The doctoral dissertation in the field of Environmental Law will be examined at the Faculty of Social Sciences and Business Studies at Joensuu Campus.
What is the topic of your doctoral research? Why is it important to study the topic?
My research examines the role of international law to promote values of environmental democracy within multilateral decision-making on climate change. More specifically, it concentrates on public participation and representation within the processes of the UN Framework Convention of Climate Change (UNFCCC).
This question is increasingly important as the impacts of climate change intensify, climate policy remains such a politically charged issue, and the legitimacy of the international regime is called into question. Although annual climate conferences have grown into huge events with large civil society attendance, serious questions persist regarding who can meaningfully exert influence. At national and regional levels, law plays a critical role in establishing protections for ensuring participation in environmental decision-making. But law’s role at the international level is far less understood, which is the knowledge gap that my research aims to examine.
What are the key findings or observations of your doctoral research?
Overall, the dissertation identifies that evolutions in international law increasingly support meaningful and equitable civil society participation in international climate governance. What was once primarily framed as a means of incorporating expertise into decision-making processes has increasingly been recognised as a matter of human rights and democracy. But rather than prescribing any fixed model of engagement, the primary significance of international law in this domain is to set normative expectations and establish principles that guide participatory design on an ongoing basis according to those values. However, the research also finds the law’s value is constrained by ambiguities, political conditions and weak accountability mechanisms. While the UNFCCC has, as an institution, become more responsive to claims from highly affected constituencies, e.g. indigenous groups, women and youth, based on rights-based arguments, this appears to be driven more by legitimacy pressures than by direct legal obligations. The development of procedural environmental rights regimes, such as the Aarhus Convention, provides a potentially valuable legal tool for further promotion of environmental democracy at international level. But to date, efforts of individual countries to promote international-level public participation have been deeply inconsistent, non-strategic and concentrate on engaging national actors.
How can the results of your doctoral research be utilised in practice?
The findings can support civil society organisations and groups most affected by climate change to use the law to claim more meaningful, equitable and representative participation opportunities in international climate and environmental governance. The insights generated are also relevant to contemporary discussions about reforming UN climate conferences, including how different actors and interests engage. The findings also point towards practical recommendations as to how the Aarhus regime in particular could be used more effectively to hold states accountable for their legal commitments to promote public participation in international environmental decision-making. This includes updating guidance materials, expanding collaborative activities, investing resources, and more systematically engaging with reporting materials.
What are the key research methods and materials used in your doctoral research?
The project adopts a mixed methodological approach across three research articles, using doctrinal and empirical methods informed by insights from international relations, social sciences and observation at UN climate conferences. I analyse climate treaties and international agreements relating to the environment and human rights, asking not only what these sources of law say but digging critically into their underlying rationales, assumptions and inconsistencies. I assess institutional rules and developments governing engagement opportunities for observer organisations within the UN climate regime, mapping how practice compares to core tenets of democratic theory. I also conduct a systematic analysis of reports submitted by the parties to the Aarhus Convention, examining how they claim to understand and implement their legal obligation to promote public participation and representation in international environmental forums.
The doctoral dissertation of Nicola Sharman, L.L.M., entitled Promoting environmental democracy in multilateral forums through international law. Civil society participation and representation in the UNFCCC will be examined at the Faculty of Social Sciences and Business Studies. The opponent will be Professor Áine Ryall, University College Cork, and the custos will be Professor Harro van Asselt, University of Eastern Finland. Language of the public defence is English.
For further information, please contact:
Nicola Sharman, nicola.sharman(at)uef.fi
