Category Archives: Land use and Environment
‘Thinking Freedom of Contract Sustainably’
At the time of writing this blogpost (18th of September 2024), large parts of eastern and central Europe are drowning in historical floodings. Would I have started writing this blogpost earlier on, I could have referenced to raging wildfires at the gates of Athens; floodings in southern Germany; record heatwaves in eastern Europe; and so […]
Sadie Mapstone, ‘The Fiduciary Duty of Combatting Global Climate Change’
ABSTRACT Ancient Roman Law codified the concept that there are certain resources that are so great and so important to human survival, that intuitively, no person should own them. Further, the government must protect these resources for the people. Today, this concept is known at the public trust doctrine. According to the contemporary doctrine, the […]
‘EU brings product liability rules in line with digital age and circular economy’
Today the Council adopted a directive to update the EU’s civil liability law. The new liability rules better take into account that nowadays many products have digital features and that the economy is becoming increasingly circular … (more) [Press Release, Council of the EU, 10 October 2024]
Radjas and Akin, ‘Strengthening the Efficacy of the CSDDD through Private International Law’
ABSTRACTWith the rise of expectations regarding corporate sustainability, the regulatory landscape for companies has expanded to encompass both international and national dimensions. This expansion is a response to the far-reaching ecological and social consequences of corporate activities that transcend national boundaries. Notably, the European Union (EU) has also realized this aspect while addressing these global […]
Michele Gilman, ‘The Impact of Proptech and The Datafication of Real Estate on The Human Right To Housing’
ABSTRACT Proptech is undermining the human right to housing. Proptech is a term of art for the digital transformation of the real estate industry. It includes a range of real estate businesses engaged in development, financing, construction, management, and more. Proptech’s boosters promise frictionless and efficient housing markets. However, Proptech appears to be reinforcing existing […]
‘Transformation of Property Law for Sustainability’
My own view of the question, ‘can private law be “rescued”’ is that we cannot achieve sustainability without a transformation in private law and in the deeply embedded values that it both reflects and sustains. In particular, the foundational nature of private property means that its transformation is essential, even as it seems impossible … […]
David Grinlinton, ‘The Intersection of Property Rights and Environmental Law’
ABSTRACT This article examines the legal and policy intersection of property rights and environmental law. Property rights are closely connected to and often in tension with many elements of environmental law and policy. Appropriate controls on the use of property rights and natural resources, and effectively managing the environmental consequences of such use, are critical […]
‘Is the Right of Ownership at Odds with the Circular Economy?’
The circular economy is one in which biological and industrial materials are kept in circulation via recycling, reuse, refurbishment, composting, etc. This means that producers have to change the design of their products and make them modular to enable repair, refurbishment, upcycling, or simply extraction of valuable materials they contain to give them new life. […]
Robin Kundis Craig, ‘Just Add Water: The Muddy World of Private Property Rights in a Panarchal Reality’
ABSTRACT Advocates for private property rights tend to atomize real property, dividing land into individual parcels and, legally, ‘bundles of sticks’. Only a few common-law doctrines, such as nuisance, acknowledge the potential for activities on one real estate parcel to affect either other discrete parcels or the community as a whole. In the US Supreme […]
Bennison, Chapple and Sadiq, ‘From Corporation to Cooperation: A Meaningful Model for Corporate Purpose’
ABSTRACT In 2015, the United Nations adopted Sustainable Development Goals (‘SDGs’) with a full implementation target of 2030. The breadth and depth of the 17 Goals are significant, including ending poverty, offering quality education, affordable and clean energy, and responsible consumption and production, to name a few. Overlapping with the SDGs is the Planetary Boundary […]