PP317
Analítico de Periódico
VAN LOON, Hans
Principles and building blocks for a global legal framework for transnational civil litigation in environmental matters / Hans van Loon
Uniform Law Review, Oxford, v.23 n.2 (2018), p.298-318
DIREITO INTERNACIONAL PÚBLICO, RESPONSABILIDADE DA EMPRESA, ACTIVIDADE COMERCIAL, INDÚSTRIA, EMPRESA MULTINACIONAL, DESENVOLVIMENTO SUSTENTÁVEL, RESOLUÇÃO DE CONFLITOS, DIREITO DO AMBIENTE, PROTECÇÃO DO AMBIENTE, ALTERAÇÕES CLIMÁTICAS
Increasing awareness of industrial and commercial activity’s impact on the natural environment and the planets climate is giving rise to a new global normative order that poses challenges to business The United Nations (UN) 2030 Agenda: Transforming Our World, combined with the Ruggie Principles, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development guidelines, the UN Global Compact, and other recent instruments all contribute to reinforcing corporate responsibility for sustainable development. At stake is companies’ responsibility not just for their own operations but also for those of their subsidiaries abroad. While environmental law treaties generally establish (long-term) courses of action for States, they usually do not directly address the conduct of private actors, Yet the role of business is crucial, Against this background, civil litigation in national courts is of critical importance to define and enforce transnational corporate responsibility. Initially, litigating in the United States of America (USA) seemed to be a promising route, but recent Supreme Court of the United States decisions have raised considerably the jurisdictional threshold for such proceedings; the application of forum non conveniens (FNC) poses additional hurdles, By contrast, in Europe, the Brussels 1 (recast) Regulation offers the company’s domicile as a general ground of jurisdiction in tort-based environmental actions, excluding FNC. Although the Regulation leaves it to national law to determine whether a parent company based in the European Union (EU) may be sued as an anchor defendant for claims for environmental damage caused by its subsidiary based outside the EU, recent court decisions in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands suggest that the EU may become a more promising arena for such joint proceedings against parent and subsidiary than the USA. These developments highlight the need, and offer principles and building blocks, for renewed efforts to establish a global framework for civil litigation in the environmental realm, including climate change matters with common rules on jurisdiction, applicable law, enforcement of decisions, and judicial and administrative cooperation. The article concludes by suggesting starting points for such an initiative, which as a complement to op down approaches, should facilitate essential bottom up ways of enforcing environmental and climate protection standards.