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2018 Biennial Ingram Lecture on International Law and Development

24 July 2018
6.30pm – 7.30pm AEST
Theatre, Chemical Sciences Building
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picture of a polluted city skyline

Do developing countries have anything to fear from international environmental law?

Historically, developing countries have often been wary of international environmental agreements, fearing that environmental regulation would limit their ability to grow economically.

But, on the whole, international environmental law has been more of a boon than a bane for developing countries. True, it has failed to solve many of the problems of greatest concern, such as climate change and trade in hazardous wastes. But it has made some headway, while largely insulating developing countries from the burden of onerous regulations. The lecture will explore why developing countries have little to fear from international environmental law, and will conclude with a Top 10 list of ways that it can be their friend rather than their foe.

Presented by Professor Daniel Bodansky, Foundation Professor of Law in the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, Arizona State University. Professor Bodansky is in Australia as the Ingram Visiting Fellow at UNSW Law. The Ingram Visiting Fellowship is funded by the Ingram Fund for International Law and Development, generously donated to UNSW Law by Mr James Ingram AO, former Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Programme. The purpose of the Fund is to promote the study, teaching and dissemination of international law at UNSW and to foster understanding of the impact of law on the interests of developing countries.

Speakers
Professor Bodansky

Professor Daniel Bodansky

Professor Daniel Bodansky is a Foundation Professor of Law in the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law. He is also the faculty co-director for the Center for Law and Global Affairs. In addition, he is an affiliate faculty member with the Center for Law, Science and Innovation, and the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability's School of Sustainability at ASU.

Professor Bodansky is a leading authority on international environmental law generally, and global climate change law in particular. He teaches courses in public international law and sustainability, and is a key player in the college's Program on Law and Sustainability.

Prior to his arrival at ASU in 2010, Professor Bodansky was the associate dean for faculty development and Emily and Ernest Woodruff Chair in International Law at the University of Georgia School of Law. He was an assistant professor at  the University of Washington School of Law from 1989-1994, and a professor from 1994-2002, and has been an adjunct faculty member at Georgetown University and George Washington University law schools.  

Professor Bodansky served as the Climate Change Coordinator at the U.S. Department of State from 1999-2001, on a leave of absence from academia, and was an attorney-advisor at the U.S. Department of State from 1985-1989.  He has consulted for the United Nations in the areas of climate change and tobacco control. Since 2001, Professor Bodansky has been a consultant and senior advisor on the “Beyond Kyoto” and “Pocantico Dialogue” projects at the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (formerly the Pew Center on Global Climate Change). He has served on the Board of Editors of the American Journal of International Law and the State Department's Advisory Committee on Public International Law, is the U.S.-nominated arbitrator under the Antarctic Environmental Protocol, and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the American Society of International Law. Awards include an International Affairs Fellowship from the Council of Foreign Relations, a Pew Faculty Fellowship in International Affairs, and a Jean Monnet Fellowship from the European University Institute.

Professor Bodansky’s scholarship includes three books and dozens of articles and book chapters on international law, international environmental law and climate change policy. His book, "The Art and Craft of International Environmental Law," published by Harvard University Press, received the 2010 Harold and Margaret Sprout Award of the International Law Association, as the best book that year in the field of international environmental studies.