Stepan Wood
Professor
Canada Research Chair in Law, Society and Sustainability, Director of the Centre for Law and the Environment
- Office:
Allard Hall, room 352
- Phone: 604 827 0441
- Email: wood@allard.ubc.ca
Profile
Professor Stepan Wood’s research relates to sustainability, globalization, transnational governance, voluntary environmental standards, climate change, environmental law, corporate social responsibility and social justice. He holds the Canada Research Chair in Law, Society and Sustainability at the Allard School of Law, University of British Columbia, where he also directs the Centre for Law & the Environment. His current projects relate to the rights of nature, environmental rights, homelessness, the reception of English law in colonial British Columbia, and the future of the International Organization for Standardization.
From 2011 to 2020 he led the interdisciplinary Transnational Business Governance Interactions (TBGI) project, an international research network examining the drivers, dynamics, and impacts of competition, cooperation, coordination, and conflict among transnational initiatives to regulate global business. His most recent book (co-edited with Kenneth W Abbott and others) is Transnational Business Governance Interactions: Advancing Marginalized Actors and Enhancing Regulatory Quality (Elgar 2019). His earlier book on Canada and globalization co-authored with political economist Stephen Clarkson, A Perilous Imbalance (UBC Press, 2010), was shortlisted for the Donald Smiley award for best book on Canadian politics. Professor Wood is the founding co-chair of the Willms & Shier Moot, Canada’s leading environmental law moot court competition for law students. He is a long-time member of Canada’s national committee on environmental management standards and a Canadian negotiator of ISO 14001 and associated standards at the International Organization for Standardization.
Professor Wood holds an LLB from Osgoode Hall Law School and an SJD from Harvard Law School. He was a law clerk to the late Justice John Sopinka of the Supreme Court of Canada and practised law with White & Case in New York. Before joining the Allard School of Law in 2017, he was Professor and York Research Chair in Environmental Law and Justice at Osgoode Hall Law School, where he was also Editor-in-Chief of the Osgoode Hall Law Journal, Coordinator of the JD/Master in Environmental Studies joint degree program, acting director of the interdisciplinary Institute for Research and Innovation in Sustainability and founding co-director of Osgoode’s Environmental Justice and Sustainability Clinic. He has held visiting appointments around the world, including at the University of Melbourne, Monash University, University of Verona, Bar-Ilan University, the European University Institute, and Northwestern University.
Research and Publications
To learn more about my research, please visit my PURE Research profile. You can also access my publications on the following sites:
- Allard Research Commons / bepress Legal Repository Search
- UBC Library Faculty Publications Database
- SSRN (Social Science Research Network)
- Google Scholar
- ResearchGate
Publications
Stepan Wood “Local Grounding of Transnational Private Governance Authority: Translation, Contestation, Legitimation and Communities of Practice” Full text: (2022) 27:2 New Political Economy 240-256 | |
Stepan Wood et al. “Harnessing TBGIs to Advance Regulatory Quality and Marginalized Actors” in Stepan Wood et al., eds., Transnational Business Governance Interactions: Advancing Marginalized Actors and Enhancing Regulatory Quality Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2019 pp. 363-386 Online Access (with full-text) | |
Stepan Wood “Interactive Strategies for Advancing Marginalized Actors in Transnational Governance Contests: Labour and the Making of ISO 26000” in Stepan Wood et al., eds., Transnational Business Governance Interactions: Advancing Marginalized Actors and Enhancing Regulatory Quality Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2019 pp. 338-361 Online Access (with full-text) Allard Research Commons SSRN Paper | |
Stepan Wood et al. “Transnational Business Governance Interactions, Regulatory Quality and Marginalized Actors: An Introduction” in Stepan Wood et al., eds., Transnational Business Governance Interactions: Advancing Marginalized Actors and Enhancing Regulatory Quality Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2019 pp. 1-26 Online Access (with full-text) | |
Stepan Wood et al., eds. Transnational Business Governance Interactions: Advancing Marginalized Actors and Enhancing Regulatory Quality Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2019 Online Access (with full-text) | |
Stepan Wood “Exploring the Relationship between Administrative Norms and Competence in Transnational Governance: ISO, ISEAL and Sustainability Standards” Full text: (2016) 21:2 Tilburg L Rev 193-229 | |
Stepan Wood, Kenneth W. Abbott, Julia Black, Burkard Eberlein & Errol Meidinger “The Interactive Dynamics of Transnational Business Governance: A Challenge for Transnational Legal Theory” Full text: (2015) 6:2 Transnat'l L Theory 333-369 Allard Research Commons SSRN Paper | |
Burkard Eberlein, Kenneth W. Abbott, Julia Black, Errol Meidinger & Stepan Wood “Transnational Business Governance Interactions: Conceptualization and Framework for Analysis” Full text: (2014) 8 Reg & Governance 1-21 Allard Research Commons SSRN Paper | |
Stepan Wood “The Case for Leverage-Based Corporate Human Rights Responsibility” Full text: (2013) 27 Bus Ethics Q 30-42 Allard Research Commons SSRN Paper | |
Andrea L. Smith, Nina Hewitt, Nicole Klenk, Dawn R. Bazely, Norman Yan, Stepan Wood, Irene Henriques, James I. MacLellan, and Carla Lipsig-Mummé “Effects of Climate Change on the Distribution of Invasive Alien Species in Canada: A Knowledge Synthesis of Range Change Projections in a Warming World” Full text: (2012) 20:1 Envtl Rev 1-16 | |
Stepan Wood “The International Organization for Standardization” in Peter Utting, Darryl Reed & Ananya Mukherjee Reed, eds., Business Regulation and Non-State Actors: Whose Standards? Whose Development? London: Routledge, 2012 pp. 81-94 UBC Library Location | |
Stepan Wood & Kevin Thompson “Transnational Voluntary Climate Change Initiatives for Local Governments: Key Variables, Drivers and Likely Effects” in Benjamin J. Richardson Local Climate Change Law: Environmental Regulation in Cities and Other Localities Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2012 pp. 29-66 UBC Library Location | |
Stepan Wood “The Meaning of 'Sphere of Influence' in ISO 26000” in Adrian Henriques, ed., Understanding ISO 26000: A Practical Approach to Social Responsibility London: British Standards Institution, 2011 pp. 115-130 Online Access (with full-text) Allard Research Commons SSRN Paper | |
Stepan Wood, Georgia Tanner & Benjamin J. Richardson “What Ever Happened to Canadian Environmental Law?” Full text: (2011) 37:4 Ecology L. Q. 981-1040 UBC Library Location Allard Research Commons SSRN Paper | |
Stephen Clarkson & Stepan Wood A Perilous Imbalance: The Globalization of Canadian Law and Governance Vancouver: UBC Press, 2010 UBC Library Location | |
Benjamin J. Richardson, Yves Le Bouthillier, Heather McLeod-Kilmurray & Stepan Wood, eds. Climate Law and Developing Countries: Legal and Policy Challenges for the World Economy Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2009 UBC Library Location | |
Benjamin J. Richardson, Yves Le Bouthillier, Heather McLeod-Kilmurray & Stepan Wood “Introduction: Climate Law and Developing Countries” in Benjamin J. Richardson, Yves Le Bouthillier, Heather McLeod-Kilmurray & Stepan Wood, eds. Climate Law and Developing Countries: Legal and Policy Challenges for the World Economy Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2009 pp. 1-34 UBC Library Location | |
Stepan Wood “Common Law Liability Relief” in Michael B. Gerrard, ed. Brownfields Law and Practice: The Cleanup and Redevelopment of Contaminated Land Newark: Matthew Bender, 2008 | |
Stepan Wood & Lynn Johannson “Six Principles for Integrating Non-Governmental Environmental Standards into Smart Regulation” Full text: (2008) 46:2 Osgoode Hall L.J. 345-395 UBC Library Location Allard Research Commons SSRN Paper | |
Stephen Clarkson & Stepan Wood “Canada's External Constitution and its Democratic Deficit” in Oonagh E. Fitzgerald et al., eds., The Globalized Rule of Law: Relationships Between International and Domestic Law Toronto: Irwin Law, 2006 pp. 97-124 UBC Library Location Online Access (with full-text) | |
Benjamin J. Richardson & Stepan Wood, eds. Environmental Law for Sustainability Oxford: Hart Publishing, 2006 UBC Library Location | |
Benjamin J. Richardson & Stepan Wood “Environmental Law for Sustainability” in Benjamin J. Richardson & Stepan Wood, eds. Environmental Law for Sustainability Oxford: Hart Publishing, 2006 pp. 1-18 UBC Library Location | |
Jaye Ellis & Stepan Wood “International Environmental Law” in Benjamin J. Richardson & Stepan Wood, eds. Environmental Law for Sustainability Oxford: Hart Publishing, 2006 pp. 343-380 UBC Library Location | |
Stepan Wood “Voluntary Environmental Codes and Sustainability” in Benjamin J. Richardson & Stepan Wood, eds. Environmental Law for Sustainability Oxford: Hart Publishing, 2006 pp. 229-276 UBC Library Location | |
Stepan Wood “Canada's 'Forgotten Forests': Or, How Ottawa is Failing Local Communities and the World in Peri-Urban Forest Protection” (2004) 14 J Envtl L & Prac 217-251 Allard Research Commons SSRN Paper | |
Stepan Wood “Commentary: Toward a Counterdisciplinary Agenda for Research in International Law and International Relations” in Canadian Council on International Law The Measure of International Law: Effectiveness, Fairness and Validity: Proceedings of the 31st Annual Conference of the Canadian Council on International Law, Ottawa, October 24-26, 2002 The Hague: Kluwer Law International, 2004 pp. 260-273 UBC Library Location Online Access (with full-text) | |
Stepan Wood “The Role of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in Governing Environmental Conflict and Corporate Social Responsibility in Developing Countries: Questions for Research” in Beatriz Londoñ o Toro, ed. Propriedad, Conflicto y Medio Ambiente Bogotá: Universidad del Rosario, 2004 pp. 15-56 Online Access (with full-text) | |
Stepan Wood “Green Revolution or Greenwash? Voluntary Environmental Standards, Public Law, and Private Authority in Canada” in Law Commission of Canada, New Perspectives on the Public-Private Divide Vancouver: UBC Press, 2003 pp. 123-165 UBC Library Location Online Access (with full-text) | |
Stepan Wood “UNESCO Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems” in UNESCO Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems Oxford: EOLSS Publishers, 2003 Article No. 1.45.4.10 | |
Stepan Wood “Environmental Management Systems and Public Authority in Canada: Rethinking Environmental Governance” Full text: (2002) 10:1 Buff. Envtl. L.J. 129-210 Allard Research Commons SSRN Paper | |
Stepan Wood “The High Price of Habitat Protection” Full text: (2001) 27:3 Alt J 9-11 | |
Anne-Marie Slaughter, Andrew S. Tulumello & Stepan Wood “International Law and International Relations Theory: A New Generation of Interdisciplinary Scholarship ” Full text: (1998) 92:3 Am. J. Int'l L. 367-397 UBC Library Location Allard Research Commons SSRN Paper | |
Stepan Wood “Renegades and Vigilantes in Multilateral Environmental Regimes: Lessons of the 1995 'Turbot War'” in Lawrence Susskind et al, eds., Innovations in International Environmental Negotiation Cambridge: Harvard Program on Negotiation, 1997 pp. 184-200 |
Organization Affiliations
- Centre for Law and the Environment
Research Interests
- Environmental law, natural resources, and climate change
- Transnational law