Track Chairs

Rasyikah Md. Khalid, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (The National University of Malaysia)
rasyikah@ukm.edu.my

Stella Emery Santana, Centro Universitário FAESA, Vitória, ES, Brazil
stella.emery@faesa.br

Tineke Lambooy, Nyenrode Business Universiteit, Breukelen, the Netherlands
t.lambooy@nyenrode.nl

Hsing-Hao Wu, National University of Kaohsiung, Taiwan
hsiwu@nuk.edu.tw

Katarzyna Cichos, Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University, Warsaw, Poland
cichoskasia@gmail.com

Goals and Objectives of the Track

This track aims to discuss principles, key concepts, methods and applications of legal aspects of Sustainability. We will map challenges of the current legal framework and discuss desired changes from the perspective of Sustainable Development. Which changes and practices can lead to an institutional change that ensures life within the Planetary Boundaries and in a fair and just way? Interdisciplinary contributions are also welcome.

We define Sustainable Development by referring to the Our Common Future Report of the UN World Commission on Environment and Development (Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development); the Planetary Boundaries as presented by the Stockholm Resilience Centre (Planetary boundaries – Stockholm Resilience Centre); the Paris Climate Convention (Key aspects of the Paris Agreement | UNFCCC); the UN Sustainable Development Goals (THE 17 GOALS | Sustainable Development); all international conventions concerning Human Rights, ILO norms, corruption and the environment (see a compilation hereof promoted by the UN Global Compact Principles: The Ten Principles | UN Global Compact).

Contributions are sought that meet the following specifications:

Law:

• International law, regional law, national law, local law; tribal law; customary law (including public, private and/or criminal/penal law)
• Soft law and self-regulation; binding and/or non-binding instruments; best practices; bad practices
• Studies of law and policy mixes among environmental, social and/or economic instruments; de lege lata and/or de lege ferenda essays
• Legal and policy-making institutions.

Methods:

• Doctrinal legal studies; including comparative law studies and jurisprudence analysis
• Empirical studies, including qualitatively and/or quantitatively data-backed studies, case studies, and deductive and inductive studies
• Thematically horizontal or sectorial papers, among other addressing conceptual developments & assessments, descriptions of methods and their practical application
• Local studies with a potentially wider application; analysis of regional integration; multilevel interplay of law and policies
• Theoretical contributions; philosophical or historical analysis.

Topics:

• Evaluation of the 2030 Agenda implementation in the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); SDGs; Future Generations (of people and other elements of the community of life); the Earth Charter; intergenerational justice on the pathway toward a sustainable transition
• The Planetary Boundaries; Earth’s capacity and carrying capacity, with the background of population questions
• The preservation, protection and regeneration of Nature; investing in Nature; biodiversity; ecosystems; forests; Rights of Nature; Ecocide; Eco jurisprudence; Earth jurisprudence; the role, voice and protection of Indigenous People; role of stakeholders; co-determination and inclusive governance; evaluation of the results achieved in the CBD COP 16 in Cali, Colombia (2024)
• Climate change; corporate climate transition plans; national climate transition plans; climate litigation; climate governance, climate justice, and energy justice; evaluation of the results achieved in the IPPC COP 29 in Baku, Azerbaijan (2024)
• Governing transition to a plastics and chemicals free environment
• Agricultural challenges and health: how to transition to organic agriculture, feed the people in a healthy way and avoid food waste? Health and product norms; advertising norms; fertilizers; pesticides; waste treatment; soil and water
• Circular economy: how to stimulate businesses to redesign their business models; how to regulate circular economy; how to report on it by companies and governments? Degrowth; Eco society
• ESG communication and reporting; corporate footprint in international value chains; scope 1, 2, 3; science-based targets; green washing; advertising; role of stakeholders; co-determination and inclusive governance
• The Right to Peace: which ways are there to avoid and solve conflicts and maintain peace agreements? What is the role of other (not-involved) countries to comply with the Right to Peace?
• Democracy: how to ensure inclusivity and to protect the system at a national level? How to avoid interference through social media and AI-generated content? How to ensure free and fair elections?
• Human Rights: how should and can public and private actors live up to the international norms in a national and international context? Self-determination; equity; equality; access to justice; corruption.

Length and content of the proposed abstract to the track

Each proposed abstract (in connection to an area pointed out above) of between 300 and 500 words (including all aspects),

1. shall be best organized (without headlines) along usual structures (e.g., intro/method/findings or results/ discussion/conclusions)
2. does not need to, but can include references
3. shall provide in a final section
   a. to which SDG(s) and SDG-target(s) their proposed abstract especially relate to (e.g., “SDG+Target: 14.1.”).
   b. a brief indication how the proposed contribution relates to the topic of the Conference ‘Sustainability and Beyond’

Abstracts which do not outline points 3.a.) AND 3.b.) might be considered less relevant in the Review.

Potential publication channels

Journal editors are invited to participate in the sessions and to contact the Chairs of Track 9.d. to discuss developing a special issue.