Atlantic Council

On January 7, 2009, the Atlantic Council, in cooperation with LexisNexis, organized an afternoon symposium on the topic of Law and the Environment: Designing a Transatlantic Agenda.  The event was held in New York City and consisted of two sessions of lively discussion, beginning with opening remarks by Andrew Prozes, CEO of LexisNexis and Fran Burwell, VP of the Atlantic Council.  The two sessions of the symposium were moderated by Richard B. Stewart, Professor of Law at New York University Law School and a leading scholar in environmental and administrative law.  Attendees at the symposium included a small group of leading environmental lawyers, academics, government representatives and other experts, including the Chief of Staff to former New York Governor George Pataki, a long-standing member of the New York State Environmental Board, and representatives from the European Commission as well as other European governments. The symposium aimed to begin a discussion intended to identify “best-practices” and areas of cooperation for the U.S. and EU in this area.  The group especially focused on identifying initiatives the Obama Administration and Europe might do in cooperation.

In the first session of the symposium, participants explored U.S. and European approaches to domestic environmental regulation, including current and possible future action by governments in this area and similarities and differences between the two approaches.  Session I featured two expert panelists, one American, one European.  Michael Gerrard, Professor and Director of the Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia Law School expounded upon the differences caused by the relatively stronger role of judicial review in the United States and conversely, the equally strong role of that constitutions play in the EU for regulating environmental matters.  Ursula Schliessner drew upon her extensive experience with EU regulatory matters, from her work in the Brussels office of McKenna, Long & Aldridge LLP, to help explain the process of environmental regulation at both the EU and member state level and the European concentration on product regulation and its subsequent effects internationally.

Session II featured opening remarks by C. Boyden Gray, special envoy for Eurasia Energy at the U.S. Department of State and former U.S. Ambassador to the European Union.  Ambassador Gray was instrumental in writing the 1990 Amendments of the Clean Air Act and has extensive experience in international environmental law issues.  In his remarks, Ambassador Gray outlined some of the disconnects between the U.S. and EU on environmental regulation and some of the structural differences that inform our respective work on issues such as REACH and the Clean Air Act.

The second session focused on U.S. and European approaches to international environmental law and the panelists discussed how the United States and EU might cooperate – and perhaps assume a leadership role - on international environmental legal issues such as trade/WTO policy; treaties (including Law of the Sea and the Kyoto Protocol); as well as future international agreements such as a successor to Kyoto.  Session II featured three experts with extensive experience in environmental regulatory matters.  Catherine Redgwell, Professor of International Law at University College London, spoke on the EU’s developing role and vision as the international lead actor on climate change initiatives.  Paolo Galizzi, clinical associate Professor of Law at Fordham Law School, argued that global governance of international environmental matters was inadequate to the current challenges and urged the U.S. and EU to cooperate in developing a dialogue on how that governance could be improved.  Edith Brown Weiss, Professor of International Law at Georgetown University Law School outlined the opportunity that the U.S. currently has to take a leadership role in the environmental arena by joining agreements and working with others as the Obama administration reassesses U.S. participation in international environmental law.

The highlight of the symposium was a dinner with Carter Roberts, President of the World Wildlife Fund, hosted by LexisNexis CEO Andrew Prozes.  Roberts’s keynote address focused on likely priorities of the Obama administration in the area of environmental law including a discussion of some of the changes that a new approach might bring.  The dinner discussions served as an ideal continuation of the afternoon’s symposium and incorporated some predictions of the priority that may be given to environmental issues, particularly given the urgency of the financial and economic crisis.

Podcasts and Further Information on LexisNexis Environmental Law Initiatives

Panelist Biographies

Symposium Participants

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