Stephen Turner

Institution: University of Essex

Period of stay: 22 April - 20 June 2024

Contact: s.j.turner@essex.ac.uk

https://www.essex.ac.uk/people/TURNE99402/Stephen-Turner

Profile:

Stephen Turner is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Essex. He is the Programme Director for the ‘Sustainable Transitions – Leverhulme Doctoral Training Programme’ which conducts interdisciplinary research relating to environmental protection and sustainability.

He co-edited Environmental Rights – The Development of Standards (Cambridge University Press, 2019) and led the ‘Standards in Environmental Rights Project’ associated with it between 2016-19. He has also written two monographs that focus on environmental rights and global environmental governance (‘A Substantive Environmental Right - Kluwer, 2009’ and ‘A Global Environmental Right - Routledge, 2014’).

He has spoken widely on the subject of rights based environmental governance at numerous institutions including the United Nations Environment Programme (Nairobi), the World Bank (Washington D.C.). He has also been consulted by the World Health Organisation and has played an active role in the consultation processes associated with the mandates of successive UN Special Rapporteurs on Human Rights and the Environment.

He became a full-time academic in 2010. Prior to that he worked as a legal advisor in London and he has also held executive roles in business and industry.

He is currently conducting research relating to global environmental governance.

Research Area:

The Principles of International Environmental Law and Global Environmental Governance

Research Title:

Should the principles of international environmental law be amended to provide consistency with models of global multilevel governance that would have the effect of pre-disposing business and industry to net zero for climate and similar goals for pollution and biodiversity loss?

Research Outline:

Stephen’s current research considers the extent to which existing principles of international environmental law (IEL) would need to be adapted or revised if the international community is to achieve its ‘net zero’ goals.

It has been argued that international environmental law is inadequate as it does not directly address the actions of non-state actors such as corporations. In recent decades protection of the environment at national and international levels has included forms of multilevel governance involving a range of actors that has augmented traditional IEL. However, in spite of this we have not witnessed the type of sea-change in the effectiveness of environmental law and governance that would lead to the scale and pace of change that the majority of the scientific community say is required.

Over the past twelve years research employing ‘macro legal analysis’ concerning the development of global environmental governance, has resulted in a draft Model Legal Framework designed to legally predispose the activities of business, industry and States to net zero outcomes for climate, and similar standards for pollution and biodiversity loss. The draft, does not wholly rely on ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ IEL but on a framework of international and national laws that would determine how business operates at domestic and international levels. In other words, it draws on corporate law, trade law, investment law, insurance law and the law of banking and finance.

Therefore, this current research analyses the potential implications for existing principles of IEL, that are posed by this new type of model of global environmental governance.

Publications:

See: https://www.essex.ac.uk/people/TURNE99402/Stephen-Turner

Information contained in these profiles is provided by visitors at the time of their stay. The accuracy of the content and links is not guaranteed.