Published on 25 June 2021
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Advancing sustainable natural resources management for development through international law, governance and capacity

New guidelines provide a roadmap for the progressive development of international law on the sustainable management of natural resources for development.

As human societies and the world economy begin to reopen, there is a pressing need to provide more coherent, cooperative, effective law and policy regimes for sustainable natural resource management and use.

Authored by Professor Marie-Claire Cordonier Segger alongside Professor Ilaria Espa, this policy brief puts emphasis on the role of the newly adopted International Law Association (ILA) Guidelines on the Role of International Law in Sustainable Management of Natural Resources for Development (ILA Sustainable Natural Resources Guidelines).

These ILA Sustainable Natural Resources Guidelines highlight the myriad rules and standards which now define, guide and direct State practice, and providing a roadmap for the progressive development of international law on the sustainable management of natural resources for development.  They were launched in the UK and Canada on 17 March 2021 through the Online Leverhulme Lecture & Distinguished Experts Dialogue: Natural Resources, the Sustainable Development Goals and International Law. Watch online (Scroll to the bottom of the external webpage to view recording.)

The policy brief further highlights future law and policy directions, particularly through building capacity through research, education and partnerships. It shines a spotlight on the role that international natural resources management systems will make to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and the 2030 Agenda worldwide.

A range of governance mechanisms, from formalised compliance mechanisms to informal industrial and sectoral oversight procedures, offer essential tools for sustainable natural resources management and the sustainable use of natural resources. Given that natural resources are essential to advance nearly all 17 Sustainable Development Goals, and many of the 169 targets, from poverty elimination, to ending hunger, to access to water and energy, to combatting climate change and promoting peace, justice and security, their implementation and enforcement hold keys to success.

In this context, it is suggested that the ILA Sustainable Natural Resources Guidelines provide a roadmap for the progressive development of international law on the sustainable management of natural resources for development. These can be offered to international community as an invitation and contribution to guide and encourage upcoming efforts to re-open the world economy after the global pandemic in a manner that fosters, rather than frustrates, global commitments and obligations towards sustainable development.

Authors

Marie-Claire Cordonier-Segger

Professor Marie-Claire Cordonier Segger

Chair in Sustainable Development Law and Policy, University of Cambridge

Professor Dr Marie-Claire Cordonier Segger, PhD (ad eund, Cantab), DPhil (Oxon), MEM (Yale), BCL & LLB (McGill), BA Hons (Carl/UVic) FRSC FRSA WIJA is a world-leading scholar and jurist in...

Professor Dr Ilaria Espa

Professor Dr Ilaria Espa is a Senior Assistant Professor at the Law Institute, Università della Svizzera italiana (USI), a Senior Research Fellow for the World Trade Institute (WTI) and Lead...

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