Elisa Morgera specializes in European, international and comparative environmental law. She has researched specifically in the areas of biodiversity, environmental governance, corporate environmental accountability, and the EU external environmental policy.
Elisa is on the Editorial Board of the Review of European Community and International Environmental Law and is the lead co-editor of the book series Legal Studies on Access and Benefit-sharing (Brill/Martinus Nijhoff). She is a member of the IUCN Commission on Environmental Law and the Global Network for the Study of Human Rights and Environment.
As a former legal officer of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Elisa advised over 50 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the South Pacific on improving domestic legislation on natural resources. She has also participated in and analyzed various inter-governmental negotiations on environment and sustainable development as a team leader for the International Institute for Sustainable Development. Previously, she also served as environmental management officer for the United Nations Development Programme in the Eastern Caribbean.
Research activities:
She organized an international workshop on the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-Sharing in 2011 with a view to creating a synergetic dialogue between academics, legal officers in key UN bodies, key negotiators of the Protocol and stakeholders that participated in the Protocol negotiations and/or are pioneering its implementation (Edinburgh, 2-3 December 2011). The workshop resulted in an edited collection 2012) and a commentary on the Protocol (forth. 2013) published by Martinus Nijhoff.
She is undertaking an international consultancy for IUCN on the Integration of Multilateral Environmental Agreements in Climate Adaptation, and a series of consultancies on corporate accountability in the agricultural sector for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and FAO;
'The Law and Practice for Participation in Multilateral Relations as a Sovereignty-restrained Sui Generis Entity in International Law: the Case of the European Union and Maritime Affairs'
The book examines the integration of environmental protection requirements into EU external relations focusing on unilateral, bilateral and inter-regional instruments, which have been less explored than the multilateral dimension of EU environmental policy. The book also explores for the first time the complex interplay and mutual influences between EU environmental integration initiatives and environmental multilateralism. On the one hand it identifies the legal and other instruments used by the EU to support the implementation of multilateral environmental agreements in third countries (particularly developing ones). On the other hand, it singles out the legal and other tools employed by the EU as a means to build partnerships with third countries in order to influence ongoing multilateral negotiations concerning the environment and sustainable development, or to contribute to the development of new international environmental norms in the absence of such multilateral negotiations. Ultimately, the book traces the significant evolution of the various tools deployed by the EU to integrate environmental concerns in its external relations, with a view to identifying emerging challenges and future directions.
The book aims to systematically explore the conditions, approaches and options in drafting national wildlife laws that ensure environmental sustainability and empower the poor. Full text available at: http://www.fao.org/docrep/013/i1906e/i1906e00.htm
"Fire management" is the discipline of using fire to achieve land management and traditional use objectives, while safeguarding life, property, and resources such as forests and other vegetation in rural areas. It encompasses prevention, preparedness, early warning, detection and mobilization, suppression, and restoration (including research and technology transfer). It entails the appropriate use of natural or human-caused fire in maintaining ecological values and the integrity of certain ecosystems, and the use of fire to reduce the accumulation of natural fuel and residues from commercial and non-commercial activities. Starting in 2003, FAO coordinated a multi-stakeholder process to develop the Fire Management Voluntary Guidelines as part of a global strategy for international cooperation in fire management. The Guidelines set out principles and internationally accepted strategic actions to address the cultural, social, environmental and economic dimensions of fire management at all levels. The Fire Management Voluntary Guidelines are the lenses through which the present study has systematically identified the elements of a coherent national legal framework on forest fires, identifying emerging trends and singling out best practices and innovative legal solutions. The study ultimately distils key recommendations to ensure that national legal measures on forest fires are supportive of a holistic approach to fire management.
ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/011/i0488e/i0488e00.pdf
This edited volume examines bioenergy and bioenergy-related national legislation, policy and institutions in selected countries in Latin America, Asia and Africa, namely: Argentina, Brazil, Estonia, Mexico, Tanzania, Thailand and the Philippines. It identifies current state practice in ensuring the economic, social and environmental sustainability of bioenergy production – a topical issue in current debates on climate change mitigation, soaring food prices, international trade and rural development. The study proves the need for holistic policy, legal and institutional frameworks in a variety of relevant sectors, including the environment, forestry, water management, land and trade, as well as for an interdisciplinary approach to designing the regulatory features of any bioenergy programme. http://www.fao.org/docrep/012/i1285e/i1285e00.htm
Elisa Morgera 'Bilateralism at the Service of Community Interests? Non-Judicial Enforcement of Global Public Goods in the Context of Global Environmental Law' (2012) European Journal of International Law 23: 743-767
Elisa Morgera, Elsa Tsioumani ''Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow: Looking Afresh at the Convention on Biological Diversity' (2011) Yearbook of International Environmental Law vol. 21 (online)
Elisa Morgera, Kati Kulovesi and Miquel Muñoz 'Environmental integration and multi-faceted international dimensions of EU law: Unpacking the EU’s 2009 climate and energy package' (2011) Common Market Law Review 48(3), 829-891
Elisa Morgera 'Far away, so close: A legal analysis of the increasing interactions between the Convention on Biological Diversity and climate change law' (2011) Climate Law vol 2, 85-115
This article discuss the possible legal bases to support synergies between international biodiversity law and climate change law. The central section of the article analyse sthe multiple climate-change-related outcomes of the 10th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, focusing on the legal relevance of the significant rapprochement of international biodiversity law and climate change law.
Elisa Morgera 'CBD COP-10: Towards Post-2010 Implementation' (2010) Environmental Policy and Law 40/6, 281-288
This article traces the evolution of the use of the legal concept of benefit-sharing in the context of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), with a view to highlighting its contribution to indigenous and local communities’ livelihoods. To this end, the article proposes a distinction between inter-State benefit-sharing (as identified in the third CBD objective and as usually linked to access to genetic resources), and notably lesser known State-to-community benefit-sharing (in relation to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity). The article highlights the different legal connotations of the two dimensions of this legal concept, while supporting an integrated interpretation of the CBD by pointing to a wide array of benefit-sharing related tools under the Convention that can be used to support indigenous and local communities’ livelihoods in pursuing the Convention’s three objectives. The article also identifies other international processes – in the areas of intellectual property, health and climate change – in which, these conceptual developments may have a significant influence.
Elisa Morgera, Soledad Aguilar '“Delivering as One” for the Environment: Reflections on the Report of the UN Panel on System-wide Coherence' (2007) Environmental Policy and Law 37, 271-280
Elisa Morgera 'Significant Trends in Corporate Environmental Accountability: The New Performance Standards of the International Finance Corporation' (2007) Colorado Journal of International Environmental Law and Policy 18, 147-184
Gracia Marin-Duran, Elisa Morgera 'Towards Environmental Integration in EC External Relations? A Comparative Analysis of Selected Association Agreements' (2006) Yearbook of European Environmental Law 6, 179-210
Elisa Morgera 'An Environmental Outlook on the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises: Comparative Advantages and Legitimacy in relation to Other International Initiatives' (2006) Georgetown International Environmental Law Review 18, 751-777
Elisa Morgera 'The 2005 UN World Summit and the Environment: The Proverbial Half-Full Glass' (2006) Italian Yearbook of International Law 15, 53-80
Elisa Morgera 'Whale Sanctuaries: An Evolving Concept Within the International Whaling Commission' (2004) Ocean Development and International 35, 319-338
Elisa Morgera 'Ambition, Complexity and Legitimacy of Pursuing Mutual Supportiveness through the EU's External Environmental Action' in Bart Van Vooren, Steven Blockmans, and Jan Wouters (eds) (eds) The EU's Role in Global Governance: The Legal Dimension (Oxford University Press, 2013) 194-208
Elisa Morgera 'No Need to Reinvent the Wheel for a Human Rights-Based Approach to Tackling Climate Change: The Contribution of International Biodiversity Law' in Erkki Hollo, Kati Kulovesi and Michael Mehling (eds) Climate Change and the Law (Springer, 2013) 350-390
This chapter provides a systematic analysis of the ways in which international biodiversity law contributes to the fight against climate change by assessing and preventing the negative impacts on biodiversity and community livelihoods of measures to address climate change (‘response measures’), and adopting the ecosystem approach to climate change mitigation and adaptation. In highlighting readily available legal avenues for ensuring the mutual supportiveness of the international biodiversity regime and the international climate change regime, the chapter argues that positive interaction between the two regimes can promote a human rights-based approach to the development of the international climate change regime and its implementation at the national level.
Elisa Morgera 'The Future of Law and the Enviroment: the Emergence of Global Enviromental Law' in Sam Muller, Stavros Zouridis Morly Frishman and Laura Kistemaker (eds) The Law of the Future and the Future of Law: Volume II (Torkel Opsahl Academic EPublisher, 2012) 39-50
Using international biodiversity law as a testing ground, this think
piece will argue that “global environmental law” represents the future
of law in the environmental arena. Global environmental law is
a concept emerging from the promotion of environmental protection
as a global public good through a plurality of legal mechanisms
relying on a plurality of legal orders. It emphasises the functional
role of States as protectors of the environment, as a common interest
of humanity, and with respect to the considerable role of global
institutions in international law-making and compliance monitoring.
Global environmental law further underscores how international
environmental law increasingly affects individuals and groups in
society, and private operators, within and across national boundaries.
It also points to the growing role of international private law in
the environmental arena. Global environmental law emphasises the
inter-relations and mutual influences between international, regional,
national, sub-national, and transnational law for the protection of
the environment, thus pointing to the increasing usefulness of comparative
legal methods to understand environmental law.
Elisa Morgera 'Multinational Corporations and International Environmental Law' in S Alam, MJ Hossain Bhuiyan, T Chowdhury and E Techera (eds) Routledge Handbook of International Environmental Law (Routledge, 2012) 189-204
Annalisa Savaresi, Elisa Morgera 'Ownership of Land and Carbon' in John Costenbader (eds) Legal Frameworks for REDD. Design and Implementation at the National Level. IUCN Environmental Law and Policy Paper No. 77 (IUCN, 2009)
Elisa Morgera 'Participation, Balancing of Rights and Interests, and Prior Informed Consent' in John Costenbader (eds) Legal Frameworks for REDD: Design and Implementation at the National Level (IUCN Environmental Policy and Law Paper No. 77, 2009) 35-56
Elisa Morgera, Annalisa Savaresi 'Ownership of Land, Forest and Carbon' in John Costenbader (eds) Legal Frameworks for REDD: Design and Implementation at the National Level (IUCN Environmental Policy and Law Paper No. 77, 2009) 15-34
Elisa Morgera 'Human Rights Dimensions of Corporate Environmental Accountability' in Pierre-Marie Dupuy, Ernst-Ulrich Petersmann, and Francesco Francioni (eds) Human Rights, Investment Law and Investor-State Arbitration (Oxford University Press, 2009)
Elisa Morgera 'CSR for the International Protection of the Environment: The impact of UN Policies and Emerging Problems' in M.A. Moreau and F. Francioni (eds) The Pluridisciplinary Dimension of Corporate Social Responsibility (Presses Universitaires d’Aixe-Marseille, 2007) 97-115
Notes and Reviews
Elisa Morgera 'Rio+20: Charting the Way to a Green Economy' (2012) Solutions 3(3)
Elisa Morgera 'No Need to Reinvent the Wheel for a Human Rights-Based Approach to Tackling Climate Change: The Contribution of International Biodiversity Law', School of Law Working Paper Series (SSRN, 2012)
This chapter provides a systematic analysis of the ways in which international biodiversity law contributes to the fight against climate change by assessing and preventing the negative impacts on biodiversity and community livelihoods of measures to address climate change (‘response measures’), and adopting the ecosystem approach to climate change mitigation and adaptation. In highlighting readily available legal avenues for ensuring the mutual supportiveness of the international biodiversity regime and the international climate change regime, the chapter argues that positive interaction between the two regimes can promote a human rights-based approach to the development of the international climate change regime and its implementation at the national level.
Elisa Morgera 'From Corporate Social Responsibility to Accountability Mechanisms: The Role of Convention on Biological Diversity', School of Law Working Paper Series (SSRN, 2011)
This paper traces the progressive shift at the international level from purely voluntary approaches (corporate social responsibility or CSR) towards accountability mechanisms to ensure the environmentally sound conduct of private entities. It examines whether the most recent international discussion on human rights and corporate accountability have adequately considered environmental protection concerns. It then concentrates on the growing number of international oversight mechanisms that provide a readily-available and impartial avenue for addressing complaints against private companies for their negative environmental impacts. The paper concludes that certain key standards elaborated within the framework of the Convention on Biological Diversity, in particular environmental-cultural impact assessments and benefit-sharing, are increasingly referred to in the decisions of different international corporate accountability mechanisms to ensure both the protection of the environment and of human rights.
Elisa Morgera 'Ambition, Complexity and Legitimacy of Pursuing Mutual Supportiveness through the EU's External Environmental Action', School of Law Working Paper Series (SSRN, 2011)
This contribution aims to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the EU's external action in pursuing holistic environmental protection outside its borders. First the ambition of the EU's external environmental action will be illustrated, in its objective to support environmental multilateralism and contribute to shape a holistic approach in international environmental law, in light of the Treaty requirement of environmental integration (Article 11 TFEU) and the emerging international principle of mutual supportiveness. Then attention will be drawn to the complexity of the EU's external environmental action, by looking at the plethora of external relations tools used by the EU to achieve its global environmental objectives. The central part of the paper will assess the legitimacy of EU external environmental action against the international environmental principle of common but differentiated responsibility, taking recent EU initiatives on sustainable forest management and biofuels as case studies. The conclusions will point to promising approaches to ensure that EU external environmental action fully respects EU and international law.
Elisa Morgera, Elsa Tsioumani, 'Wildlife legislation and the empowerment of the poor in Asia and Oceania', FAO Legal Papers Online (FAO, 2010)
Elisa Morgera 'Tourism for Sustainable Mountains Development: A Comparative Law Perspective', School of Law Working Paper Series, 26/2010 (SSRN, 2010)
Elisa Morgera, Maria Teresa Cirelli, 'Wildlife Law in the Southern African Development Community', FAO Legal Papers Online (FAO, 2010)
Abbe Brown, Elisa Morgera, Keith Culver, Anna Davies, Estelle Derclaye, Suzanne Kingston, David McGrory, Kathryn McMahon, Jon Santomauro, Douglas Taylor and Baskut Tuncak, 'Towards a holistic approach to technology and climate change:what would form part of an answer?', School of Law Working Paper Series, No. 2010/32 (SSRN, 2010)
Elisa Morgera 'Introduction to European Environmental Law from an International Environmental Law Perspective', School of Law Working Paper Series, 2010/37 (SSRN, 2010)
This contribution illustrates the development of the environmental law of the EU from an international environmental law perspective. It highlights the external and internal dimensions of EU environmental law and their interaction. It also outlines the role of the EU institutions in the development and implementation of EU environmental law, as well as the objectives and principles of the EU environmental law, focusing specifically on environmental integration and sustainable development. It concludes by pointing to some of the present challenges facing EU environmental law.
Elisa Morgera 'Expert Report on CSR to Respect Human Rights in the Environmental Sphere' (2010)
The expert report was part of the European Commission-funded STUDY OF THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND THE ENVIRONMENT APPLICABLE TO EUROPEAN ENTERPRISES OPERATING OUTSIDE THE EUROPEAN UNION (http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/euenterpriseslf/)
Elisa Morgera 'Tourism for Sustainable Mountains Development: A Comparative Law Perspective', School of Law Working Paper Series, 2010/26 (SSRN, 2010)
This contribution aims to assess whether existing mountain laws at the regional and national levels are equipped to ensure environmental protection in regulating and promoting mountain tourism, in the light of relevant guidance provided by the Convention on Biological Diversity. Two major challenges are identified: ensuring the full and effective participation of mountain communities in decision-making related to mountain tourism development, and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from sustainable mountain tourism.
Elisa Morgera, Soledad Aguilar, 'Wildlife legislation and the empowerment of the poor in Latin America', FAO Legal Papers Online (FAO, 2009)
Elisa Morgera, Maria Teresa Cirelli, 'Wildlife law and the legal empowerment of the poor in Sub-Saharan Africa: new case studies', FAO Legal Papers Online (FAO, 2009)
Elisa Morgera, Maria Teresa Cirelli, 'Legal empowerment of the poor in wildlife management: A study of wildlife legislation in Sub-Saharan Africa', FAO Legal Papers Online (FAO, 2009)
Elisa Morgera 'Participatory Forestry in Central Asia and Caucasus: current legal trends and future perspectives', FAO Legal Papers Online (FAO, 2008)
Elisa Morgera, James Wingard, 'Principles for developing sustainable wildlife management laws', FAO Legal Papers Online (FAO, 2008)
Elisa Morgera, Francesco Francioni (eds) for the Working Group on Environmental Law, 'The Future of Environmental Law: International and European Perspectives', EUDO Citizenship Observatory Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, LAW No. 2006/1 (European University Institute, 2006)
Papers and Presentations
Elisa Morgera, Sikina Jinnah 'Environmental Provisions in US and EU Free Trade Agreements: Implications for Multilateral Environmental Agreements' presented at International Studies Association Annual Convention, San Francisco, 2013
Elisa Morgera 'Mutual supportiveness between climate and biodiversity law: synergies between international and EU law?' presented at Visiting Speaker Series of the Centre for Energy, Petroleum and Mineral Law and Policy, Dundee University, 2012
Elisa Morgera, Annalisa Savaresi 'The Green Economy - International and EU Law Perspectives' presented at Legal Frameworks for Sustainable Development, Rio+20 Side Event (Graduate Institute of Geneva), Rio De Janeiro, 2012
Elisa Morgera 'Promoting Environmental Rights through the Bilateral Agreements of the EU' presented at International Law for Common Goods: Normative Perspectives on Human Rights, Culture and Nature, European University Institute, Florencece, 2012
Elisa Morgera 'Corporate Accountability and Environmental Human Rights' presented at Academy of European Law - Human Rights Summer School, Florence, 2012
Elisa Morgera, Kati Kulovesi 'The Role of the EU in Promoting International Standards in the area of Climate Change' presented at EU Governance of Global Emergencies, Brussels (University of Ghent, University of Pisa and College of Europe), 2012
Elisa Morgera 'The role of the private sector in EU environment and climate policy' presented at TRANSWORLD Workshop: Environment and Human Rights, European University Institute, Florence, Italy, 2012
Elisa Morgera 'Legal innovations in benefit-sharing: shifting boundaries between the Convention on Biological Diversity and Human Rights' presented at Biodiversity and Society, University of Gottingen, 2012
Annalisa Savaresi, Elisa Morgera 'The Green Economy - International and EU Law Perspectives' presented at Legal Frameworks for Sustainable Development, Rio+20 Side Event (Graduate Institute of Geneva), Rio De Janeiro, 2012
Elisa Morgera 'Environmental Integration in the EU’s External Relations: Beyond Multilateral Dimensions' presented at EU External Relations Law and Policy in the post-Lisbon Era, University of Sheffield, 2011
Elisa Morgera 'The role of the private sector in global environmental governance: The case of the Convention on Biological Diversity' presented at International Environmental Problems - The Appropriate International Environmental Governance, Kyushu University, 2011
Elisa Morgera 'Ambition, complexity and legitimacy of pursuing mutual supportiveness through the EU's external environmental action' presented at The Legal Dimension of Global Governance: What Role for the EU?, University of Copenhagen, 2011
Elisa Morgera 'The Emergence of Global Environmental Law and the Non-judicial Enforcement of Global Public Goods' presented at ESIL/ASIL Symposium on Global Public Goods and the Plurality of Legal Orders, European University Institute, 2011
Elisa Morgera 'International Environmental Law and Multi-level Governance: the Ecosystem-based Approach' presented at "Multi-level Governance and Environmental Protection: Models, Tools, Comparative Perspectives and Case Studies, EURAC Institute for Studies on Federalism and Regionalism, Bolzano, Italy, 2010
Synopsis