The International Court of Justice (ICJ) handed down on the 21st of April 2010 a very important judgment in the Case Concerning Pulp Mills on the River Uruguay (Argentina v. Uruguay).
Nikolaos Tsokanas | Jul 21, 2010 | 7 min read
The European Union and the countries of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States officially opened negotiations for the conclusion of a new Partnership Agreement in New York on 28 September 2018 in the margins of the UN General Assembly. The new agreement will enter into effect after 2020, following the expiry of the Cotonou Agreement on 29 February 2020. The Cotonou Agreement was adopted in June 2000, and entered into force in April 2003. To date, it is the most comprehensive and balanced partnership agreement between the EU and developing countries. It determines the legal regime and general governance framework applicable to EU relations with ACP countries on a wide range of policy issues focused on: the eradication of poverty, the promotion of sustainable development from an economic, social, environmental and cultural perspective, and the progressive integration of ACP countries into the global economic system.
Alexandros Kailis | Nov 6, 2020 | 21 min read
Humanity has waged long wars against many different, sometimes imaginary threats. In 1958, in the Republic of China, a relentless four-year war was waged against an animal species that would hardly be declared an enemy: the little sparrow. The real cause of this war was the miserable policy of the Party that threatened China with famine. The "enemy" was none other than the endemic arboreal sparrow: a small, cowardly bird that had the misfortune to be included in the" Four Pests Campaign" along with mosquitoes, flies, and rats, well-known carriers of dangerous pathogens. Mao's authority declared war because the "experts" defined the sparrow as a competitive species in grain farming.The leader's authority and the "excellence" of the party turned China's people into a ruthless killer of millions of small birds, which caused a severe ecological disaster and the great Chinese famine.
Aggelina Metaxatos | Nov 5, 2020 | 17 min read
There is a challenging and refreshing approach in my new book “International Negotiation: A Process of Relational Governance for International Common Interest” that maintained my spirit daringly devoted and my interest creatively alive throughout the years of its writing. I propose a relational theory that systematically unveils the interrelationship between International Negotiation and Treaty as a process of relational governance constructing International Common Interest (ICI), thus raising a fundamental theoretical claim and a practical platform for an interdisciplinary and more knowledgeable understanding and conduct of international negotiation.
Evangelos Raftopoulos | Feb 22, 2019 | 8 min read
In the Mediterranean region, there are longstanding procedures and practices of dialogue and interaction between Science and Policy within robust institutional frameworks established for a better environmental governance and sustainable management of marine and coastal ecosystems, in particular within the UN Environment/Mediterranean Action Plan (MAP) – Barcelona Convention system. Being subject to an increasing number of cumulative pressures and threats associated with human activities that have significant impacts on marine and coastal ecosystems, the Mediterranean basin is both a showcase and a testing ground for environmental governance and for evidence-based policy-making at the regional level.
Ilias Mavroidis and Julien Le Tellier | Feb 21, 2019 | 17 min read
There is no doubt that the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Montego Bay, 1982; UNCLOS) is a cornerstone in the process for the codification of international law. It was described as a “constitution for oceans”, “a monumental achievement in the international community”, “the first comprehensive treaty dealing with practically every aspect of the uses and resources of the seas and the oceans”, as well as an instrument that “has successfully accommodated the competing interests of all nations”. However, there is at least one specific matter where the UNCLOS regime was seen as leading to very unsatisfactory results. A new instrument of universal scope was adopted to better address this matter.A new instrument of universal scope was adopted to better address this matter. It is the Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage (Paris, 2001; CPUCH).
Tullio Scovazzi | Feb 20, 2019 | 13 min read
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations in September 2015, provide a universal, visionary and transformative framework for sustainable development, ensuring that “no one is left behind”. They introduce an integrated and balanced approach to the process of managing multifaceted economic, environmental and social challenges. They generate, for the first time, contrary to the Millennium Development Goals (2000-2015), implementation commitments up to 2030, for both developed and developing countries, tailored to the specific national context and needs.
Alexandros Kailis | Feb 19, 2019 | 18 min read
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) handed down on the 21st of April 2010 a very important judgment in the Case Concerning Pulp Mills on the River Uruguay (Argentina v. Uruguay).
Nikolaos Tsokanas | Jul 21, 2010 | 7 min read
The notion of global governance is widely studied in academia and increasingly relevant to politics and policy making. Yet many of its fundamental elements remain unclear in both theory and practice. Yet many of its fundamental elements remain unclear in both theory and practice. This book offers a fresh perspective by analyzing global governance in terms of three major trends, as exemplified by developments in global sustainability governance.
Frank Biermann and Philipp Pattberg | Nov 12, 2012 | 3 min read
Elli Louka, in this timely written important book, skillfully presents, in a “realistic” language, a thorough and insightful examination of the nuclear non-proliferation order and the particularities of its governance in its various contexts. It is often argued that the nuclear non-proliferation order divides the world into nuclear-weapon-haves and have-nots creating a nuclear apartheid.
Elli Louka | Feb 22, 2012 | 4 min read
In this major book, edited by Davor Vidas and Peter Johan Schei, thirty-three experts on marine affairs and the law of the sea examine the emerging challenges for the World Ocean, inquiring into developments prompted by globalisation in central issue-areas of the law of the sea. These are explored systematically in sections on the key challenges and developments in the interface of science, economic uses and law (Part I); climate change and the oceans (Part II); sustainability of fisheries (Part III); challenges and responses related to global maritime transport (Part IV); and the regulatory responses to global challenges in seas surrounding Europe (Part V).
Davor Vidas and Peter Johan Schei | Sep 21, 2011 | 5 min read
In this major book, edited by Davor Vidas, thirty-four experts on marine affairs and the law of the sea, from six continents, examine the emerging challenges for our World Ocean. The accumulating consequences of human activities on the seas indicate that the Earth may already have entered a new epoch, the Anthropocene, dominated by the human impact. This volume analyses developments in the interface of law, technology and science in some central law-of-the-sea issue areas. These are explored systematically in sections on the World Ocean in the Anthropocene epoch (Part I); combating illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (Part II); combating illegal oil spills from ships (Part III); marine genetic resources and bio-prospecting (Part IV); and the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles from the baselines (Part V).
Davor Vidas | Apr 6, 2011 | 5 min read
The book is a result of interdisciplinary research conducted under GoverNat Project (Multi-level Governance of Natural Resources: Tools and Processes for Water and Biodiversity Governance in Europe), a Marie Curie Research Training Network in the 6th Framework Program of the European Commission focusing on research and training in all aspects of multi-level environmental governance.
Tatiana Kluvánková-Oravská | Nov 4, 2010 | 2 min read
The annual session of the High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF 2020), convened, in a virtual format due to the COVID-19 pandemic, under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council, was held from Tuesday 7 July, to Thursday, 16 July 2020 at the UN Headquarters in New York.
MEPIELAN Centre | Nov 8, 2020 | 5 min read
Ambitiously enough, the U.N Member States have begun negotiating a political declaration on the environment to be adopted in 2022 and coincide with the 50th anniversary of the 1972 Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment.
MEPIELAN Centre | Nov 8, 2020 | 4 min read
On the 17th of September, EU officially entered a new era on its long journey towards achieving the goal of climate neutrality by 2050: The European Commission presented its plan to reduce EU greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels, instead of the existing 40%.
MEPIELAN Centre | Nov 8, 2020 | 5 min read
Fourteen thematic decisions related to pollution and marine litter, biodiversity and marine protected areas, blue economy and integrated coastal zone management alongside a groundbreaking roadmap for the proposal of a possible designation of the Mediterranean as an Emission Control Area for Sulphur Oxides, were adopted by the Contracting Parties to the Barcelona Convention and its Protocols during their 21st Meeting in Naples, Italy (COP21).
MEPIELAN Centre | Nov 6, 2020 | 6 min read
The Compliance Committee to the Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention) held its 67th Meeting from 6 to 10 July 2020.
MEPIELAN Centre | Nov 1, 2020 | 3 min read
MEPIELAN Centre | Feb 6, 2019 | 4 min read