Volume 4: Issue | Numéro 1 (2008)
Climate Change Migration, Refugee Protection, and Adaptive Capacity-Building
Robert McLeman
This article describes the potential for large-scale population displacements and migration as a result of climate change. Migration is one of many ways by which households exposed to climatic stresses may adapt. Given current trends in climate change, increased rural-to-urban migration in developing regions and increased levels of international migration along pre-existing social networks may be expected. Two international policy instruments that may be relevant for managing climate change-related migration are the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). People displaced by climate change would not qualify for protection as Convention refugees under the former convention, and there is little evidence this situation will change in the near future. The international community is, however, committed under the UNFCCC to assisting vulnerable developing nations build capacity to adapt to the impacts of climate change. This commitment provides an opportunity for developed nations to prevent future climate-related migrations by expanding the range of adaptation alternatives.
Bio-fuels in Canada: Normative Framework, Existing Regulations, and Politics of Intervention
Ngo Anh-Thu, Paule Halley & Peter Calkins
In 1994, Canada became a signatory of the Kyoto Protocol. This international agreement commits each country to reducing its emissions of greenhouse gases in order to control global warming. At the national level, Canada is developing a policy of sustainable development based primarily on promoting the production and consumption of bio-fuels as a means to reducing greenhouse gases and meeting Canada’s Kyoto targets. Canada has begun arming itself with laws at the national level and in some provinces. The purpose of this paper is to identify an appropriate legal framework that could promote the production and consumption of bio-fuels in Canada. It seeks out an efficient GHG reduction strategy from among three approaches: mandatory (laws and regulations); economic incentives (taxes and subsidies); and voluntary (on the parts of both fuel refiners and consumers). The results of the study suggest that the legislative decision-making process is strongly influenced both by concern for the effective use of natural resources and by the priorities of economic development at the local and provincial levels. Government regulations at the provincial level tend therefore to reflect the socioeconomic characteristics of each province.
Gisèle Belem, Emmanuelle Champion & Corinne Gendron
Depuis quelques années, les investissements des compagnies transnationales minières dans les pays en développement font l’objet d’intenses débats alors que leurs incidences sur la situation économique, sociale et environnementale des pays hôtes sont décriées par la société civile aussi bien dans les pays industrialisés que dans les pays en développement. Interpellés, plusieurs types d’acteurs dont l’industrie minière et les organisations internationales proposent, depuis plusieurs années, une large gamme de recommandations et de procédures, généralement d’adoption volontaire, dans le but d’encadrer l’activité de cette industrie. En effet, avec la mondialisation et la délocalisation des entreprises, les réglementations nationales à l’endroit des entreprises sont devenues désuètes, faisant ainsi place à une régulation moins contraignante particulièrement appréciée par le secteur privé qui fait ainsi la promotion d’une responsabilité sociale corporative réduite à des initiatives unilatérales. Cependant, devant les évidentes insuffisances de cette approche, de nouveaux instruments voient le jour. Ceux-ci proposent une articulation des régulations publiques et privées, nationales et internationales intégrant une multitude d'acteurs. Les accords-cadres internationaux qui font partie de ce type d’outils, représentent, à l’opinion des auteurs, un moyen d'articuler les initiatives de responsabilité sociale corporative et les normes supranationales sous un accord contraignant auquel adhèrent les entreprises.
Book Review: “War and Peace and Development”
Rohinton P. Medhora
Reviewed: Oli Brown et al., eds., Trade, Aid and Security: An Agenda for Peace and Development (London: Earthscan, 2007)
