International Environmental Law Comes to a Close

The final seminar week for the International Environmental Law Course came to a close in early October. In the second seminar week students were introduced to the international legal framework relevant to hazardous substances, activities and waste; biological diversity (both in the terrestrial and marine context); freshwater resources; and finally the Antarctic and Arctic regions. The course conveners sought to keep the students very active with several practical exercises aimed at building upon the students’ substantive knowledge gained through both the correspondent components of the course and the seminars. These exercises included mock negotiations relating to uplisting and downlisting species under the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species, and drafting their own Southern African Environmental Law Treaty.