International Environmental Law 417523 Some thoughts on legal writing Vernon Rive, AUT School of Law Photo: Mary Grace Ardiente de Castro
Low hanging fruit No title No road map Non-standard grammar Introduction which doesn’t include thesis Inadequate citations Citing secondary material instead of primary material Using wrong form of word (principles vs principals; affect vs effect) No stating full details of an international instrument (including significant non-parties) Incorrect grammar Using fragments as whole sentences Failure to cite subsequent appeal decisions No subheadings 2
You write what you read. Stop reading the same meaningless, repetitive writing everyone else reads. Quality of output directly correlates to quality of input. I’ve noticed the technical quality of my writing and the originality of my ideas sharply decline when I fall into the habit of reading nothing but blogs. Absorb fresh ideas and sublime style by reading old books, written by masters of language. Then take these ideas and pretend you invented them. You’ll be hailed as a prophet. …The value comes from unconsciously absorbing the style of the author. This is how we learn to write rhythmic sentences and clearly convey meaning. You will also find unexpected inspiration. Erin Falconer, 2007 3 http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/how-to-write-something-worth-reading/
UN Security Council: playing a role in the international climate change regime? Clear, informative (if a little unimaginative)title Stephanie Cousins* Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne, Australia In the context of a weakly enforced Kyoto Protocol, sluggish UN climate change negotiations and a closing window of opportunity to prevent the more cataclysmic scenarios of climate change, calls for the UN Security Council to play a role in international climate governance are becoming louder. The Security Council’s political clout and wide enforcement powers make it a seemingly ideal antidote to the current negotiation inertia. But how realistic is it for the Security Council to play a role in curbing climate change? This paper examines the ambition and enforcement limitations of the current UN legal regime for climate change and analyses whether the Security Council could help fill the gaps. It argues that climate change can legitimately be seen as a security issue, and that it is legally feasible for the Security Council to act on it, even using its full range of powers. However, politically there are just a few options worth exploring at this stage. These include: monitoring and early warning of climate-related security threats; and helping to resolve disputes peacefully between blocks of states with regards to mitigation and adaptation ambition. Keywords: environment; human security; international law; international relations; security; I didn’t ask for an sovereignty abstract but check if one 4 is needed
1. Introduction introduction is very important Efforts to prevent the worst impacts of climate change on the Earth’s interesting, ecosystem have been central to the International Environmental Law engaging phrase (IEL) endeavour for decades. While progress has been made in the IEL arena on many global environmental problems – from winding back ozone depletion to preventing oil spills – climate change has remained 1st para sets the the wicked environmental dilemma of our times. Twenty years after the background & UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) opened for context signature, quantifiable progress towards mitigating climate change is difficult to discern. 2nd para This track record begs us to ask the question – are the relevant introduces the instruments and principles of IEL capable of addressing this issue? Or overall focus of the paper, in form put another way, is the environmental lens the only way to view the of a question. problem of climate change and its solutions? This paper does not Gives the reader a attempt to answer this question in full, but rather I attempt to provide reason to keep going one piece of the puzzle. That is, a consideration of whether the UN Security Council could play a meaningful role in addressing climate change, and how applying a security lens might help to address this environmental challenge. scope of the paper is confined 5
First I explore the limitations and challenges of the international climate change regime. In particular I focus on challenges of enforcement and lack of political momentum behind an ambi- 3rd para begins tious agenda for cutting global emissions following the Kyoto the ‘roadmap’ of the paper. Protocol’s first commitment period. Calls for a greater role for the Note that not only UN Security Council in addressing climate change are largely a are the issues result of these failings, coupled with a growing sense of urgency introduced (in the order addressed) that the window for preventing dangerous climate change is but also the key rapidly closing. For the Security Council to tackle climate change, conclusions are it needs to be understood not just as an environmental issue, but summarised. also as a threat to international peace and security. As such, in order to determine the applicability of a role for the Security Council I consider the various interpretations of climate change as a security issue and reflect on the Security Council’s practice with regard to other ‘non-traditional’ security threats such as HIV/ AIDS. 6
Concluding that it would be reasonable for the Security Council to By the end of the introduction, you interpret climate change as a threat to international peace and have a good idea security, I then turn to consider the feasibility of such a prop- of how the paper osition. To do this I examine the perspectives of the wider UN is structured, and what the key membership – as apparent from the 2007 and 2011 Security findings are. Council debates on climate change – to ascertain areas of potential Hopefully you are legal and political momentum that could help address some of the still interested enough to continue aforementioned limitations to the current climate change regime. I reading to find then outline two potential areas emerging from this analysis that out the details. warrant further exploration. But at least you know where the paper is heading. The first is the role of the Security Council in the monitoring and early warning of climate change threats. In addition to supporting adaptation efforts, such a role could provide an ‘urgency factor’ Note that this necessary to push wider multilateral action forward. The second author has not used area is the role the Security Council could play in resolving any footnotes in disputes peacefully between blocks of states with regard to their her introduction. Some people do, mitigation efforts. Such a role would not require the Council to use some don’t. I think its full range of enforcement powers, and as such it would be more it’s OK as long as politically tenable than proposals relating to potential sanctions the body of the paper contains and use of force. I conclude by suggesting that while the Security sufficient Council is no silver bullet, these proposals are worth further references. exploration. 7
Cousins has structured her paper with main (numbered) section headings and italicised sub- headings. I think this works well. Note the format of the citation - gives the UN Treaty Series ref and There are different ways of importantly when it was handling ‘ibids’, but opened for signature & when whatever approach you take, it came into force. include the specific Then defined as UNFCCC , so provision reference. don’t need to keep repeating 8 those details.
italicised sub-heading: Challenges enforcing the existing regime assists with navigating Enforcement is generally understood as the Achilles heel of the international way through legal system, 22 and the challenges facing the UNFCCC/Kyoto regime in document maintaining compliance are not unique in this respect. The only compliance and enforcement-type measures in the UNFCCC are a commit- ment to establishing a ‘multilateral consultative process’ to support governments to resolve difficulties in implementing their commitments, 23 and a dispute resolution process consisting of arbitration and conciliation measures. 24 The lack of specificity in the Convention’s binding com- mitments and the lack of penalties for non-compliance have meant these measures have had little practical effect. 25 Where you are 22 Jacob Werksman, ‘Introduction’, in Greening International Institutions , ed. Jacob Werksman (London: citing from a Earthscan, 1996), xvi. book with 23 UNFCCC , art. 13. chapters by different 24 Ibid., art. 14. authors, make 25 Jon Hovi, Camilla Bretteville Froyn and Guri Bang, ‘Introduction and Main Findings’, in Implementing the sure you cite Climate Regime: International Compliance, ed. Olav Schram Stokke, Jon Hovi and Geir Ulfstein (London: the relevant Earthscan, 2005), 1. author’s name, as well as the overall book editor. 9
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