The Private Side Of Transforming Our World

"Our world is in a deep dual crisis – deeper yet than the crisis emerging from the Covid-19 pandemic. The socio-economic part of that crisis has been known for a long time: poverty, combined with ills such as inequality or the maltreatment of women and children. Unfortunately, these socio-economic problems are accompanied by a threefold planetary crisis of climate change, loss of biodiversity, and pollution.The ensuing conundrum for the world is considerable. On the one hand, we want to spur development to reduce poverty and inequality. On the other hand, we know that economic development, with its usage of carbon fuels and land resources, has devastating effects on the planet. We must then achieve development in the Global South that is sustainable. And we must, in addition, change practices in the Global North, which creates the majority of the negative impacts.This is the dual crisis addressed by the 17 Sustainable Development Goals 2030 (SDGs) formulated by the United Nations in 2015. Law plays a crucial role in their realisation. However, while their relation to public international law has been studied, private law has received less attention, and private international law (sometimes called conflict of laws) none at all.This is a significant lacuna, because most development occurs not only through public action, but also through private action. Investment, construction and distribution are matters for private contracts. The exploitation of the environment is based on private property rights. Both the empowerment of and the discrimination against women may come about through family arrangements like marriages.Such private action is governed predominantly by private law – contracts, property, company law, bankruptcy law, etc. Moreover, the transnational aspect of these actions is governed by private international law – the law applicable to contracts and other issues, the availability of courts and the enforceability of judgments from one state in another. Without analysing their role, we cannot understand what it takes to achieve the SDGs.This book demonstrates an important, constructive role for private international law as an indispensable part of the global legal architecture needed to turn the SDGs into reality. Renowned and upcoming scholars from around the world analyse, for each of the 17 SDGs, what role private international law actually plays towards advancing these goals and how private international law could, or should, be reformed to advance them. Together, the chapters in the book bring to the fore the hitherto lacking private side of transforming our world."--

In 2015, the United Nations formulated 17 ambitious goals towards transforming our world - the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 2030). Their relation to public international law has been studied, but private law has received less attention in this context and private international law none at all. Yet development happens - not only through public action but also through private action, and such action is governed predominantly by private law and private international law. This book demonstrates an important, constructive role for private international law as an indispensable part of the global legal architecture needed to turn the SDGs into reality. Renowned and upcoming scholars from around the world analyse, for each of the 17 SDGs, what role private international law actually plays towards these goals and how private international law could, or should, be reformed to advance them. Together, the chapters in the book bring to the fore the hitherto lacking private side of transforming our world.

The Routledge Handbook of Private Law and Sustainability reflects on how the law can help tackle the current environmental challenges and make our societies more resilient to future crises. Sustainability has been high on the political agenda since the approval of the Sustainable Development Goals in 2015 and the EU Green Deal in 2019. The Green Agenda aims at making Europe the first climate‐neutral continent by 2050, but humanity persists in an ecological overshoot that puts at risk the survival of species, including that of our own. Drawing together a selection of leading thinkers in the field, this Handbook provides a curated overview of the most recent and relevant discussions for private lawyers related to environmental and sustainability concerns. The authors delve into case study examples from 20 countries in Europe and beyond and discuss a wide range of issues, including new property law and consumer law paradigms, the use of legal tech for promoting sustainable property management, strategies for fighting planned obsolescence, eco‐design, the servitisation economy, advances on corporate climate litigation and mandated green private sludges. Overall, the volume is designed to empower new generations of legal scholars to take an active role in the transition to a more sustainable future. It will also assist policymakers in producing better policy, through pinpointing the main legal issues that need to be addressed and offering a comparative overview of legal solutions and best practices. Divided into six key parts and overseen by a team of internationally recognised expert editors, this Handbook will be an essential resource for students, scholars, private lawyers and policymakers who wish to have a comprehensive, fundamental overview of how environmental sustainability concerns reflect on private law.

The report highlights the crucial role of engineering in achieving each of the 17 SDGs. It shows how equal opportunities for all is key to ensuring an inclusive and gender balanced profession that can better respond to the shortage of engineers for implementing the SDGs. It provides a snapshot of the engineering innovations that are shaping our world, especially emerging technologies such as big data and AI, which are crucial for addressing the pressing challenges facing humankind and the planet. It analyses the transformation of engineering education and capacity-building at the dawn of the Fourth Industrial Revolution that will enable engineers to tackle the challenges ahead. It highlights the global effort needed to address the specific regional disparities, while summarizing the trends of engineering across the different regions of the world.

International law is usually conservative, with lawyers and judges emphasizing consistency, stability and predictability as the major advantages of the law. Legal scholars often prefer not to challenge the status quo, to suggest amendments, or to reform institutions, advocating simply to focus on the implementation of the laws that already exist. This collection stands different. It shares the authors’ discomfort with the present legal order and some of its institutions and courts, and dives into either a corrective or a profound reimagination of these, so that they can better address rising global challenges. Leading experts in their areas present their new and cutting-edge perspectives. Divided into six parts, the volume paints a vast yet solid thematic landscape of unique and critical approaches. The book invites and allows for a deep engagement with a wide range of opinions from across the world. It enables a free and courageous reimagining of the international legal order, detached from the endless feasibility skepticism. The work will be fascinating reading for students, academics and researchers working in the areas of International Law and International Relations.

From the fall of the Soviet Union to the Gulf War, the presidency of George H. W. Bush dealt with foreign policy challenges that would cement the post-Cold War order for a generation. This book brings together a distinguished collection of foreign policy practitioners – career and political – who participated in the unfolding of international events as part the Bush administration to provide insider perspective by the people charged with carrying them out. They shed new light on and analyze President Bush’s role in world events during this historic period, his style of diplomacy, the organization and functioning of his foreign policy team, the consequences of his decisions, and his leadership skills. At a time when the old American-led post-World War II order is eroding or even collapsing, this book reminds readers of the difference American leadership in the world can make and how a president can manage a highly successful foreign policy.

World-renowned economist Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, explains that we have an opportunity to shape the fourth industrial revolu­tion, which will fundamentally alter how we live and work. Schwab argues that this revolution is different in scale, scope and complexity from any that have come before. Characterized by a range of new technologies that are fusing the physical, digital and biological worlds, the developments are affecting all disciplines, economies, industries and governments, and even challenging ideas about what it means to be human. Artificial intelligence is already all around us, from supercomputers, drones and virtual assistants to 3D printing, DNA sequencing, smart thermostats, wear­able sensors and microchips smaller than a grain of sand. But this is just the beginning: nanomaterials 200 times stronger than steel and a million times thinner than a strand of hair and the first transplant of a 3D printed liver are already in development. Imagine “smart factories” in which global systems of manu­facturing are coordinated virtually, or implantable mobile phones made of biosynthetic materials. The fourth industrial revolution, says Schwab, is more significant, and its ramifications more profound, than in any prior period of human history. He outlines the key technologies driving this revolution and discusses the major impacts expected on government, business, civil society and individu­als. Schwab also offers bold ideas on how to harness these changes and shape a better future—one in which technology empowers people rather than replaces them; progress serves society rather than disrupts it; and in which innovators respect moral and ethical boundaries rather than cross them. We all have the opportunity to contribute to developing new frame­works that advance progress.