The University of Calgary Faculty of Law (Alberta) and the Pacific McGeorge School of Law (Sacramento, California), together with their partners from the Tsinghua University (Beijing, China), present Critical Intersections for Energy & Water Law:
New Challenges and Opportunities May 15-16, 2009, in Calgary, Alberta. Papers and other proceedings will be published after the conference by the Journal of Energy and Natural Resources Law (edited at the University of Calgary) and the Pacific McGeorge Global Business & Development Law Journal.
Conference Announcement & Call for Papers
Critical Intersections for Energy & Water Law:
New Challenges and Opportunities
To a water expert, looking ahead is like the view from a locomotive, 10 seconds before the train wreck.
Dr. David Schidler, Killam Memorial Professor of Ecology, University of Alberta
The production, transmission and consumption of both energy and water are governed by often extremely complicated legal systems. As worldwide demand for both energy and water rises in the face of ever-increasing environmental constraints, a reexamination of the role that law plays in promoting the sustainable development and use of these resources is critical.
For this reason, the University of Calgary Faculty of Law (Alberta) and the Pacific McGeorge School of Law (Sacramento, California), together with their partners from the Tsinghua University (Beijing, China), invite legal academics, practitioners, business leaders, and regulatory officials to a multi-national conference exploring vital new intersections of energy and water law. The global impact and influence of a conference of this nature is significant. Scheduled for May 15 and 16, 2009 in Calgary, Alberta, the hub of Canadas energy sector, the conference will explore the domestic and transnational intersections of energy and water law regimes. Conference presenters will address such broad questions as:
Within any one given nation, how well do the often separate legal regimes play together? Between nations, how do differences in legal regimes impact investment, development and consumption decisions?
What challenges do the laws governing one of these resources pose for the sustainable development and use of the other, either domestically or transnationally?
Will a change in the laws governing one of these resources pose unintended consequences to the sustainable development and use of the other, either domestically or transnationally?
What opportunities exist for greater coherency or integration between legal systems, either domestically or transnationally?
Potential Topic Areas
Conference presentations may address any aspect of the domestic or transnational intersection of legal systems related to energy and water. Potential topic areas may include:
Resource exploration and production and water (e.g., Hydropower, Petroleum [including Oil Shales, Coal Bed Methane, and Oil Sands], Coal, Nuclear Power, Solar Energy, Wind Energy, Tidal Energy)
Resource shipment or transmission and water (e.g., pipelines; power transmission lines; aqueducts; tanker or other bulk shipments)
Resource process use and water (e.g., regulation of industrial or agricultural input mixes, use efficiencies, emissions or effluent)
Resource end-use consumption and water (e.g., regulation of consumer level-demand and uses)
Energy industry requirements and competing water uses (e.g. municipal, environmental flows, agricultural, Aboriginal)
Incorporating innovative energy and water management approaches into legal frameworks
Presenters are encouraged to explore cross-sectoral intersections of legal regimes governing energy and water. Presenters might explore such topics as domestic or transnational impacts on global climate change, human rights, and international project financing.
Papers and other proceedings will be published after the conference by the University of Calgarys Journal of Energy and Natural Resources Law and the Pacific McGeorge Global Business & Development Law Journal.
To submit a proposal for a presentation, or for more information, contact either:
Professor Alastair R. Lucas
Faculty of Law, University of Calgary
MFH 4361, 2500 University Drive N.W.
Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2N 1N4
(403) 220-7111
alucas [at] ucalgary.ca
or
Professor Gregory Weber
Director, Institute for Sustainable Development
Center for Global Business & Development
Pacific McGeorge School of Law
3200 Fifth Avenue, Sacramento, CA USA 95817
(916) 739-7228
gweber [at] pacific.edu
