November 16 - 17, 2007
Taking Stock of Sustainable Development at 20: A Principle at Odds with Itself?
In November 2007, the Center for Global Business and Development sponsored a symposium on "Taking Stock of Sustainable Development at 20: A Principle at Odds with Itself? It examined the development and current status of sustainable development, both generally, and through the lens of two specific applications.
Day One of the conference was sponsored by the Institute for Development of Legal Infrastructure. It considered the human-resources side of efforts to develop sustainably. In particular, it looked at the impact on sustainable development of the "brain-drain cycle" - in which younger, educated workers migrate from developing regions to metropoles - and outsourcing - in which back-office services migrate from developed economies to newly industrialized developing countries.
Day Two was sponsored by the Institute for Sustainable Development. By focusing on two key anniversaries, it traced the origins and development of the concept of sustainable development and its influence on state practice. Speakers examined the impact of the path-breaking Brundtland Commission Report, Our Common Future, 20 years after it made sustainable development the paradigm for reconciling efforts at environmental protection and economic development. Speakers also assess the contribution of the 1997 UN Convention on the Law of Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses 10 years after its adoption by the UN General Assembly.
Program
Friday, Nov. 16, 2007
1 p.m. Registration — Refreshments
1:20 p.m. Welcome Remarks
Dr. Michael Malloy, Director, Pacific McGeorge Center for Global Business and Development and Distinguished Professor and Scholar
1:30 p.m. Panel 1 — The Brain Drain and Economic Development
Moderator:
Dr. Michael Malloy, Director, Pacific McGeorge Center for Global Business and Development and Distinguished Professor and Scholar
Address:
Dr. Ali Mansoor, Secretary of Finance, Ministry of Finance and Economic, Development Government of Mauritius (Invited)
Commentary:
Prof. Anupam Chander, Professor of Law, UC Davis School of Law
Prof. Miriam A. Cherry, Associate Professor of Law, Pacific McGeorge School of Law
3 p.m. Coffee Break
3:30 p.m. Panel 2 — Outsourcing and Economic Development
Moderator:
Prof. Brian Landsberg, Professor of Law, Pacific McGeorge School of Law
Panelists:
Prof. Mark Baker, Professor of Law, McCombs Business School University of Texas at Austin
Prof. Barbara George, Professor of Law, California State University, Long Beach College of Business Administration
Dr. Michael Malloy, Director, Pacific McGeorge Center for Global Business and Development and Distinguished Professor and Scholar
5 p.m. Conference Close
Dr. Michael Malloy, Director, Pacific McGeorge Center for Global Business and Development and Distinguished Professor and Scholar
Saturday, Nov. 17, 2007
8:30 a.m. Registration — Continental Breakfast
9 a.m. Welcome Remarks
Dean Elizabeth Rindskopf Parker, Dean, Pacific McGeorge School of Law
Prof. Gregory Weber, Director, Pacific McGeorge Institute for Sustainable Development, and Professor of Law
9:10 Session 1
Dr. Gro Brundtland, UN Special Envoy for Climate Change (by video recording)
Ambassador Alberto Szekely, Member, Legal Experts Group to the Brundtland Commission; former member of the International Law Commission, The Promise of the Brundtland Commission: Honored or Betrayed?
10:10 a.m. Coffee Break
10:30 a.m. Session 2
Professor David Caron, C. William Maxeiner Distinguished Professor of International Law, University of California, Boalt Hall, Vice President, American Society of International Law, Sustainable Development: From Rhetorical Bridge to Substantive Content.
Dr. Iwona Rummel—Bulska, Chief, Law Branch, Division of Policy Development and Law, UNEP, The Significance of "Sustainable Development" to International Environmental Organizations.
12 p.m. Lunch
Keynote Address: Prof. Malin Falkenmark, Professor of Applied and International Hydrology, Stockholm International Water Institute, Durable River Basin Agreements: Sustainability in a Hydrology Perspective.
1:30 p.m. Session 3
Flavia Loures, Programme Officer, World Wildlife Fund, The UN Watercourses Convention: How Would a Thirsty World Benefit Form its Entry into Force and Implementation.
Prof. Stephen McCaffrey, Counselor, Pacific McGeorge Institute for Sustainable Development, and Distinguished Professor and Scholar, The 1997 UN Convention on International Watercourses: retrospect and Prospect.
3:30 p.m. Conference Close
Prof. Gregory Weber, Director, Pacific McGeorge Institute for Sustainable Development and Professor of Law
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