of States in respect of climate change, and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights on climate emergency and human rights.
Project Leads: Can Ekenand Volker Roeben
The number of investment arbitration cases brought under the Energy Charter Treaty has increased in the last decade dramatically. Interestingly, Türkiye had most of the investment arbitration cases arising out of the Energy Charter Treaty even before the last decade. There are six investment arbitration cases in total against Türkiye. This article analyses the key issues in these cases.
The article uses the doctrinal analysis of these six cases and relevant rules in the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) and Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs). This article, however, does not only describe the case law on relevant rules. The article further critically analyses both parties’ positions and gives policy recommendations for Türkiye and suggestions for investors regarding how their case could have been presented.
Overall, the article provides important insights for scholars and practitioners who are dealing with the Energy Charter Treaty cases or planning to bring a case against a State. Türkiye-related cases are used as a case study in this article. Since similar provisions and energy policies can replicate themselves in other cases and jurisdictions, the impact of this article reaches beyond Türkiye and is relevant to all Energy Charter Treaty cases.
For COP27, we aim to build on previous experience at COP26. The Durham Delegation for COP26 comprised 14 academic staff, from Anthropology, the Business School, Engineering, Geography, SGIA, Law, the IHRR and the DEI. Activities spanned public engagement, knowledge transfer and networking with research funders, UK Government departments, national delegations, and businesses. Ten blogs in the “Insights from COP26” series were written and published on the the University’s website.
Project Leads: Simona Capisani and Annie Stilz (Princetown University)
SDG: 3 (Good Health and Well-being), 5 (Gender Equality), 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), 10 (Reduce Inequality), 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) and 13 (Climate Action).
The Climate Mobilities group at CSDLP aims to be a hub for thinking about climate-related migration, immobility, and movement both at Durham and internationally. Bringing together disciplinary perspectives from law, the humanities, and the social sciences and connections to scholars, advocates, policymakers, and practitioners worldwide, it aims to interrogate the concepts of climate migration, mobility, and immobility as well as law and policy avenues for addressing these and related issues.
Speaker SeriesThe Climate Mobilities group will facilitate two speaker series in 2023, comprising perspectives from the governmental, international organisation, nonprofit, and academic sectors. The first, organised by the Climate Mobilities Working Group that Simona Capisani co-directs with Anna Stilz (Princeton University), will be taking place online throughout spring. A full list of speakers and a free registration link can be found here.
Recordings of the Spring Speaker Series:Dina IonescoJola AjibadeLori HunterEsther Stanford-XoseiCarol Farbotko
The second series will be coordinated by the CSDLP Durham group itself and begin in autumn 2023 with both in person and online events.
Project Leads: Andrew Baldwin, Simona Capisani and Christopher Szabla
Field: Human Rights Law and Policy
ConferencesThe group also plans in person conferences on climate mobilities. In the Spring term of 2024 the Climate Mobilities Working Group that Simona co-directs in partnership with CSDLP will be hosting a conference (to be held at Princeton University) which will provide an opportunity for collaboration between community leaders and organizers, policy makers, and researchers to address emergent challenges and strategies to address the complexity of climate-related mobilities. One central aim of the conference is to create an opportunity for the development of projects and initiatives that emerge from the conference itself and to build the infrastructure to support these collaborations, including ways to facilitate multi-disciplinary methodologies, develop shared language and conceptual norms, and address structural inequality and power sharing as it manifests in research development and organizing. This may entail additional events and workshops following the inaugural conference.
Project Lead: Chris Stokes
Field: Climate Science
SDG: 13 (Climate Action).
The East Antarctic Ice Sheet contains the vast majority of Earth’s glacier ice (about 52 metres of sea-level equivalent) but is often viewed as less vulnerable to global warming than the West Antarctic or Greenland ice sheets, which are currently contributing to sea level rise. Recent research by the applicant (Stokes et al., 2022), funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NE/R000824/1), showed that meeting the Paris Climate Agreement would prevent several metres of sea level rise from the world’s largest continental ice sheet and avoid the potential displacement of hundreds of millions of people.
This research is directly relevant to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the applicant shared this research at COP27 (Sharm el-Sheikh) and has recently partnered with the International Cryosphere Climate Initiative (ICCI) to further discuss this research, and sea-level projections more generally, with climate negotiations and senior stakeholders, such as those comprising the new High-Level ‘Ambition on Melting Ice’ (AMI) group. The AMI group was formed at COP27 and aims to ensure the impacts of cryosphere loss are understood by political leaders and the public, and not only within mountain and polar regions, but throughout the world.
Citation: Stokes, C.R., Abram, N.J., Bentley, M.J., Edwards, T.L., England, M.H., Foppert, A., Jamieson, S.S.R., Jones, R.S., King, M.A., Lenaerts, J.T.M., Medley, B., Miles, B.W.J., Paxman, G.J.G, Ritz, C., van de Flierdt, T. and Whitehouse, P.L. (2022) Response of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet to past and future climate change. Nature, 608, 275-287.
A video of Professor Chris Stokes discussing this research is available here.
SDG: 13 (Climate Action), 17 (Partnership for the Goals).
The CSDLP, in collaboration with the Centre for International Law at the National University of Singapore (CIL NUS) and the International Cryosphere Climate Initiative (ICCI), made a joint submission to the Global Stocktake (GST) 2023. Article 14 of the Paris Agreement established the GST as a ‘process to take stock of the implementation’ of the Paris Agreement and its long-term goals, with the first GST taking place in 2023. This is a crucial opportunity for Parties to update and enhance individual and collaborative actions to tackle climate change. The joint submission’s objectives are to strengthen intersecting cryosphere science and law in interpreting the Paris Agreement’s temperature thresholds, and to emphasise the role of academic research in developing the GST as a legal process.
The joint submission can be found here.
In addition to the joint submission, a poster was created for display at the 58th session of the subsidiary bodies in Bonn (SB 58, June 2023). The poster summarises the key findings of the joint submission, and aims to convey the information in an accessible and creative way. Professor Petra Minnerop attended the conference and represented the poster at the session. Displaying the poster in Bonn facilitates important dialogue on the intersection between climate change law, policy, and science amongst academics, policy- and decision-makers, and scientists, thereby encouraging greater interdisciplinary collaboration in pursuing climate action.
Find more about the poster here.
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