Can International Law Provide an Effective Response to Climate Change?

PRESS RELEASE

2 October 2008

Can International Law Provide an Effective Response to Climate Change?

01/10/08


Over the next 18 months - with a deadline for the end of 2009 - the international community will try to reach agreement on the new international instruments to succeed the Kyoto Protocol. These global negotiations take place against a background of overwhelming scientific evidence that points to potentially catastrophic climate change.
  • What are the options being discussed?
  • Can international laws provide an effective response?
  • What political and other hurdles need to be crossed?
  • What are the relative responsibilities of the developed and developing worlds?

These and other issues are addressed by leading decision-makers and thinkers at the 2008 Annual Conference of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law. Entitled "Climate Change and its Challenges for the International Legal System" the conference takes place on Friday 17 October 2008 09:30 to 18:00. It is a unique opportunity to hear first-hand from those directly involved in the key decisions.

Climate change is being considered at national and international levels in a variety of disciplines but the impact on international law has not been explored to any significant extent. This timely conference coincides with the growing recognition of the need for international cooperation and regulation, as part of the rule of law, being a vital component for the future. It will explore the effects of climate change on international law, both from within and outside the law, and through international and comparative perspectives.

The conference will be introduced by The Rt Hon Lord Bingham of Cornhill KG, Chairman of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law. Sir Crispin Tickell GCMG KCVO, Director of the Policy Foresight Programme at the James Martin Institute for Science and Civilization at Oxford University, and former Chef de Cabinet to the President of the European Commission, will give the opening keynote speech. The After Dinner Speaker will be Professor Sir Brian Hoskins CBE FRS Director of the Grantham Institute for Climate Change at Imperial College, London.

This event is kindly sponsored by: Alliance Bernstein Wealth Management and Shell International B.V.

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Further details about the work of the Institute is available on our website: www.biicl.org


Note for Editors

1. The Institute is an independent research organisation, established in 1958. It hosts a worldwide community of members - legal scholars and practitioners, academics, advisers to government and corporations, non-governmental organisations, and other interested individuals - who seek to promote the rule of law in international affairs. It provides a forum for public debate and information on international law. Through its established research programme, events series, publications, and Visiting Fellowship and Internship programmes it aims to:
  • support the international rule of law in global problem-solving
  • foster a comparative understanding of all national legal systems
  • assist developing countries through legal capacity-building and training
  • encourage and support the best scholarship and talent in the legal field.

The Institute promotes its work globally through its website, papers on special topics, and its widely respected journals, The International and Comparative Law Quarterly, and the Bulletin of International Legal Developments. It publishes a comprehensive list of books on a range of contemporary legal issues, and continues actively to commission new writers. The Institute is located at the heart of central London at Russell Square.

2. For interviews or for general press information about the British Institute of International and Comparative Law, please contact:

Jane Nicholson-Biss
020 7862 5435 or 07904508230