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Environmental and Natural Resource Law Specialization: Special note for the 2021-22 Academic Year

Due to some overlapping faculty member leaves, none of the courses listed as meeting the Specialization in Environmental and Natural Resource Law's international law requirement are offered in the 2021-22 academic year. To accommodate this unusual situation, certain courses in the upcoming academic year will be considered to fulfill the international law requirement:

Recap: Canadian Association for Food Law and Policy 5th Annual Conference

On May 13 to 15, the Centre for Law and the Environment hosted one of Canada's most thought-provoking forums on food systems. For the first time, the Canadian Association for Food Law and Policy's conference was based out of the West Coast, offering a unique opportunity to explore British Columbia as a case study in territorial food system governance, in addition to addressing a variety of pressing issues in food law and policy. 

Webinar: How to File a Submission with the Commission for Environmental Cooperation

This webinar will provide participants with an opportunity to learn the steps involved in filing a submission with the Commission for Environmental Cooperation, to understand changes to the process and to learn more about who can file a submission. The public will benefit from the opportunity to ask questions related to the process.

Canada's Toxic Legacy: Pan American Silver and Mining Billionaire Ross Beaty in Latin America

Join us for a virtual forum to hear from frontline communities and organizations in Latin America who have lived or observed the arrogant disregard of peoples’ rights, the lasting environmental disasters, and the forced displacement to make way for mining projects backed by Ross Beaty, Vancouver-based Pan American Silver’s founder and outgoing chairman.

Keynote with Terri-Lynn Williams-Davidson: "Supernatural Oceans: A Worldview for Enlightened Oceans Governance and Territorial Food Systems"

Canadian Association for Food Law and Policy 5th Annual Conference: "Governing Territorial Food Systems: Legal Obstacles and Opportunities"

This conference will examine the legal obstacles and opportunities of building and governing territorial food systems as a means of addressing these concerns, and shaping food system futures to ensure they are not only more sustainable and climate-friendly, but more just, healthful, democratic, vibrant and tailored to the landscapes people inhabit. We will ask: How can law and policy be used to build territorial food systems that balance competing interests (while questioning to the extent to which these interests are or need to be in competition with each other)?

Warrior Lawyer Profile: Farhana Yamin

When thinking about international efforts to combat climate change, agreements like the 2015 Paris Agreement often comes to mind. With the primary goal of mitigating and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the agreement was seen as an important step towards addressing the climate crisis. As trust in these traditional methods has declined, however, direct action has moved to the forefront of the movement. A key contributor to both these types of environmental action is Farhana Yamin – a British international environmental lawyer and social justice advocate.

Warrior Lawyer Profile: Terri-Lynn Williams-Davidson

The Cedar stands strong behind her as the guitar and sax drift gently around her. Terri-Lynn Williams-Davidson sings soothingly to those cedars as a sign of respect and gratitude. The song is Cedar Sister, sung in Haida words about what the cedar gives us. She describes the shelter it provides, the lessons it gives, and how it lives in harmony with all beings like the bear and salmon. Beyond being beautiful and artistic, the song has significance in the Canadian legal landscape and specifically for the Haida people and their awakening indigenous law.

Warrior Lawyer Profile: Steven Donziger

For many of us, sheltering-in-place due to the COVID-19 pandemic has felt isolating, restrictive, and frustrating. And while navigating a pandemic is no small feat, as a resident of B.C., I have at least been able to leave my house—to pick up the mail, grocery shop, or take a walk. These simple freedoms are currently denied to Steven Donziger, who has been under house arrest for almost 2 years. Donziger is one of the attorneys for various Ecuadorean Indigenous and farming communities in their epic battle against Chevron.

Warrior Lawyer Profile: Kaitlyn Mitchell

Many animals spend their entire lives in windowless and dark rooms, subject to horrific abuse and perpetual fear from birth until slaughter. Farmed animals are virtually unprotected in Canadian law, and one of the only ways to help these animals is to document and expose animal abuse on farms. Unfortunately, Ontario and Alberta have recently enacted so-called “ag-gag” laws to deter and criminalize this practice and Manitoba is considering a similar bill. Kaitlyn Mitchell is an animal rights lawyer with Canada’s only animal law advocacy organization. Ag-gag laws are a main focus of her work.

Warrior Lawyer Profile: Moana Jackson

Māori are intimately connected to the geographical features of their birthplace.  The rivers, mountains, forests and oceans are a person’s ancestors. They are part of one’s whakapapa (genealogy) and so Māori have a responsibility to that place. Moana Jackson is of Ngati Kahungungu and Ngati Porou descent. Hikurangi is his mountain and Waiapu his river. Locating oneself before any karakea (talk) is vital, as it is a sign of respect to one’s ancestors, both human and non-human.

Warrior Lawyer Profile: Antonio Oposa Jr.

Award winner, lawyer, activist, teacher and author. These are all words others have used to describe Philippine attorney Antonio (Tony) Oposa Jr. “Certified beach bum” is how he prefers to describe himself. Oposa is one of Asia’s most influential and unconventional, yet humble, environmental “warrior lawyers.” His passion, dedication and creative use of law underlie several momentous cases in the Philippines.