https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/18589 Sat, 25 Apr 2026 06:20:07 GMT 2026-04-25T06:20:07Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/100983 Title: Are nature conservation laws adapted to climate change? : towards integrated spatial planning and land use instruments to implement biodiversity conservation objectives Abstract: Despite the fact that many policy measures and legislation were taken in order to implement conservation objectives and real protected areas networks such as the European Natura 2000 network, they do not succeed to reverse the current biodiversity decline. Some scholars suggest that conservation laws are insufficiently implemented or protected areas and legislation are badly-suited to face climate change. Can we therefore consider that conservation legislation is no more adapted to today's global threat? Indeed, they were drafted when climate change was not placed on the top of international agendas and they were more flag-species and specific habitats-focussed without facilitating species movement, the condition sine qua non for adaptation. In order to meet conservation targets, climate change adaptation needs a particular policy attention to help species adapt in this conservation threat context. As part of numerous biodiversity adaptation measures, connectivity conservation is known as a potential and verified scientific solution to enhance the ability of species to adapt to the impacts of climate change by building natural resilience and therefore, to reverse the increasing biodiversity decline. This concept aims at halting the changes being made in natural connectivity and ruptures of conservation plans by preserving or restoring linkages between and outside protected areas, protecting habitats, maintain critical ecological processes and facilitating natural migration through natural landscapes. This paper discusses the potential and shortcomings of these nature conservation laws to addressing terrestrial connectivity conservation in the context of Climate Change. Description: LL.M.ENERGY ENV.CLIMATE Fri, 01 Jan 2016 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/100983 2016-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/18848 Title: Your money and your planet : trade and solar goods post-Paris Agreement Abstract: WTO Dispute 456, brought by the United States against India for use of domestic content requirements in a percentage of an ambitious national solar programme was considered over the latter half of 2015, and a Final Panel Report, having initially been promised for release in September 2015, was not issued until 26 February 2016. During this time, much of the world was focused heavily on the run up to, the surge in global political will to achieve, and the actual conclusion of, the historic Paris Agreement at the COP21 on 12 December 2015. While it might have been hoped that the WTO panel in India – Solar Cells had postponed release of its report to consider the global shift in attention to the urgent environmental concerns brought on by rising earth temperatures and the resultant effects of climate change, that was not the case. The Panel squarely ignored any and all references to the environment or sustainable development India presented in defence of the US claims for incompatibility with the GATT, and decided that India was required to modify its laws. India appealed. Again, it was hoped, given the continued global momentum involved in the mass signing of the Paris Agreement on Earth Day, 22 April 2016, and the commencement of ratifications and signatures deposited, that the Appellate Body would find an environmental justification to allow the limited domestic content requirements. This was not the case. This paper discusses that dispute, the approaches of India, the US and the EU to it, as well as toward their own uses of domestic content requirements particularly with respect to development of solar/RES electricity, reviews impediments to reaching a better footing for environmental concerns at the WTO, and proposes some fast and some slower legal solutions for achieving such a shift in priorities. Description: LL.M.ENERGY ENV.CLIMATE Fri, 01 Jan 2016 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/18848 2016-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/18845 Title: Genetically modified organisms : a new frontier of development or another threat to the environment? Abstract: GMOs have been controversial ever since the beginning of genetic engineering. Public opinion has split: on the one hand there are those who believe that GMOs represent a new frontier of evolution and that they can solve endemic issues, like famine and malnutrition; on the other hand stand those who think GMOs are just a way of playing God and are concerned about the repercussions on the environment and on human health. Such a standpoint is corroborated by the consequences of the previous incidents connected with human activities, like the Chernobyl disaster, that induced many to adopt a precautionary approach towards scientific innovations and its implications. The purpose of this thesis is to offer an overview of the current international legal regime for GMOs and to assess the role played by the precautionary principle in this context. In order to do so, after describing the international regulatory framework and its forthcoming developments, attention will be drawn to a comparison between two divergent legal systems, the Italian and the American one, in order to assess how the precautionary principle is used in either jurisdiction. In the former legal system, the precautionary principle is a deeply rooted concept and a guiding principle for policy makers. In the latter legal system, by contrast, the precautionary principle has not been formally acknowledged and it is not a key driver when it comes to drafting legislation. Description: LL.M.ENERGY ENV.CLIMATE Fri, 01 Jan 2016 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/18845 2016-01-01T00:00:00Z