nexus magazine 'spring edition' 2014

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no7 SPRING 2014

Opinion: The Ship Breaking Industry /18

Opinion: The Hidden Costs of our Dinner /22

Alumni: Paris / Sofia /32 - 34

Master: Soon to be Graduates /38

Debate: Russia’s Foreign Policy /42

BUSINESS AS USUAL WON’T DO:IDENTIFYING THE POSSIBILITIES TO ADDRESS CLIMATE CHANGE /10

COLOPHON NEXUS MAGAZINE SPRING 2014

Date of Publication28 April 2014

NexusNexus Student [email protected]

Nexus Magazine Committee 2013-2014Christian Skrivervik (Editor in Chief)Jill van de Walle (Secreatry)Bart van der GeestAna [email protected]

Founder Nexus MagazineGemma Torras Vives

Graphic DesignChristian Skrivervik Jill van de Walle

Cover PhotoNicola Mulinaris

LogoRE_Oslo

ContributorsThe Nexus Board / Sepher Bastami / George Bogdan Staicu / Taku Mutezo / Panos Merkouris / Sebastian Bechtel / Bart van der Geest / Nicola Mulinaris / Jill van de Walle / Alexander Ingarv / Ana Arnaouto-glou-Amza / Fritz Bohm / Christina Hitrova / Destya Lukitasari Pahnael / Gosia Mlek / Alexandra Lily Kather / Leonie Jegen / Evija Butane / Mihai Afram / Archil Begiashvili / Aida Ziganshina / Renata Landolt / Ruaridh MacFarlane

Special Thanks ToNicola Mulinaris / Ray Feliciana (proofreader)

10 % DISCOUNT ON EVERYTHING IN STORE OR 25 % ON BIKE LOCKS / FOR NEXUS MEMBERS

TABLE OF CONTENTS5 Letter from the Board / Cartoon

6 Nexus / Current

10 Business as Usual Won’t Do : Identifying Pos-sibilities to address Climate Change

16 Get over it! Human Influence on Climate Change is Real, Period.

18 The Ship Breaking Industry : the Practice of Ship Dismanteling and its Environmental Impacts

22 The Hidden Costs of Our Dinner : the Envi-ronmental Impacts of our Dinner

26 A Perception of China and its Environmental Issues

28 The Gulf Stream

30 Ted Talks : Resposible Business Can Solve the World’s Challenges

32 Life After Groningen : Fritz

34 Life After Groningen : Christina

36 We are Better off Without You : A Personal Perspective on the Unknown Conflict Between West Papua and Indonesia

38 Soon to be Graduates : Few Tips on How to Go About the Worst Moments in Your Life

40 ‘I am Here for a Reason’ - Alignment for Dignity

42 Debate : Foreign Policy of Russia Regarding its Former Soviet States

46 What is Going On in the Land of Smiles?

48 The Battle of Salmonsgrad : Let Us Not Step Backwards

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LETTER from the Magazine Committee Dear Reader,

This academic year saw the birth of the Nexus Magazine Committee, and this edition will be the third published as an independent committee. The committee was established with the intention of reinventing the magazine in order for it to reach its true potential, and we strive to improve and develop further with every publication.

Our goal is to make this magazine a place to acquire knowledge, to spread ideas, and to hold open discussions on subjects that YOU are interested in. If you want to write about an issue that matters to you, local or global, your orga-nization or initiative, please contact us. Also, for every edition, we are looking for alumni who would be interested in participating in the continuous “Life After Groningen’ segment. Please be in touch as our development depends and relies on you input and feedback. What makes Nexus Student Association most interesting is the diversity of people and ideas, and this is a project to and from all students! We sincerely hope that you will enjoy this third issue of the academic year 2013 - 2014, and we look forward to hear your feedback!

- Nexus Magazine Committee 2013 - 2014

The Nexus Magazine Committee independently obtained and organized the content of this magazine and is responsible for the publica-tion of the Nexus Magazine. The opinions and ideas expressed by authors of articles in this magazine are solely the opinions and ideas of those authors and do not necessarily represent the opinions and ideas of this magazine or its editors or publishers. )

PHOTO: NICOLA MULINARIS

(

4NEXUS SPRING 2014 |

It is with great pleasure that I present to you the theme of this edition of the Nexus Magazine - namely the envi-ronment and climate change. These are both issues that I personally care deeply about, and I am delighted to see that so many of my fellow students here in Groningen and elsewhere share my passion and are willing to share their views on the matter.

Environmental protection and the prevention of climate change should be made top priority for governments and people all over the world, as every single person on the planet has their interests at stake. But in order to effective-ly protect the environment and combat climate change we must come together as a global community and agree to fight together. In this edition, Sebastian Bechtel (LLB) provides us with a legal overview portraying the possibil-ities to address climate change globally. Unfortunately, at this point in time, this seems closer to a dream than real-ity as States seem more interested in economics than on actual prevention. Will there ever come a day when States can look beyond their short term self-interest, and see the long term benefit for all? Is there anything we citizens can do to really make a difference?

In my opinion, every single person who can has the

responsibility and obligation to educate themselves in order to make educated decisions on how they choose to live their lives. On a small scale this means turning off the lights, taking shorter showers etc., but if people decide not to buy products that are harmful to the environment, it would force corporations to change their practices, which in turn, would have a large scale effect for the better. The choices you make actually matter, and you are responsi-ble for the choices you make. Choose to make educated decisions! In her article on the environmental impact of our dinner, Jill van de Walle (LLB) illustrates this point exactly, while Bart van der Geest (LLB) argues how large corporations themselves, if acting responsibly, can help solve many of the challenges we are faced with today.

In addition to this, one of my main priorities as editor in chief of the Nexus Magazine is to introduce topics that might be less known to many. In this edition, with regards to the environment, we find amongst others an article by Nicola Mulinaris (LLM) about the ship breaking industry and its harmful environmental impact.

Although the theme of this edition is related to the envi-ronment, this edition also contains several articles relating to other topics. Our continuing segment ‘Life After Gron-ingen’ this time covers the fascinating journeys of Fritz Böhm (Alumni) and Christina Hitrova (Alumni) which really can serve as inspiration to the rest of us still here in Groningen. Relevant to this is also Gosia Mlek’s (LLM) tips for every soon to be graduate when in search for jobs or internships.

In our last edition we headlined an article by Cameron White explaining why Scotland should gain indepen-dence. As the magazine is meant to serve as a medium for debate, it is only fair that we in this edition include an article on why Scotland should NOT secede from the United Kingdom, and Ruaridh MacFarlane (LLB) explains why he is still a skeptic. Furthermore, Destya Pahnael (LLM) provides us with a personal perspective on the unknown conflict between Indonesia and West Papua. I would truly recommend everyone to read this article and investigate more on the conflict.

Introduced here are only a few of the very many amazing articles we have for you in this edition. I would like to take this opportunity to give a massive thank you to all con-tributors! The Nexus Magazine keeps evolving and it’s all because so many want to participate!

ENJOY!

CHRISTIAN SKRIVERVIK / EDITOR-IN-CHIEF / LLB 2

THE ENVIRONMENT & CLIMATE CHANGE TEXT: CHRISTIAN SKRIVERVIK PHOTO: NICOLA MULINARIS

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LETTER from the BoardDear Members,

Nexus has been finishing up on various guest lectures as well as our Lustrum week, which comprised of both work-shops and a party at Shadrak. The Board, along with the Honour College Social Foundation and Associate Professor Toebes, also planned this years’ Avril McDonald Lecture on the topic of ‘Rape under International Law’ which was held by visiting Associate Professor de Brouwer from Tilburg University. Of course, we have planned many more upcoming events that will be coming forth from the different committees of Nexus, and we look forward to seeing everyone there.

Currently, the Nexus Selection Committee is looking for a New General Board for Nexus. We are looking forward to seeing who will be nominated by the Selection Committee, and to passing on of the Board positions to the next leaders of Nexus. However, positions in the Nexus Board are not the only positions that need to be filled within Nexus. The Committee of Auditors, which performs internal financial reviews, will be in need of two active members as well. Also, there’s the position of Interim Committee Chairperson for some of the Committees which involves ensuring that the Committee is running through the summer and the beginning of the next Academic year. If anyone wishes to have more information you may contact [email protected].

We hope that everyone had an amazing Easter break, and that they enjoyed the Koningsdag (King’s Day). We hope everyone enjoyed the crazy orange Dutch festivities!

Best,

Nexus General Board.2013-2014

MADE BY: SEPEHR BASTAMI / LLB 3

GLOBAL WARMING : “Kingsday in 40 years”

THE ENVIRONMENT & CLIMATE CHANGE


NEXUS

UPCOMING NEXUS EVENTS

10 QUICK QUESTIONS FOR:THE NEXUS TREASURER

1. What makes you happy?I can’t say I have a definite thing that makes me happy, although I do have a weak spot for sweets. I enjoy keeping myself busy with a lot of things all the time, things that I find interesting. I suppose that makes me happy.

2. Who was your childhood hero?I would have to say Batman, because Batman!!!! (NANANANA)

3. Where are you in 10 years?I have no idea. Hopefully doing something that makes me happy.

4. What is your hidden talent?I would have to say that I don’t have any special talent for some-thing. I tend to find something I really like and then tunnel-vision devote myself to that and master it in a short amount of time. I would say that’s a special sort of talent in itself.

5. What are you most proud of having done?I would say that I’m proud of learning a lot of things about many subjects, and especially the little things that can only be learned with experience.

6. If the world had a dictator, who should this person be?Chris (the editor), because he says so, and that’s really the quality everyone is looking for in a good dictator.

7. Which three persons would you invite for dinner?The Doctor, Sherlock Holmes and Batman.I have a type…

8. What cause would you demonstrate for?None. I have the belief that beliefs are dangerous things.

9. Who deserves extra praise for their work?People that are kind, helpful, and with a big heart - that go quietly on with their lives.

10. Who needs to get their finger out of their arse and get shit done?Everyone. Someone has to do it, and no one wants to.

May1 : GoKarting27 : Aclo Day (Volleyball & Football)and of course a borrel!

JunePub quiz!

Further information and exact dates will be provided through Facebook.

The Educational Committee will be providing as much notes as possible in May for the upcoming exams. (If you have any notes to share contact them through: [email protected])

GEORGE BOGDAN STAICU / LLB 2

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MESSAGE from SOG

TAKU MUTEZO / LLB 1

The importance of questioning everything; is amongst the most valuable concepts acquired during the first year as a law student at Rijkuniversiteit. As a result, university poli-cies, their effects, and the means through which the inter-ests of students were protected and represented became a matter of interest to two International students both from the Law Faculty and active members of Nexus. It was with this state of mind, that Alexandra Crisan the current International representative of the Internationals in the University Council and Takudzwa Samantha Mutezo, the prospective candidate came across the SOG(Studentie Organisatie Groningen) and the University Council.

The SOG stands as the student political fraction with a strong stance on Internationalization. They advocate for progressive policies that apply to prospective and enrolled students of the RUG University. The SOG takes a strong stance on the quality of education, whilst also acknowl-edging the essence of social life and extracurricular activ-ities for students. The ability for excellent students to have room to expand and the importance of having qualified teachers is also among one of the main aspects advocat-ed for by the SOG. With regards to Internationalization, emphasis is placed on making use of the International environment. This would particularly mean involving the international students by considering their input and stimulating the direct interaction of international students in the university policy and decision making. The SOG acknowledges the housing issues faced by internationals, and is in favour of the facilitation of better quality and more information with regards to the pricing of housing. The essence of having closer contact between current and prospective students and providing more internship op-

portunities for ambitious and motivat-ed internationals during their studies is of grave importance to SOG.

It is important to note that the amount of International students in Groningen is rapidly increasing and makes up 13,5% of the students studying at RUG. It is with this in mind that the Universi-ty Council has been made up of an international represen-tative of the students twice thus far, both of which were candidates from SOG.Alexandra is the current International representative in the University Council, and has made several achieve-ments, to date whilst in the University Council. These include ensuring that summer schools are offered by the university, working towards implementing a common language policy as well as improving the quality of food and pricing at the University cafeterias. There is more that can be done, to improve the University and Takudzwa is the candidate that hopes to continue the policies set out by her predecessors and begin to advance towards mak-ing the RUG a more internationalized environment, with the quality of all aspects of the university standing as the essence of her agenda.

All in all, we, as part of the Nexus family, want to voice the internationals issues at the highest executive level of our University. We believe in better educational policies for us, the internationals, and we also believe that the RUG environment is the right one to further develop ourselves as valuable individuals.

TEXT: TAKU MUTEZO

In an international community where issues of the highest import tend to take place at an ever increas-ing pace, it is sometimes difficult for professors and students alike to keep up with everything that is going on around the globe. The more inter-con-nected our world becomes, the more imperative the need for immediacy of analysis of salient issues. The GUILD-Blog (Groningen University International Law Department - Blog) is our Department’s re-sponse to this need in the field of international law. The GUILD-Blog is a blog dedicated to addressing and analysing contemporary issues of and challenges

to public international law. Each blog entry examines an issue that has arisen within the last few months (be it a case, a discussion or on-going situation) and attempts to shed light on its legal aspects and offer critical and thought-provoking analysis, useful to academics, practitioners and students alike.

The GUILD-Blog is an initiative of the Department of International Law of the University of Groningen and its Editors-in-Chief are Dr. Monika Ambrus and Dr. Panos Merkouris, both Lecturers in Public Interna-tional Law at the University of Groningen.

GUILD-blogLINK : http://www.rug.nl/rechten/organization/vakgroepen/int/guild-blog/

CURRENT


CLIMATE CHANGEPHOTO: SOL GUSTAVSSON

THE ENVIRONMENT &

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CLIMATE CHANGE

GET OVER IT! HUMAN INFLUENCE ON CLIMATE CHANGE IS REAL, PERIOD. /16

THE GULF STREAM /28

TED TALKS: ‘RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS CAN SOLVE THE WORLD’S CHALLANGES’ /30

GET OVER IT! HUMAN INFLUENCE ON CLIMATE CHANGE IS REAL, PERIOD. /16

HIDDEN COSTS OF OUR DINNER: THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF INDUSTRIAL FARMING /22

BUSINESS AS USUAL WON’T DO: IDENTIFYING POSSIBILITIES TO ADDRESS CLIMATE CHANGE /10

A PERCEPTION OF CHINA AND ITS ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES /26

THE SHIPBREAKING INDUSTRY: THE PRACTICE OF SHIP DISMANTLING AND ITS ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS /18


BUSINESS AS USUAL WON’T DO

Therefore, the fundamental question is: What can we do? Climate Change is the potentially greatest challenge of our generation,v and to ponder what can be done about it concerns us all. As we all have received the opportunity to study at University, we might even have a special respon-sibility to search for answers, in particular, within our own discipline. This article will give an introduction into what by now is mostly dubbed climate change law, namely legal constructs on international, regional, trans-national, and domestic level created to mitigate climate change and associated environmental degradation. This contribution is by no means intended to be exhaustive, but rather aims at introducing some ideas in the literature as well as opin-ions of my own, which might be inspiring for the research of some of you.

Don’t give up on Kyoto, but please don’t attach our lives to it

A discussion of measures intended to overcome climate change can not avoid first addressing cap-and-trade pro-grams such as the Kyoto Protocol.vi Participating countries

agree to a fixed target of emissions and receive a corre-sponding amount of allowances. These can subsequently be traded on the market. The Kyoto Protocol is the great-est international effort in this regard, but states have failed for now to prolong the program after its lapse in 2012. Prior to its suspension, the Kyoto Protocol was widely criticized as being inefficient, in particular for allowing the creation of allowances that do not translate to govern-ment actions reducing CO2. Two examples that received particularly fierce criticism was the Clean Development Mechanismvii and the “Hot Air Effect”.viii

Bad implementation does not show the inadequecy of the mechanism as a whole or disprove the general necessity for regulation. A Cap-and-Trade mechanism could very well be operated effectively if caps were to be lowered and certain mechanisms excluded.ix In the alternative, it could be replaced or supplemented with other well-researched mechanisms, such as carbon taxation, targeted subsidies, common research funds, and so forth.x

TEXT: SEBASTIAN BECHTEL PHOTO: SOL GUSTAVSSON

Climate Change as a contemporary issue is by now so well known that I will refrain from filling pages with shocking facts. Those who doubt the immediate importance of the issue are here referred to the recent report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)i, which reads in parts like a science-fic-tion novel depicting apocalyptic scenarios.ii Indeed, outright climate change denial appears to be decrea-seing rapidly. Regardless, concerted action against Climate Change is lacking. We are confronted with “the absurdity of a double life” - being aware of the immediate threat of extinction, but continuing to “go about business as usual”.iii Various authors see the reason for this in a disconnect between humans and nature; Lehtonen and Välimäki describe man as a “baby-adult in her or his relationship to the basic survival issues that arise from the present conflict between natural resources, their usage, and the modern vision of a suc-cessful life”.iv However, whether we identify as a baby-adult or not: This cannot possibly serve as an excuse to continue to work towards our own destruction.

Identifying Possibilities to Address Climate Change

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However, the fact that Kyoto has been suspended demon-strates that the question of “political feasibility” hangs like a Damocles sword over a functioning mechanism on the global level. Climate Change is a global governance challenge of unprecedented size, which inevitably brings to the forefront the serious rift between the factions in which the current assembly of nation states is split. On the one hand, every success in combating Climate Change will therefore be even greater as it will contribute to the creation of a global community of states, not only by the name, but also according to the meaning of the word. On the other hand, serious doubts are warranted as to wheth-er significant steps will be realized in time. The hope that increased visibility of Climate Change impacts will spur efforts is often voiced, but may be misplaced. When the greatest impacts will become visible, it will most likely be already too late to act. Scarily, a fair amount of au-thors claim that we already passed the dipping point, and concentrate their academic contributions on adaptation rather than mitigation.

Frustrated by the international process, states turn in-creasingly to bilateral and regional arrangements. One example is the European Trading Scheme which, after first being praised, now suffers from great a great deal of problems. Since the economic crisis, prices have been so low as to not provide for an incentive to reduce emis-sions. Although low prices are no problem per se, a more stringent effort would require lower targets and, thus, less allowances on the market. In my view, Kyoto as a global mechanism remains a crucial possibility, which is in dire need of reform and for which we as citizens have to press. However, it is equally important to not rely on it as the sole mechanism, a pitfall that appears to be repeated in the EU, with its current reliance on the European Trading

System. Hence, the rest of the article will focus on alterna-tive legal mechanisms.

Sustainable Development: What has it done, what can it do?

Being the potentially greatest buzzword of our times, sustainability now comprises a clutter of connotations that are as diverse as they are contradictory. In 1987, the Brundtland Commission gave it the following defini-tion: development which “meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.xi The principle is celebrating its 27th birthday this year but its founding fathers may not appreciate every guest that is likely to show up to the party. By now, every document concerning government policy on any level and in any field, including the financial strategy and corporate social responsibility documents of companies, must involve the incantation -“sustainability” - to magically transform the document into a promise for a fulfilled green future for everyone.

Regardless, one should not deny the advances made under the general heading of sustainable development over the years. It has been implemented in national policies all over the world,xii impacted evidently the work of interna-tional organizations, and was recognized by the ICJ.xiii It has entailed the formulation and recognition of related principles such as the “precautionary principle”,xiv requir-ing cautionary action in absence of full scientific certainty for harm, as well as “common but differentiated respon-sibilities”, referring to the differing weights to which the global north and south have contributed to and are thus liable for the current climate impacts.xv In particular un-der EU law, the principle has received much reflection in secondary legislation.xvi

OPINION


Nevertheless, the “Gordian Knot in sustainable devel-opment is determining what it means”.xvii As mentioned above, the great amount of players interested in the interpretation of the concepts has led to a proliferation of meanings. Sustainable development at its weakest refers to measures of ecological modernization and green growth stimulus packages with often questionable success. It has been put forward that the central problem with sustainable development lies in the fact that it presents decision-makers with the requirement to choose between economic and environmental considerations but does not give guidance as to which consideration is to prevail if they conflict.xviii If one chooses to adopt only environmen-tally minded measures if commensurable with economic growth, sustainable development will not be a meaningful tool against climate change but might even unduly create the impression of action while entailing no significant impacts.

The Necessary Economic Debate: Dare to question growth

A consensus is growing that in order to bring about the necessary changes, certain adjustments to our current economic model have to be realized. This is not to argue for a Communist model of state planning. Rather, we must move away from the Fukuyamaist end-of-history theoremxix and dare to once again ask systemic questions. Climate Change action will produce economic benefits in the middle or long run as social mitigation costs now are estimated to be much lower than the impacts of unabat-ed climate change or also action at a later point in time.xx However, in the short run we must move away from the idea of constant economic growth as sole indicator of societal advancement. Great amounts of models have been created and reports have already been compiled, which consider alternatives to growth.xxi As Daly summa-rizes this wonderfully, the term “‘sustainable growth’ when applied to the economy is a bad oxymoron – self-contra-dictory as prose, evocative as poetry”.xxii

What role remains for the Law?

Climate Change law, thus, has an inevitably stronger connection to economics than other areas of environmen-tal law.xxiii However, in absence of these economic adjust-ments, we as law students must ask ourselves what legal

tools can contribute to a solution of the problem. The newborn field of climate change law describes a multi-lay-ered and multi-faceted approach comprising of domestic, regional and international approaches.xxiv Furthermore, it appears to currently fragment into an innumerable amount of splinters. This process has (critically) been termed a shift from climate justice literature to a “what-ever works” approach.xxv One may be appreciative of this trend or not but nevertheless it has the potential of ex-ploring more areas and ideas as well as providing a greater possibility for clearly needed interdiscplinary co-opera-tion. Due to the limitations imposed by the page number of this magazine as well as the extent of my knowledge, I will only highlight some interesting trends I have come across in my research.

An option very familiar to the legal field is to increase jus-ticiability. Currently, the uncertain, non-localized effects and indeterminable interest requirements usually prevent successful suits from reaching court. On the international level, the recent Whaling decision of the ICJ reaffirms that an enforceable multilateral regime could give rise to challenges in front of the Court but we appear far from such an agreement being concluded. On the domestic lev-el, inter-generational equityxxvi could be a basis to establish standing in certain cases as was done in the Malaysian case Minors Oposa.xxvii Furthermore, the requirements of sustainable development can potentially have great impact in administrative planning decisions.xxviii These cases give hope for future domestic litigation focusing on negative climate impacts produced by public or private practices.

Climate Change already does and will continue to in-creasingly have significant impacts on Human Rights such as the right to life and health.xxix Currently, Human Rights have their greatest impact in ensuring access to decision-making and justice in climate related matters. Examples include public participation in environmental assessments and the Aarhus Conventions, which guaran-tees for access to justice and possibilities to receive infor-mation and partake in negotiations. In an inspiring recent article, Alan Boyle furthermore discusses the possibility for a human right to a healthy environment, which might be instrumental in drawing balances to other human rights.xxx Nevertheless, the current human rights regime is in no position to substantially alter the underlying pol-

13

icies contributing to climate change and it is questionable if a transformation of the regime is practicable or desir-able. Regardless, the utilization of human rights mech-anisms, language and discourse can be a strong tool to raise awareness for the manners in which climate change impacts communities and individuals.

Another area that has gained much attention is transna-tional systems. No agreed definition of transnational sys-tems exist but it appears to more or less refer to trans-bor-der arrangements that somehow integrate non-state actors acting in coordination outside of usual state-dominated legal processes. In the context of climate change, two notable trends are the “Partnerships for Sustainable Development” as well as global networks between cities allowing sub-state actors to cooperate across borders.xxxi Another form of transnational system already in place are voluntary licensing agreements.xxxii By offering a certificate if actions are taken, companies acting sustainable have the possibility of achieving a competitive advantage towards unlicensed companies. Certificates could be given in accordance with the carbon footprint of the company as a whole.

On a smaller scale, Nobel price winner Elinor Ostrom ad-vocates the focus on what she terms “polycentric systems” to tackle climate change.xxxiii Under this general heading, Ostrom describes how various localized, small-scale proj-ects can work together in achieving great results. I have been involved in an experiment in Canada, which focused on providing feedback as to the environmental and social impacts of consumer actions at the spot. There is great po-tential for similar legal regulation. One possibility would be to require companies to disclose the environmental and social impacts of a given product through labelling, for example the provision of scores established by an inde-pendent agency. Consumers would then directly be made aware of the impact of their consumption at the point of purchase.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the absence of an effective global treaty on climate change necessitates the broadening of the scope of actions. A growing variety of different trends can be iden

tified, interesting projects are already being implemented and new ones constantly developed. It should be kept in mind that increased fragmentation of the climate regime can lead to unintended side-effects such as reg-ulatory “races-to-the-bottom” through company reloca-tionxxxiv and may overall threaten the effectiveness of the regime.xxxv However, the multi-level occupation with the issue has great potential in raising pubic awareness and furthering discussion. Regardless of the approach taken, we need a much greater emphasis on the underlying pro-cesses preventing meaningful action. Small adaptations will not be sufficient to change the course of the one ship “Earth” we are all depending on.

As a final note, each persons individual consumer be-haviour and other private actions to limit the person-al carbon foot print are applaudable and necessary in addition to the options described in this article. Never-theless, it will not be sufficient to limit ourselves to these small private endeavours.xxxvi In this spirit, I will end with another quote; this time from C. Sandilands: “The privatization of environmental change undermines both collective and individual resistance; it turns politics into actions such as squashing tin cans, morality into not buying overpackaged muffins, and environmentalism into taking your own cloth bag to the grocery store. None of these actions challenges capitalist economic growth […] none of these actions provokes a serious examination of the social relations and structures that have brought about our current crisis”.xxxvii

SEBASTIAN BECHTEL / LLB 3


i The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is a think-tank established by the United Nations Environ-mental Program (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in 1988. The organization has currently 195 members. In 2013, it has produced its most recent Climate Report entitled “Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis”, online: IPCC <https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/wg1/>. ii The report discusses various scenarios in which climate change may progress. Some scientists have argued that the estimates are very conservative. iii Lifton at 4-5. Interestingly, Lifton’s initial research concerned the (lack of) reaction to the nuclear threat during the cold war but he later expanded on it seeing striking similarities to the reaction to climate change.iv Lehtonen at 49. See also Merchant at Ch 7 at 164.v UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon’s held in 2009: “It is, simply, the greatest collective challenge we face as a human family” (The Associated Press).vi The Kyoto Protocol entered into force in 2005 and is an addition to the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.vii The Clean Development Mechanism allowed developed states with a target under the Kyoto Protocol to support projects reducing Co2 emissions in developing states, which would otherwise not be implemented. It has been argued by some commentators that in practice up to half of the projects would have been started anyway, which removes the benefit of the program. See e.g. Lecoq.viii The phenomena of “hot air” describes the fact that Eastern European states benefited unduly from the Kyoto targets. The reduction targets were set in comparison to 1990 and all this states lie through a shrinking of the economies and a natural modernization process after the end of the iron curtain naturally below these levels without any concerted ef-fort against climate change. These states than receive carbon allowances which they are able to trade and thereby reduce the overall performance of the system. ix Requirements for additionality under the CDM would need to better monitored or potentially the CDM removed al-together. Different targets for the countries need to be set, giving clear reflection of common but differentiated respon-sibilities and so forth. For further proposals consider Stewards as well as Michaelowa. x See in particular Bosetti. xi Brundtland Report. xii For a nice case example see Houck. xiii Gabcikovo-Nagymaros at 78. xiv The Precautionary principle has taken some serious damage from critiques describing it as unscientific and hardly practicable but still is of crucial importance in the area of climate change where scientific uncertainties are very preva-lent while early action is immediately necessary.

ENDNOTES:

15

xv However, this principle is often used in combination with sovereignty over resources and a restrictive right to devel-opment by developing states to argue against any action against climate change. xvi In many cases it remains to be asked though what the inclusion of “sustainable development” adds to the document. xvii Houck at 275. xviii See for example: Monteiro de Lima Demange at 720-1. xix Yoshihiro Francis Fukuyama published a famous book entitled The End of History and the Last Man in 1992 argu-ing that the man had reached the end of history under one unified capitalist system with infinite growth under liberal democracies. He has distanced himself some years later to some extent from his own theory. xx Kulovesi 2 at 15. xxi Jackson. Very interesting are also the efforts by the Economy for the Common Good: <http://www.gemeinwohl-oe-konomie.org/en/content/idea-economy-common-good>. xxii Daly at 267. xxiii Kulovesi 2 at 11-2. xxiv Kulovesi 1. xxv Mayer at 964. xxvi Inter-generational equity refers to the need to safeguard the planet for future generation and forms part of the defi-nition of sustainable development. xxvii Minors Oposa. In this case, the applicant was able to bring an environmental case in the name of his children. xxviii See the examples discussed by Houck. xxix Koivurova at 296-300. xxx Boyle at 626-9. xxxi Koivurova at 306 onwards. xxxii This exists for example in the lumber sector with a number of organizations such as the Forest Stewardship Coun-cil, which provides licenses for wood not originating from the rain forest and so forth. xxxiii Ostrom. xxxiv This describes the case in which different regulatory standards between or within countries and industries give an incentive for companies to shift production to a less regulated area. To avoid this effect, the responsible legislator may be forced to lower the own regulatory standards to that of the competing market with the lowest standards. xxxv See for example Biermann. xxxvi See in that regard Blake and Kennedy at 152. xxxvii Sandilands at 46.


People, why are we still debating climate change? I’m seriously starting to wonder what will take longer: our realization of the growing impact that global warming will have on humans or the time it takes for the next ice-age to arrive. Scientists are now more than certain that human activity is influencing the global climate and they have evidence to support their claims, so why are we even having this conversation? Scientists are continually warning us about global warming, and yet I hear noth-ing about it on the TV or in the newspapers. If we are to pretend that nothing is happening, we may as well send all those scientists deep into the Amazon where we can’t hear them.

The second-last association to attempt a wake-up call was The American Association for the Advancement of Science, the largest scientific organization in the world: “As scientists, it is not our role to tell people what they should do or must believe about the rising threat of climate change.” The report started. “But we consider it to be our responsibility as professionals to ensure (…) that people understand what we know: human-caused climate change is happening, we face risks of abrupt, unpredictable and potentially irreversible changes, and responding now will lower the risk and cost of taking action.”

A stream of reports coming from The Royal Society, the Royal Institution, NASA, the US National Academy of Sci-ences, the US Geological Survey and the United Nations’ IPCC all converge towards the same conclusion: climate change is happening, it’s getting more severe and the time

we have to limit the effects of global warming is running out quickly. And yet, there are still some people who find climate change hard to believe.

“There is no scientific proof that human emissions of car-bon dioxide (CO2) are the dominant cause of the minor warming of the Earth’s atmosphere over the past 100 years. If there were such a proof it would be written down for all to see. No actual proof, as it is understood in science, exists.” Canadian ecologist and co-founder of Greenpeace Patrick Moore told The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

“There is some correlation, but little evidence, to support a direct causal relationship between CO2 and global tem-perature through the millennia. The fact that we had both higher temperatures and an ice age at a time when CO2 emissions were 10 times higher than they are today funda-mentally contradicts the certainty that human-caused CO2 emissions are the main cause of global warming.”

Few climate scientists would share his opinion. According to Climate Change: Evidence and Causes, a joint Q&A report between the UK’s Royal Society and the US’s Na-tional Academy of Sciences, atmospheric CO2 increased by about 40% from 1800 to 2012 and measurements of different forms of carbon reveal that this increase is due to human activities. Based on their understanding of how greenhouse gases trap heat and the calculation of theincrease of global average surface temperature since 1900 (which is around 0.8 ͦ C) scientists came to the conclu-

TEXT: BART VAN DER GEEST PHOTO: CREATIVE COMMONS

HUMAN INFLUENCE ON CLIMATE CHANGE IS REAL,

PERIOD.

GET OVER IT!

17

OPINION

sion that natural causes alone cannot explain the recent observed changes in climate. Human emissions are largely responsible for such observations.

It’s also worth noting the answer they gave to the question: “climate is always changing, why should it be of concern now?” The societies highlighted that past climate changes have caused the extinction of many species, population migrations and changes in the land surface and ocean cir-culation. What we need to worry about is that the current climate change is faster than most of the past events and this ultimately makes it “more difficult for human societies and the natural world to adapt.”

What is alarming is the fact that we’ve barely seen any re-sponse from the international community, and if we have, these responses are often halfhearted and ineffective. The question is why.

One answer is speculated to come from the role climate deniers are playing in politicians’ attitude towards climate change. These are often major oil companies, right-wing billionaires or conservative groups who are opposed to any regulation of business. Part of the reason why they’ve been so successful is because of the way in which they’ve been throwing money at lobbying politicians but also by persuading the media to provide them with far more time than they deserve. In the end though, it’s a choice between their narrow interests and the wider interest of the pop-ulation, and I think that politicians will start listening to the population once the world is really convinced of the

graveness of global warming.

Maybe the picture scientists are painting now is starting to look clearer for everyone. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (ICPP) of the United Nations predicted dire consequences in its third report released this month: failure to properly address the problem poses a great threat to humanity and it could potentially lead to wars and mass migration. It advises a temperature rise of a maximum of 2 degrees by the end of the century in order to keep a safe range for human kind. Inaction means that the tempera-ture could go up by another 4 or 5 degrees, and this would have devastating effects on the planet. To achieve this, the report suggests a 40% -70% cut in emissions before 2050, and a 100% cut by the end of the century. “Ambitious mitigation may even require removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere”, but that does not help when Carbon Dioxide Removal technologies are still fairly premature and untested at this point in time. Still, if these technolo-gies work, they might prove to be essential for countries in meeting the short-term carbon targets set by the UN.

My hope is that this report gets the attention it deserves, not only from the political sphere but also from the private sector, and from the people who originally didn’t see climate change as a threat. I also hope that it will change the way we think about climate change, and that it puts a definite end to all doubts and deniers. It’s time we started looking for sustainable solutions, and closed a debate that should never have existed in the first place.

BART VD GEEST / LLB


Ships are the most important viaduct of imports and exports. The shipping industry constitutes the back-bone of international trade and commerce, as more than 80 per cent of goods are carried by sea. However, during a period of economic recession, as is happening presently, international trade is facing a downturn, causing an overcapacity within the market. As pointed out by Federico Demaria, “ship owners evaluate the expected future earning potential and the expected cost of keeping the ship in operation against the revenue obtained when the vessel is sold for scrap. This mainly depends on the price of steel”. It is precisely the current high price of steel, the costs of mounting a ship, and the danger of maintaining obsolete ships which lead to an anticipated excess of vessels that need recycling services. In fact, numerous ship owner associations decided to partially eliminate their fleet, contributing, in the last years, to the growth of a significant private business: ship breaking.

OPINION

TEXT: NICOLA MULINARIS PHOTO: ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

THE SHIP BREAKING INDUSTRYTHE PRACTICE OF SHIP DISMANTLING AND ITS ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS

19

After an average life of 30 years at sea, developed coun-tries usually send big vessels to ship breaking yards for breaking, mostly in Pakistan, Bangladesh, India and China. This procedure starts when the ship owner decides that it is no longer economically viable to maintain his ship. His decision is solely business-related, because he is motivated by his desire to maximize his revenue from the scrap sold. Depending on the market conditions, vessels are sold per ton at a price ranging from 100 to 400 dollars.

Usually, ship owners sell their ships through brokers, who choose the most appropriate recycling facility. Neverthe-less, in the last ten years an important category of inter-mediaries has emerged: the category of “cash-buyers”. They differ from traditional brokers in that they acquire the vessel’s ownership (although only for a limited period of time until the sale is concluded or during the handing over of the vessel to a recycling facility) and they assure the fulfillment of the contract. Original ship owners get lower prices, but thanks to this system they are able to bypass regulations and liabilities easily.

The main purpose of ship dismantling is to recover materials which can be sold in local markets by the final buyers. The industry is a great fount of revenue for the developing States; it contributes to over 10 per cent of a developing countries’ annual steel production, recover-ing a million ton. Almost every part of the vessels - the machinery, equipment, batteries, hull and furniture - can be re-used. Hence, ship recycling could be considered a crucial element in a sustainable development strategy, by creating employment opportunities, providing the market with raw materials, and ensuring economic advantages.

However, the dismantling process has been strongly crit-icized. Due to the fact that ships are not properly cleaned before beaching, breaking activities pollute the marine and terrestrial environment and are risky for workers’ health. The entire operation is notorious for it being negatively marked by extreme hazards. Asbestos and other materials, such as lead, mercury, tributyltin (TBT), polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), oil, arsenic, etc., are employed in the construction of vessels and end up in the dismantling yards, contam-inating the ecosystem. A lot of oil residues, for example, are being spilled and mixed with the seawater, causing a serious damage by reducing the light intensity beneath the water surface. The impact on biodiversity is tremendous: pollutants affect the growth of marine organisms and permanently alter the physiochemical properties of the coastal habitat. Moreover, water is not the only element that gets contaminated. The scraps from the ships, due to the fact that they are staked on the seashore, contribute to the accumulation of rust and metal remnants in the soil, making it lose its properties.

Over the past decades, strict environmental laws caused a gradual increase in the cost of hazardous waste disposal, leading to a more sensitive growth in the trade of toxic materials and end-of-life ships from industrialized coun-tries to developing countries, where legal standards are generally less rigid. In order to react against development, a reinforced international legal framework was neces-sary. International obligations, based on explicit treaties and on customary law, were generated by international conventions and organizations. For instance, the “Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal” was adopted on March 1989 and came into force in 1992. It represents a significant global environment agreement due to the fact that its aim is to control the movement of hazardous wastes across international frontiers.

Of potentially equal importance is a follow-up legislation called the “Ban Amendment” of 1995, which prohibits parties and other States that are members of the Orga-nization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to transport waste to non-OECD countries. It also specifies that all trans-boundary movements of haz-ardous wastes (which are destined for re-use, recycling or recovery operations) to such countries are illegal. It has to be underlined that currently the EU is the most important global entity to have implemented the ban in domestic legislation.

It could be objected that the Basel Convention refers only to international movements of hazardous wastes and its ambit does not extend to ‘ships’. Such critic is built on the opinion that end-of-life ships remain ships till their breaking and cannot be considered as “wastes” at the time of their export. In order to clarify that issue, the Seventh Conference of Parties, asserted that end-of-life ships could be qualified as hazardous wastes under the Basel Convention, if they contain toxic materials. However, po-

NICOLA MULINARIS / LLM


entered into force (Norway, for now, is the only ratifier), was finalized on October 2008 and adopted on May 2009. The so called “Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships” aims at ensuring that vessels do not pose any risks to human health, safety or the environment when being dismantled and recycled. It contains significant improve-ments, such as upgrading the regulations concerning transfers of end-of-life ships.

First of all, thanks to this new framework, Parties to the Convention will become the main global players in the field of information sharing due to the fact that they should report and share information. This regards, for example, annual lists of ships recycled within the juris-diction of a Party and violations of the Convention. Such mechanism will certainly provide for easier monitoring of exports and compliance. Furthermore, the Hong Kong Convention is characterized by a “cradle to grave” ap-proach, wherein it regulates construction, maintenance, design, and operation of vessels and requires the upkeep of an inventory of hazardous materials. This procedure can eliminate the generation of toxic elements during the period of operation of ships.

In spite of these enhancements, the above-examined instrument is not exempt from legal gaps in its provisions. Firstly, it does not apply to all types of vessels. This is a significant lacuna: warships, for example, which contain a vast amount of toxic wastes because of their huge size, are outside the scope of the Convention. Secondly, it creates a clear disincentive against States signing the Convention by not prohibiting any trade of wastes between parties and non-parties. Lastly, no responsibility for the presence of hazardous wastes is allocated to the ship owner or to the flag State, who should normally clean the vessel prior to export.

It can be concluded that the current legal instruments used are not yet able to prevent all the environmental and social damages caused by ship breaking. In order to protect the rights of all stakeholders - workers, companies, and the environment - a better balance should be con-ceived. Owners, together with their associations, should become less tolerant to dangerous scrapping practices. Governments should create or implement their own national policies, work towards a better harmonization within the global context, and strengthen the dismantling capacity of countries. International organizations should provide technical and financial aid to recycling states. Researchers should intensify their activities in the field. Prima facie this scenario seems intricate due to the fact that there are a lot of interests at stake; per contra it is the only path the global community should take in order to preserve the ecosystem. Only through better cooperation among all the global players will it be imaginable to miti-gate environmental damages.

tential legal gaps in the Convention could be found. The majority of ships are illegally scrapped in Asian countries due to their maneuverability and the relative incapacity to know whether they will be sent for breaking or not. Ship owners can hide the fact that their ship is destined for breaking until after it enters the country of destination. Hence, an owner could sell the ship through a broker or sell it directly as a “common sale of a ship,” and the vessel will be declared ready to go to a breaking operation only right after the trans-boundary movement. In this way, the provisions can be bypassed.

In practice, merchant ships rarely comply with the afore-mentioned instruments. Specific legally binding interna-tional rules on ship recycling are proposed in the draft of the Hong Kong Convention, which constitutes a response to the loopholes of the Basel Convention regime. The draft was developed with input from the International Maritime Organization (IMO), relevant non-governmental organi-zations, the “International Labour Organization” and the parties to the Basel Convention. Its text, which has not yet

1. PHOTO: STEVE MCCURRY2. PHOTO: JANA ASENBRENNEROVA

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OPINION

‘THE HIDDEN COSTS OF OUR DINNER’

TEXT: JILL VAN DE WALLE PHOTOS: COURTESY OF CREATIVE COMMONS, HEINRICH BOLL FOUNDATION THE MEAT ATLAS

The Environmental Impacts of Industrial Animal Farming

The global demand for meat is increasing. During the last 50 years, it increased rapidly in Europe and North Amer-ica, where the demand is now stagnating. However, global demand is still increasing due to the growing middle class in countries such as China and India, where the population is eating and demanding more and more meat. Many other rapidly emerging countries are following the same pattern. It seems at first glance that the rising global population correlates with this growing demand, however, population growth plays a minor role. The difference is made by the globally growing middle class, who eat and demand the most meat. Most of this global meat is produced through industrial animal farming, which is the fastest growing method of animal products production. Such industrial systems today generate 74 percent of the world’s poultry products, 50 percent of all pork, 43 percent of beef, and 68 percent of eggs.

Industrial animal farming, or factory farming, is the indus-trialized production of livestock for human consumption by big multinational companies. Through high density and systematic production, companies seek to reach the highest output with the lowest possible costs following the econ-omies of scale model. Many small farmers have gone up in big industrial farm chains, using techniques of modern machinery and biotechnology. It is clear how the number of animal holders has decreased, while more animal prod-ucts are produced and the slaughter weight of animals has greatly increased. Industrial farming poses many questions concerning animal welfare, human health and the environ-mental impacts of its practices.

For this article I will not focus on the slaughterhouse ethics, government subsidies, chain company production or any other of these related fields. Though these topics also deserve our undivided attention, I want to focus on the fact that diet is not a private matter. The food you eat has real effects on people, the environment and the climate. There are effects we simply do not think about before we purchase and devour a one euro steak.

Environmental impact

Damage to nature is hardly possible to measure in mone-tary terms. This is due to many factors such as the delayed impact of certain actions, for example, water pollution and erosion, which do not appear on the sticker price we pay in stores. Another problem is that damage often occurs far away from the cause, and thus its source and cause are hard to connect through regulatory means. It is almost impossible to give a complete picture in a few pages, but I will present several examples and parts of the big picture.

Nitrogen pollution

Intensive livestock production calls for an increasing need for food for all these animals to grow up into brightly pink supermarket meat. In this growing livestock food indus-try, over-fertilization is a big issue. In the European Union (EU) for instance, between 1985 and 1995, the area which was used for agriculture has decreased by 2,7 percent, while the output has increased by 5 percent. This is done

23

‘THE HIDDEN COSTS OF OUR DINNER’The Environmental Impacts of Industrial Animal Farming

by increasing effectiveness through making the soil as nutritious as possible. High school biology told us that minerals are removed from the soil by plant growth and they need to be replaced for renewed nutritious soil. Now-adays, instead of rotating crops, fertilizers are used. Nitro-gen from mineral fertilizer is the major source of mineral input in the EU and is becoming increasingly important in the regions where demand is growing rapidly, such as Asia. Excessive Nitrogen surpluses, which is the difference between input and removal by crops, pose a threat to the environment, polluting water, air and soil. This nitrogen is also released from animal manure, which is nowadays not primarily used for fertilization but simply disposed of, putting this nitrogen out in the environment.

These actions have big effects on the environment. First of all, much of this nitrogen and phosphorous pollution, especially from animal manure, is lost through air in the form of greenhouse gasses which are, as we know, part of climate change. Secondly, nitrogen, which goes into the soil and water, causes the amount of oxygen to decrease, which is dangerous for many reasons. An example is the Gulf of Mexico, where lack of oxygen in the seawater has caused a ‘dead zone’, where shrimp and fish cannot survive anymore. This is caused by the nitrogen washed down by rivers in the United States’ Mississippi basin, where food production and industrial farming is concentrated. The same problem arises in the South China Sea and the seas around Europe. This poses a direct threat to human health as well since nitrates, through polluting the soil and groundwater, contaminates our drinking water.

Ecosystems and biodiversity

Another environmental effect caused by industrial animal farming is visible to us in the disrupted ecosystems and decreasing biodiversity.

A more straightforward example can be found in, for instance, Latin America, where the demand for meat is rising so much, that huge areas of wild nature are cleared to make way for soy fields to produce animal food. This threatens other species and causes deforestation of the amazon. This is just an example of a direct threat overpro-duction poses to ecosystems. Many industrial farms do not produce their own animal food anymore and instead purchase food from the global market, for the cheapest price, which reflects it is most likely not a sustainable op-tion and is likely to be produced in such environmentally destructive ways.

Industrial farming knows no genetic diversity between different animal breeds because of its industrial aspects. Focus lies now on the commercial worth of breeds, which includes factors such as rapid growth and efficient feed conversion. These breeds now require specific protein diets, climate controlled housing and pharmaceuticals to stay alive. One third of the world’s pig supply, 85 percent of traded eggs and two thirds of the milk production come from this very restricted number of breeds. A small number of transnational firms supplies these commer-cial breeds and conducts research in the field of animal genetics. This can be seen particularly well in the poultry sector, where four companies account for 97 percent of

poultry research and development. This small market and the industrializing of the sector has caused a loss of ani-mal genetic diversity and caused a threat to a sustainable way of farming.

Drugs

It is relatively known that antibiotics are widely used in factory farming. They are mostly employed to keep ani-mals alive and for them to endure the conditions in facto-ry farms until they are slaughtered. However, they are also largely used to increase and speed up the growth, because then they will need less food to reach the market weight.

This practice is dangerous because bacteria are now grow-ing to be resistant to drugs that are needed to treat diseas-es in humans. The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that if we keep using antibiotics this recklessly, we could enter a medical era in which antibiotics cannot cure simple health conditions anymore. In this scenario, a simple scratch can be lethal.

The EU prohibited antibiotics to promote growth already back in 2006. However, there is no significant decrease visible. In 2011, 8,500 tonnes of antimicrobial ingredi-ents were distributed for this purpose in 25 European countries. Even worse, the use of antibiotics is legal in most other places of the world, where even more is fed to livestock.

This poses serious threat to the environment and humans. Firstly because resistant bacteria can easily be adminis-tered to humans through the meat itself or other means, posing serious future health risks. Secondly, it also causes more environmental waste, since these antibiotics are part of the left over waste through the manure of livestock and consequently passes into our ecosystems.

Water

Water seems like a straightforward commodity for most of us. However, consumption of water has increased eightfold over the past century, and nowadays 1,1 billion

people do not have access to clean drinking water. The biggest water user, and the biggest cause of this crisis, is agriculture, which demands 70 percent of the world’s available fresh water. Of this, one third, goes into raising livestock. Not because cows are so incredibly thirsty, but because a significant amount of water is necessary to pro-duce their food.

The WWF conducted a study that concluded that it now costs 15,500 liters to produce just one kilogram of beef. This seems to be a staggering amount, but if you look at just how much a cow eats in a lifetime, this is not so surprising. The important fact in this is that a cow raised indoors uses much more water than those that are grazing outside, using the good old natural ecosystem. Industrial farming scores badly in terms of water usage. Addition-ally, as a result, the water pollution industrial farming causes through over fertilization and antibiotics follows.

If the demand for meat continues to rise this rapidly, together with the growing population, also keeping in mind climate change related water problems, more eco-nomic and efficient ways need to be found to use the same amount of Earth’s water. It then does not seem to be wise to pump so much water into raising livestock in such an unsustainable way.

Conclusion

Besides intensively produced meat being unhealthy and unethical as opposed to sustainably produced livestock, it also harms the environment in many ways (including a number of which that were not even discussed). However, eating meat does not have to damage the environment. The environment could easily be protected by globally eating less meat, which is produced in a sustainable way. Individuals can make choices through consumption patterns and groups can push for change. This does not necessarily mean cutting out meat and dairy altogether, which is something most people are not ready for and which would also be unsustainable. It is about being conscious of what your diet consists of, and consequently promoting sustainable farming.

In 2010, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Or-ganization defined a sustainable diets as “those diets with low environmental impacts which contribute to food and nutrition security and to healthy life for present and future generations. Sustainable diets are protective and respect-ful of biodiversity and ecosystems, culturally acceptable, accessible, economically fair and affordable; nutritionally adequate, safe and healthy; while optimizing natural and human resources.”

JILL VD WALLE / LLB 2

For more information regarding this issue: check the sources I have used at the end of the magazine in bibliography.

25

ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL LAW

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OPINION

Next semester, a few students from the LLB program will embark on a law-exchange to China, the first one as such conducted through the Faculty of Laws at the University of Groningen. The country surely is a great destination for an open-minded foreigner, as it is packed with friendly people and interesting and often amusing cultural pecu-liarities. Despite frequent reports on environmental neg-ligence, the country which is roughly the size of Europe is abound in natural beauty as well. Feeling assured that you will all enjoy your stay I shall end my soothing depiction of the Middle Kingdom, and instead grant you a gloomy perception of the environmental situation in the People’s Republic of China. With a population close to 1,4 billion people and an expanding economy, China’s need for energy, raw ma-terials and rare earths is growing. Meanwhile, the pressure on the country to cut CO2 emissions and to protect the environment is increasing. The state of environmental consciousness in China is presently shaped by the coun-try’s economic development, which has had a detrimental impact on the condition of air, water, land, and public health. China has some of the most polluted and dirty cities in the world. A major contribution to particularly air pollution is the large-scale use of coal. The country burns roughly half of the world’s coal which accounted for 65 percent of its total energy consumption in 2013. On several occasions the air quality index of the United States Embassy in Beijing, have simply reported ‘beyond index’. This winter saw several news reports referring to the smog in Beijing and other cities in China as that of a ‘nuclear winter’, affecting not only public health but potentially even disturbing the country’s food supply. Along with its booming economy, China has also seen industrial effluent turn rivers and waterways into lively shades of white and orange, with dead fish, pigs, chickens and ducks floating downstream. As a result of toxic waste, there is a dispro-

portionate high level of stomach, liver, kidney and colon cancer in some towns and villages, and this has led some party officials to adopt the popular term ‘cancer villages’. Deforestation, desertification, and groundwater pollution are just some of the other environmental challenges that add up to this apocalyptic scenery, deteriorating rural livelihoods and severely affecting the health of the popula-tion. The ‘way’ or ‘dao’, a broadly shared concept in Chinese philosophies and religions, states that mankind can only survive and develop by being in harmony with his environment. The simple notion of ‘do no harm to nature’ could sum up the concept in the context of this text. That notwithstanding, Chinese culture is diverse and multifaceted. The human vs. nature struggle for suprema-cy and the idea that ‘man must conquer nature’ is another idea which is deep-rooted in the country’s culture and tradition. Mao and his followers embraced this idea of a ‘battle against nature’, while at the same time persecuting intellectuals and religious groups who had a tendency to value the natural environment. So what do these aspects of Chinese culture and society tell us about the current state of environmental consciousness in China? Aside from being intriguing cultural observations, they may illustrate how a country heavily affected by the heritage of Mao’s era, could wreak havoc on the environment. In the interest of economic development, envi-ronmental negligence has in some ways proved beneficial to China. Economic reforms and rapid industrialization have placed the country second under the U.S. in terms of GDP, and have caused China to become the world’s largest trading nation as of 2013. However, the Chinese population is gradually voicing its concerns and demand-ing its right to a clean environment. Due to an increase in information transparency on the internet, there is a growing number among the public to criticize the status of environmental governance in China. NGO’s have been

A PERCEPTION OF CHINA AND ITS ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

TEXT: ALEXANDER INGARV PHOTOS: WIKIPEDIA COMMONS

1 2 3

OPINION

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founded to address the issue and an increasing amount of demonstrations have taken place. Public concern has drawn the attention of the au-thorities, and in the Government’s recent five-year plans it has addressed the issue and laid down ambitious environ-mental initiatives. The number of monitoring bodies have increased and their powers have steadily strengthened. As for climate change, many people may find it relieving that the topic is not considered to be controversial. In fact, China has enacted several stringent environmental laws and regulations and Chinese law-makers have issued a nation-wide blueprint addressing climate-change.A resident in the city of Shijiazhuang is currently trying to sue the Government for not properly tackling the air-pol-lution in the city. The concerned resident who is also demanding compensation, is said to be the first person to attempt to sue the Government over this issue. The prob-lem is that actual enforcement of the law remains largely unpredictable. The legislative system is reportedly incomplete, laws on procedure and enforcement are filled with holes, and there are several contradicting regulations. Lawsuits are believed to be rejected in the name of social stability, and corruption ensures that projects receive their permits; illustrating how economic interests prevail. Additionally, environmental-impact assessments (EIA) can be carried out after a construction-project has received its permit, and for projects well underway in its phase of construc-tion an EIA-approval is usually granted. The biggest problem though seems to be that the Constitution is inter-preted as to place the ruling Communist Party above the law. Considering that the Chinese economy is dominated by State-owned enterprises, rule of law thereby comes to a natural shortfall. In view of the aforementioned, our dear pioneer in Shijiazhuang ought to lower his expectations of civil justice. “If every person in China jumped at the exact

same time, the earth would be thrown off its axis”. While I am not going to meddle with science, this childhood saying illustrates China’s considerable global impact. With its roughly twenty percent share of the world popula-tion, China’s economic development and the coinciding environmental degradation is of international concern. A reduction in Chinese CO2 emissions, which traverse boundaries and causes global environmental challenges, is therefore of particular importance to global environmen-tal protection. However, it is only fair that the people of China, or any other country for that matter, reach a level of eco-nomic welfare comparable to that of developed nations. Consequently, the responsibility to cut emissions and pro-tect the environment is not just a Chinese burden. Amer-icans for instance, make up roughly five percent of the world’s population, yet they produce forty percent of the garbage on earth. On average, one American consumes as much energy as thirteen Chinese. Global cooperation in environmental protection seems accordingly more important than ever. In domestic affairs, environmental consciousness is steadily gaining ground in China. There are obstacles such as an incomplete legislative system, a lack of useful regulations, and the absence of an independent judiciary to secure proper environmental governance, but China is increasingly addressing its environmental issues. As real change in environmental governance can only come from within the country, it is crucial that the people of China and their Government continues to strive to protect the environment.

A PERCEPTION OF CHINA AND ITS ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

4

ALEXANDER INGARV / LLB 2

1. PHOTO: YULONG RIVER, GUANXI 2. PHOTO: CHANG’AN AVENUE, BEIJING3. PHOTO: BENXI STEEL INDUSTRIES, 4. PHOTO: SHANGHAI AIR POLLUTION


ANA ARNAOUTOGLOU-AMZA / LLB 1

TEXT: ANA ARNAOUTOGLOU-AMZA PHOTOS: WIKIPEDIA COMMONS

THE GULF STREAM Nowadays, global warming is no longer just a simple theory of what will come to pass should we continue to live our lives with no second thoughts as to how our actions affect the environment. We live in a world where the effects of environmental change are becoming more and more visible and even those who have been denying the existence of such a phenomenon are starting to recognize its hallmarks in their everyday lives.

A considerable step towards reaching sustainable development was taken in 2000 when, following the Millennium Summit of the United Nations, eight international development goals were established. Achieving environmental sustainability is one of those eight goals. For too long we have abused the earth by greedily consuming everything that it has to offer, but we are just beginning to feel the conse-quences of our actions.

One of the theories that is beginning to gather in-creasingly more supporters and gain a more concrete character relates to climate change, and ultimately, the Gulf Stream. One of the main side-effects of global warming would be the melting of the Poles. This would impact the environment in several ways, such as the rising of the sea-level or extreme weather phenomena. But there is a certain effect which is par-ticularly relevant for Europeans. There are those who believe that, should the glaciers and ice caps melt, all the cold fresh water would mix with the salt water and as a result it would stop the continuous rotation of the currents that determine the temperature on Earth.

When it comes to the environment, everything is interconnected and ultimately creates an elaborate spider web. Even a slight disturbance in one area will send ripples across the entire network. That is why it is difficult to focus on one aspect in particular and still take into account various constituent factors, especially when it comes to the Gulf Stream.

In order to fully understand what such a change en-tails, it is important to comprehend how the ocean’s Conveyer Belt works. The Gulf Stream begins at the Equator where the constant high temperatures result in the evaporation of water and, thus, in an increase of the salt percentage of the warm water. The warm water, being of lower density, rises to the top, while the high-density cold water sinks to the bottom of the ocean. The density of the water is also deter-mined by the salinity: the more salt, the lower the density.

The south-east trade wind drives the warm water of the current into the Gulf of Mexico and then north, into the Atlantic. Once the heat is gone the water becomes colder and its salinity increases again; it’s a process which causes the density to lower and the

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water to sink again. The cold water is then pulled back south and so the cycle keeps repeating itself. Scientists fear the ever more likely possibility that the Gulf Stream could come to a standstill due to climate change. However, according to the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), it is unlikely that the Gulf Stream will stop during the 21st century.

Despite the famous saying that history repeats itself, we seem not to be mindful of the fact that we have to learn from the past if we desire to change the future, or in this case, avoid a repetition of history. Al Gore points out that this ‘Gulf Stream theory’ is more than just a mere concept. It has occurred before, during the last ice age when a huge pool of fresh water formed in North America. The only obstacle between it and the ocean was a dam of ice which formed on the eastern border. At one point though, the ice melted and the dam broke, releasing all the fresh water into the ocean. The result was that the salty cold water was diluted and so it stopped sinking. This caused the shutting off of what Al Gore calls “the pump”. As a result, Europe was thrown back into an ice age.

According to the BBC Weather Center, northern Europe and the UK would have the most to suffer should the constant warmth brought by the Gulf Stream suddenly disappear. They estimate that tem-peratures would drop by 5 degrees Celsius. “Recent observations have shown that since 1950 there has been a decrease of 20% in the flow of cold water” and thus support Al Gore’s claim that the Gulf Stream is slowing down and will eventually stop.

In all honesty, we have become accustomed to commodity. We enjoy living comfortable lives and we stop at nothing from making it so. Despite the in-creasing amount of people that become aware of the dire situation we find ourselves in, a process greater than all of us has already been set into motion by past generations and aggravated by our own actions. It is my belief that, at this point, the realization that we soon will be facing the grave consequences of our actions should prompt people from all over the world to take action and give up the techno-centric perspective in favour of a more eco-centric point of view.


TED TALKS: ‘RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS CAN SOLVE THE WORLD’S CHALLENGES’Does it pay for businesses to be good? My empathet-ic answer to this question is “yes”, it does. Browsing through TED, I came across Social Good, inc., a playlist of inspirational talks from professionals operating in the field of business. Their argument is that businesses have the resources to make contributions to the collective good, and that their business princi´ples might even be more effective for creating change than the non-profit sector.

As COO of Unilever Harash Manwani points out in his talk, the entire model of capitalism in which he and his collegues do business, was once built around what “father of modern economics” Adam Smith and Nobel Prize winning economist Milton Friedman put most succinctly: if you continue to operate in your own self-interest, you will do the best good for society. The term ‘invisible hand’ to describe this phenomenon was first coined by Adam Smith in 1776.

Some economists and scholars are not exactly thrilled with the idea of businesses getting involved with solving social problems, because this means that they bend away from their primary objective of maximizing profits. And yet, in a world that’s facing increasingly challenging social problems such as poor nutrition, access to water, climate change, deforestation, pollution and not enough health care for everyone, you simply cannot expect the invisible hand of capitalism to solve everything.

“Profit’s not always the point”, Manwani passionately argues. “When you work for a big company like Unile-ver, you’re not just there to sell soap and soup, but you’re [there] to save lives”. When 2 billion people are using your products on a daily basis there evidently is a larger pur-pose out there. “Small actions can make a big difference”.

In 2012, as part of an annual event called ‘Global Hand-washing Day’, more than 400 employees of Unilever (M) Holdings Sdn Bhd went out on the streets to encourage as many Malaysians as possible to pledge to wash their hands with soap before eating. Lifebuoy, Unilever’s lead-ing germ-protection soap brand collected and contributed RM10,000 towards improving toilet facilities in selected schools throughout the Klang Valley in Malaysia.

Manwari stresses that businesses need to start looking at a fourth component for growth, next to ‘consistency’, ‘competitiveness’ and ‘profitability’ and that’s ‘responsi-bility’. Their business models should be focusing on “how do we make money, and how do we do good?”, so that business value is measured through both economic value and social value.

This talk is in many ways similar to Steve Howard’s TED talk on “Let’s go all-in on selling sustainability” in that global corporations are certainly more than ever, involved and committed to making a difference. “Sustainability has gone from a nice-to-do to a must-do” argues Howard, Ikea’s chief sustainability officer. His goal is to sell beau-tiful, functional and eco-friendly materials such as LED lighting and recycled cotton — both internally and to worldwide customers — challenging other global giants to do the same.

Business school professor Michael Porter explains that business had fallen into the conventional wisdom that it profits from causing social problems. The new thinking, he stresses, is that there’s a deep fundamental synergy between doing social good and maximizing earnings; there is enough evidence that seems to suggest that eth-ical behaviour leads to profits. Companies with healthy employees, safe working environments and sustainable

TEXT: BART VAR DER GEEST PHOTOS: TED

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TED TALKS: ‘RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS CAN SOLVE THE WORLD’S CHALLENGES’products are trusted by their customers and will benefit in the long run. And the reality is that the resources required to solve today’s social challenges are not found within the non-profit sector but within business.

“If we can tap into this enormous resource pool, [that is, the private sector] we can scale, and that’s happening now, finally!” Porter says. If business changes the way it sees itself, and the way others see business, this would allow the solution to become self-sustaining, he argues.

There are some limits to Corporate Social Responsibil-ity (CSR) that Porter did not mention. The most fairly obvious limitation is that it costs money. As worthy as some social action may be, shareholders and stakeholders would much rather invest in the improvement of their business and their employees. The cost of social respon-sibility can also reduce a firm’s efficiency and affect its ability to compete in the market place. How does business retain the right balance between the four components of growth so that it continues to show its commitment to social responsibility without it undermining good compa-ny governance?

The fourth constraint is complexity and scope. Society’s problems are simply too massive and too complex to be solved by even the most socially conscientious company or even by all companies acting together. Of course, as we’ve seen with Unilever, it is possible for businesses to organize small scale initiatives and do social good, but if we are to solve the world’s biggest challenges then the private sector cannot act alone.

Governments, civil society, academia and the “third (i.e. not-for-profit non-governmental) sector” should work together with companies to identify the need for CSR-ac-

tivities, to motivate the development of CSR strategies and to help realizing these strategies. As the UN High-Level Panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda, argues in its report: we need to move to a new era of global partner-ships based on “a transformative shift towards a new spirit of solidarity, co-operation and mutual accountability”.

There are already initiatives pointing in the right direc-tion. The Tropical Forest Alliance, a partnership consist-ing of the governments of the USA, Norway, Liberia, UK and Netherlands, and the Consumer Goods Forum – a global network of 400 companies with a combined £3 tril-lion turnover – is committed to zero net deforestation by 2020. Another partnership called Grow Africa Initiative aims to scale up nutrition in Africa by developing part-nership initiatives to promote investment in the agricul-tural sector in several African countries.

Let’s face it; the main purpose of business is and will always be profit, and we can’t blame corporations for this. And yet, this doesn’t mean that firms cannot be socially responsible and should not go all-in in selling sustain-ability. The private sector makes up three quarters of the global economy and has a great deal to contribute to the development of the communities of which they are a part. If we are to promote social inclusion and safeguard the planet for future generations, than businesses should start playing a serious role in making this happen.

TED.com is a great platform for spreading ideas, information and knowledge! If you ever happen to be surfing around on their website I recommend watching Dan Pallota’s talk on charity and Ed Yong’s disturb-ing but hilarious talk on suicidal crickets and zombie roaches. Have fun!

BART VD GEEST / LLB 1


LIFE AFTER

GRONINGEN Fritz Samuel Böhm studied International and European Law and International Re-lations in Groningen from 2009-2012. During this time he was an active member in the Nexus Debate Union. After his graduation he worked at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg (France) and the International Institute of Humanitarian Law in San Remo (Italy). He is currently completing his Master’s degree in Human Rights and Humanitar-ian Action at Sciences Po Paris.

After I had come back from an epic exchange semester in Buenos Aires and started my LLB thesis, I was aware that the moment would come where everyone would ask me this one, horrible question – “So…What’s next?” Starting a Master’s degree, job-haunt, internship, or taking it easy and travelling? Having just come back from extensive travels in South America and with the ambition to see how human rights work really looks like in practice, I played with the thought of combining the latter two options during my year after graduation. A chat in Pinteleer with Nexus-grand-pa Johannes Löfstrand finally confirmed my persuasion that taking a gap year right after my LLB would be a good choice.

After some months of applying pretty much everywhere I was selected for an internship at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg and a Leonardo da Vinci-scholarship. I stopped counting how often I had to answer the notorious question before and during my work in Strasbourg: No the Council of Europe has nothing to do with the Europe-an Union! Working at the major body promoting human rights, democracy and the rule of law in 47 countries on the continent was an experience that pretty much changed my career ambitions. After half a year of working for the Congress’ monitoring committee on local and regional human rights protection and a lot of partying with over 80 interns from all kinds of academic disciplines and univer-sities, I had a very clear idea of what I wanted to do, and most importantly what I didn’t want to do. I was captivated by my daily work, which mainly comprised of research on the human rights situation in the respective member states and attending heated debates between the 47 ambassa-dors and hearings just around the corner at the ECtHR. In detail, I evaluated a country’s compliance with the Council’s Charter of Local Self-Governance, developed thematic foci for the monitoring visits of my committee, and ultimately assisted in the drafting of reports and recommendations that were forwarded to the Congress of Local and Region-al Authorities. When the day of my good-bye had come I felt that the work at the Council of Europe had opened my eyes in terms of my own preferences. Monitoring work,

international law research and human rights advocacy were all topics I did not only like to study but also passionately worked with on a daily basis. At the same time, I realized that I was actually very young, inexperienced and that I lacked the essential knowledge on how International Rela-tions really worked. My work made me realize that the LLB had provided me with legal skills that were comparatively advanced for a Bachelor’s degree. Nevertheless, I felt the urge to understand the greater socio-political picture that would shed light onto states’ impetus for submitting to an international legal regime (or not…), particularly in regard to human rights issues.

During the following weeks I postponed a second-ment-contract at the Council of Europe, denied offers for Master degrees at the Graduate Institute in Geneva and the Diplomatic Academy in Vienna and bought a plane tick-et to South-East Asia. While travelling for some months through Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand I intu-itionally accepted the offer for a masters in Human Rights at Sciences Po Paris and instead of thinking of possible career choices I focused on spicy curries and other things.

Only after a week back in Austria, I packed my stuff again and went a couple of hundred kilometres south to San Remo, Italy. For 4 months I worked as an intern at the International Institute for Humanitarian Law, which is lo-cated only 45 minutes from Nice, on the Italian side of the Cote d’Azur. Strategically situated at the border of the two countries, in the compound of Alfred Nobel’s former sum-mer residence, the most important training and research institute for International Humanitarian Law provides seminars for members of armed forces, diplomats, academ-ics and NGO staff on a whole range of subjects including Refugee Law, Peacekeeping operations and most notably the law of armed conflict.

Next to doing considerable research activities, I had the opportunity to extend my knowledge in a whole range of issues that had interested me since my last year in Gron-ingen. My time at the institute also provided me with a

TEXT & PHOTOS: FRITZ BÖHMFRITZ BÖHM / ALUMNI

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Feel free to contact me for any ques-tions you might have, even if it’s just about where to get some cheap crêpes in Paris ;) !Fritz ([email protected])

1. COUNCIL OF EUROPE - STRASBOURG2. UNITED NATIONS - GENEVA3. RIO DE JANEIRO - BRAZIL 4. HOI AN - VIETNAM5. COPACABANA - BRAZIL

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good chance to meet professionals and academics that worked in fields on which I had had an eye. It is beyond doubt that going to the beach every day after work, brush-ing-up my Italian and starting the day with an awesome 80 cent espresso also contributed to this experience. Above all however, I realized that going to Paris and starting a Master’s degree - which would that allowed me to combine international law and human rights with a political science component - was what I really wanted to do and it was also the study that I needed to do in order to work in the ambit I was most interested in.

When I hopped out of a night train on a cloudy Monday morning at Gare de L’Est in Paris I felt that the Dolce Vita would be on pause-mode for the next months. On paper Sciences Po Paris (Institute d’Études Politiques de Paris) is a Grande École that is the de facto-entry ticket for French students into the political and diplomatic world. Of the last five French presidents, four went through the Institute

programme directors of Human Rights Watch or Doctors Without Borders give the majority of all human rights courses. After two semesters I am now sure that I want to continue working for an international organization in the domain of Human Rights monitoring and advocacy as well as to complete a PhD in International Law. As part of my upcoming third semester, I will again head to Latin Amer-ica so as to complete my master thesis in cooperation with the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) on the Peace vs. Justice dilemma in Transitional justice pro-cesses and its implications on victims’ rights.

To be honest, with Paris I have finally found the city in which I could definitely spend some more years of my life. Once one has overcome the truly terrible room-haunt and leaves aside the handful of ultra-touristy hangouts it is a city that is simply magnifique. An abundance of culture, arts, underground scenes, a multicultural vibe, beautiful quarters, parks and a perfect public transport system make

d’Études Politiques, and only one president left Sciences Po without a degree, due to his repeated incapacity to pass the obligatory final English examination. Anyways, Carla Bruni is perfectly fluent in French. The 2-years master program in Human Rights and Humanitarian Action is one of several specializations at Sciences Po’s Paris School of International Affairs (PSIA) that offers a – little bit too job-oriented – interdisciplinary curriculum including lan-guage courses and regional and thematic concentrations.

My concentrations in Latin American studies, Refugee issues and intensive Portuguese courses match well with my interest in Transitional justice processes and advocacy against impunity in South America. While I could finally take some useful non-legal courses such as World Politics or History of Humanitarian Intervention, the core cur-riculum equally offers stimulating seminars in the ambit of International Law i.e. Ethno-political Conflict and Law or War and International Order. Suitably, Human Rights advocates or former UN staff members, such as the

it my favourite city to live in. And no, if you know the city just a little bit, daily life is by no means more expensive than any big city in Europe (except for probably your rent).

Looking back, I am really glad to have made the Gron-ingen-experience, and of my choice to finish the LLB program. I firmly believe that combining it with other dis-ciplines, participating in associations and volunteer work, and most importantly being curious and open-minded is what’s key to finding your own path after graduation. By now I have been able to experience myself that having a legal education, irrespective of its thematic focus, is an incredibly useful basis that permits you to adapt rapidly in all kinds of academic and professional settings. Most im-portantly however, the unique time in Grun’N allowed me to make wonderful friends, learn some new languages (ik hou nog steeds van nederlands!) and have an intercultural experience that broadened my horizon and simply made me an incredibly happy person…!


ALUMNI

LIFE AFTERGRONINGEN

Christina Hitrova graduated the LLB in 2013. During her stay at the RUG, she was actively involved in Nexus, first in the creation of the first yearbook and then as the Coordinator of Ex-ternal Affairs, balancing it with Honours College classes. Her other activities included (and still do) arguing over political and philosophical topics late at night and singing karaoke.

TEXT & PHOTOS: CHRISTINA HITROVA

After I graduated from the LLB I decided to dedicate a year of my life to gathering practical experience through various internships. In doing this, I followed the advice of another LLB and Nexus alumni - Johannes, and I am definitely happy I did so. This has allowed me not only to gather strength, before diving deep into a carefully chosen Master, but also to fill in the gaps of the academic studies with regard to the practical implementation and use of the sciences we studied. After this year, I feel much more confident in the direction I want to take, as well as in my general abilities to deal with working life. I came back to my home city – Sofia, Bulgaria and it has been a lot of fun. While going out has certainly been part of the deal, here are the useful things I have been doing:

Since diplomacy was the reason why I chose the LLB, I began my internship experience with the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where I worked for the Di-rectorate on Common Foreign and Security Policy. This gave me an inside look in the work of the Directorate, and the process of preparation of a country position with regard to the Council of Europe meetings, as well as the inter-Directorate relationships within any governmental institutions, which perhaps we rarely think about. I did research on topics, which ultimately went into the con-siderations when Bulgarian positions were molded, and learned much about the global approach necessary with regard to the international relations sphere.

My second internship was at one of the first NGOs in Bul-garia, created right after the fall of the communist regime in 1989 - the Center for the Study of Democracy. Despite its name, this NGO encompassed a variety of different programs - a sociological, economic, legal and security one. I was in the economic program, dealing with energy security and international competitiveness, both topics of huge importance for Bulgaria and therefore very inter-esting to me. Because I was the only member with legal knowledge, I received tasks for preparing analysis of the national and European legal frameworks and their effects on energy security, as well as dove into infringement pro-ceedings against Bulgaria. Moreover, I was also involved in some data analyzing, which was very useful due to my expanding interest in the economic area. I participated in the research and writing of their Good Governance in the Energy Sector report for 2013, which was a great experience. I got to learn a lot about international NGO cooperation, the national and international impact of think tank papers and reports, as well as much about var-ious national and European projects. Additionally, there were quite a few international interns at the CSD, which brought back all the memories from the international life and introduced me to new people to rediscover Sofia and Bulgaria with. Needless to say, we studied hard and we partied hard and we still keep in touch.

While doing the above-mentioned two internships, I

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Feel free to contact me with any questions or to meet for a beer in Sofia, or anywhere where my LLM happens to be.

[email protected]

1. PLOVDIV2. UNDERGROUND BAR, SOFIA3. NATIONAL THEATRE, SOFIA4. LLB REUNION 5. COMMISSION FOR PROTECTION OF COMPETITION 6. INTERSHIP AT CSD

CHRISTINA HITROVA / ALUMNI

filled some of my free time with doing part-time research for the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, as I wanted to continue learning about Human Rights and I wanted to contribute to this field in Bulgaria especially. Through this, I had the chance to work on two reports, sent in to the EU Fundamental Rights Agency - one regarding discrimination and xenophobia and one about child protection. The work was interesting due to its social implications and especially due to the current situation in Bulgaria at the time - the incoming Syrian refugees and the nationalistic backlash, something that disappointed me, and I saw in my work a possibility to contribute to a change.

Finally, I am currently doing an internship at the Bulgar-ian Commission for Protection of Competition, which deals with Competition law, in the Directorate on Legal Analyses and Competition Policy. This is one of my favor-ite experiences so far, due to the field of the work and the skills I am learning, which fit perfectly with framework and policy analysis, which we have learned in the LLB. So far, I have had the opportunity to contribute to a com-parative report on the competition legislation of 8 Balkan countries, including Bulgaria, which will be presented at the Sofia Competition Forum 2014. Besides learning theoretical stuff, I really appreciate having the chance to see how an independent state agency fulfills its tasks. The hidden things, like administrative and bureaucratic work, although seemingly boring, contain important procedur-al safe-guards and are interesting for me as a, hopefully, future legal professional.

Throughout all these internships I have met nothing but friendly and welcoming colleagues, who were happy to have a new eager apprentice to teach and to share the workload with. As long as I was asking questions and de-manding more tasks, they were happy to answer. This also made me look at my country in a new way. Having stayed abroad for 3 years and only experiencing Bulgaria as a student before, now I saw the complicated work which many state bodies and NGOs do and the interactions within the society. Bringing back what I learned in Gron

ingen and figuring out how it applies to the practice in Bulgaria was a very gratifying experience by itself and the skills I acquired on the way were a huge bonus. And most of all, as long as I wanted to work, I could always find something to contribute to. The climate and friendliness in Sofia were two additional and welcome motivations.

The LLB and Nexus experience has been among the most rewarding in my life, however, in my opinion, the true fun begins afterwards. They have taught me valuable skills about research, learning things on your own and trusting your common sense to finish tasks, which may seem difficult at first. The feeling of learning how to use this knowledge in practice and getting to know the people and methods that produce the documents and reports, which we use in our academic studies, has been wonder-ful. I am definitely happy that I took a year off after my Bachelor to gather this experience and would recommend it to anyone, who isn’t sure yet exactly in which field(s) he/she would like to specialize. I, myself, feel more de-termined, mature and certain now and love how many wonderful people I have met through these internships.

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OPINION

DESTYA PAHNAEL / LLM

“WE ARE BETTER OFF WITHOUT YOU”

Almost sixteen years have passed since the so-called ‘reformation’ of one of the world’s biggest archipelagic states: Indonesia. The reformation started with a con-tinuous demonstrations, accompanied by several acts of vandalism, in addition to hate and racial crimes that took place in the period of May to September 1998. Many reported on the situation in Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta, during the reformation and described how the incident completely disabled the city. However, only few people knew (or perhaps few cared) about the reformed situation in the eastern part of the country, Papua. The events that took place in Papua constitute a dark page in history, and that’s why Papua later became known as “The Black Island”.

I still remember the goose bumps that I got when my father came home one day and said that the situation in Biak - one of the biggest cities in the western part of Pap-ua - had escalated to a “code black”. Having been raised in a family of law enforcers, I knew exactly what code black meant. To put this into perspective, we can make a comparison with Jakarta, which had only ever risen to a “code red” (a lower level than “code black”), even at the height of the crisis in May 1998. When there was “code red” a woman could not walk in the main street of Jakarta without getting raped by a random protester. At “code red” Chinese families - or whoever looked Chinese - were killed on the streets after having to watch their properties get burned down to the ground. Only God knows what happened to the Papuans when the “code black” status was issued.

As it turns out, only God did know what happened in Papua at that time. I remember that several journalists who tried to write about what happened in the area went missing. As did a politician, who tried to spread a cam-paign in order to stop the sadistic treatment of Papuans. My parents tried to contact our relatives in order to find out what was really happening, only to get their calls an-swered by frightened voices giving vague answers. It was not until several years later that I found out that this “code black” in Biak was being referred to by the international community as the “Biak Massacre of 1998”.

The massacre in Biak was committed against the people who were considered by the Indonesian government to be part of the “Operasi Papua Merdeka” (Free Papua Move-ment), a separatist movement whose goal was to bring independence to the native Papuans. Lots of ordinary citizens were mistakenly believed to be involved with the movement, as they were “supposedly” related to the rebels according to the Indonesian government. Several heads of regions, chieftains, teachers and even religious leaders were kidnapped and tortured, with a number of them ending up murdered - all done in the sacred name of “national integrity”.

Apparently, the massacre is only one of the many severe human rights violations that were committed in West Papua for the sake of national integrity. Rape was repeat-edly used by Indonesian forces as a weapon to get infor-mation, pursuant to their military objective. West Papuans also had to live through the constant fear of having their

A PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE ON THE UNKNOWN CONFLICT BETWEEN WEST PAPUA AND INDONESIA.

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“WE ARE BETTER OFF WITHOUT YOU”A PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE ON THE UNKNOWN CONFLICT BETWEEN WEST PAPUA AND INDONESIA.

residence – to be more accurate, more likely their hut or tent - ambushed and torn down by Indonesian military forces during the middle of the night, during one of the force’s “sweeping operations”. This was done because they believed that the Free Papua Movement was distributing weapons to the regular civilians so that the latter could ambush the military. Often these operations ended up spiraling out of control and the forces were “pushed” to fire their weapons at the people. This caused the deaths of more innocent civilians, including women and children. More frequently, this kind of operation was actually used as a set-up to target a certain group of people amongst the civilian population.

Sadly, that was not the first time that the West Papuan population had received hostile treatment from the government of Indonesia. West Papuan people have been forced to deal with constant abandonment, racial discrim-ination, and natural resources extractions ever since they “agreed” to join the Republic of Indonesia in the 1991 ref-erendum. A major human rights violation that occurred, and that is still ongoing today, in West Papua is the Indonesian government’s denial of the West Papuan rights to development. The government hides behind the classic excuse of “Papua-is-an-isolated-territory-with-geograph-ic-contours-that-make-infrastructure-development-dif-ficult”. The Indonesian government refuses to develop buildings that are urgently needed by the people. It is general knowledge for every Indonesian that one can only find one school and one hospital in a radius of 5.000km of land, and that is if one is in a considerably good area. Pap-

uans, and especially West Papuans, are born in a land rich in gold and natural metals, yet they grow up in extreme poverty, are collectively uneducated, and are left to watch as aliens dig up their land and rob their natural treasures.

All these violations, forms of discrimination and hostili-ties have led the Papuans, in particular the West Papuans, to wish for separation from the Republic of Indonesia. The idea has actually never left their mind, since they have always known that they do not belong to this coun-try. Almost all Papuans can tell that West Papuans are slightly “different” from the rest. The indigenous people in this area will demonstrate that the cultural and historical values that they have are in many ways similar to those of the people of Papua New Guinea, and differ from those of the people of Indonesia. Anthropologically, West Papuan culture is rooted in what has been documented as a part of New Guinean cultures. I personally don’t think that this a coincidence.

Anonymous sources relate this fact to the mass killings of the indigenous groups that lived in West Papua before the referendum was held. This was done to “conform” the region, to make it become part of Indonesia. The ultimate aim was, of course, to reach the desired result of the refer-endum, as wished for by the Indonesian government, but this cannot be proven legally. In any case, that would only be an issue if this case ever reaches an international court of law. Until then, ‘the black island’ will remain clouded by an unsolved, blood-stained mystery.

TEXT : DESTYA LUKITASARI PAHNAEL PHOTOS: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS


GOSIA MLEK / LLM

SOON TO BE GRADUATES: FEW TIPS ON HOW TO GO ABOUT THE WORST MOMENTS IN YOUR LIFE

MASTER

When the editor in chief, Christian Skrivervik, asked me to write something about job searching for the magazine, the first title that came to my mind was “don’t do it”. I was going to write about how frustrating, disappointing, exhausting, time-consuming, and even schizophrenic it can be when you have two documents opened up on your laptop, one in which you’re filling in an “app” to Greenpeace, and in the other, an app to Shell. And how your self-esteem drops and your cover letters become bolder, ever more filled with your so-called “fantastic experiences”, “pro-active thinking skills”, and “deepest ambitions”.

Then, I wanted to describe how you yourself start believ-ing in all the things with which you are trying to con-vince the recruiter, especially the fact that this REALLY is your dream job. That makes it all the more painful when you get an email starting with “unfortunately”. But then I thought to myself that it would bring very little value to just moan about the hard time every soon-to-be graduate will need to confront. Therefore, instead of complaining, no matter how poetic and sarcastic this might sound, I have decided to prepare a list of tips that everyone who is about to embark on the worst adventure of their lifetime, could use. Some of them might sound cliché or appear to be fairly obvious to you, but these are subjectively the most important things that you’ll need to remember.

1. Start earlyFirst of all, if you are about to graduate this summer, you are already late. If you are aiming for a job at a corpora-tion, their recruitment for September starts in September the year before; unless you are considering a City law firm, where they are probably currently recruiting for the next century (or maybe 2017). But nowadays even smaller companies prefer to recruit in advance, because in this way they don’t risk rushing their decisions. So do try to think about jobs beforehand, especially because at the end of the final year you will probably be extremely busy

with uni work. And just to scare you a bit more, it is much better to have a job (any job!), a graduate scheme, or at least an internship figured out before you graduate. That is because if you do not succeed immediately and you stay unemployed for a while, some future employers may ask you about that gap and... well, it does not sound so good to say “I started too late”.

2. Tell everyoneSeriously, the best thing to do is to make sure EVERYONE knows that you are looking for a job. Make it your status on Facebook. Call your uncles, your parents’ friends and even your high-school teachers. Insert that information into every conversation you have. You never know when someone will know somebody who knows something about a company which is looking for new employees. And most importantly, companies are more likely to hire someone who got referred to them by a person they know and trust. Just think about it, if you were a manager of a company, wouldn’t you prefer to hire a candidate your friend recommended over someone you only met for a twenty-minute interview?

3. Get to know the vocabYou would be surprised, but there are a whole lot of new words related to job searching that you might want to get to know. Competency based interview questions, networking, numerical tests (that we, lawyers, dread so much...), logical or verbal reasoning tests, assessment cen-tre etc. (1) Perhaps most of you know what these tests are, but it’s worth pointing out because knowing your enemy’s language is the first step to success.

4. Test test testDo the tests. When you see in the description of the recruitment process that the employer will include a nu-merical test – practice it beforehand. If you take the risk of submitting the test after doing it for the first time, you will most likely fail. It’s as simple as that. Many practice

TEXT & PHOTO: GOSIA MLEK

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tests can be found on the internet, so you’ll have plenty of opportunities to familiarize yourself with them. They are usually timed (apart from the decision making ones) and the only things that employers actually check is whether you are able to prepare yourself properly, and whether you are able to take the test seriously. Also, it’s a fantastic method of getting rid of 70% of the applicants! Don’t get tricked, be smarter – prepare!

5. Consider your optionsAs an International Law student, you graduate with very little prospects of becoming a real court lawyer (unless you succeed in the application to the City law firm, for that 2017 intake, of course – they basically recruit anyone who has their desired skills and then they educate them). This is why there is no clear-cut career path that you and your classmates could follow. Start thinking about your career at an early stage; try different internships to figure out what your skills and weaknesses are, and to find out what interests you the most.

6. Graduate schemesThink about graduate schemes. Corporations usually offer these, and they come with both advantages and disadvan-tages. On the cons side you’ll find longer working hours for example. However, the grad schemes give you massive opportunities to learn, and you are not expected to have any previous experience because they will teach you ev-erything you need to know about the particular area you were recruited for. No matter if it is a graduate scheme or not, you should always check what the employer is actual-ly offering. For example, whether overtime is paid (you’d like that...), and what happens if you fail an exam (yes, you can get exams at work too!). This is especially the case in the UK where you normally work towards a Diploma in something. If you fail, you often have to pay back what the company invested in you, and if the darkest scenario comes true, you might get fired and buried in debts.

7. Research research researchIt may seem like a cliché, but I must mention it. If you are starting an application, make it company-specific. Omit general terms. Don’t recycle cover letters. Research what exactly they do and what their perfect employee profile would look like. Maybe you know someone who works or worked there? Maybe you can contact them on LinkedIn? Tried JobCrowd? WikiJobs? Go there, do research, get in contact with people who went through the same applica-tion process and get tips from the most successful ones.

8. Link it InA LinkedIn profile is a must. Make it look fabulous. Post show-off articles from The Economist (because, obviously, it is your usual morning lecture), brag about your success-

es, put a gentle-smiling professional-looking picture on your profile and LIKE everything you think may be useful to get yourself seen.

9. Liking employer’s Facebook profile/Decent facebook profileWatch out: there are spies out there. Employers often ask you to “like” their profiles on Facebook, but this may not just be a matter of marketing, but also of... spying on can-didates. By doing so you are making yourself easier to find and the contents of your profile might be visible to the recruiters. And, as all of the students in Groningen know, some things are better left undisclosed. So maybe make your drunken pictures visible for “friends only” and avoid posting that you absolutely HATED the application to that firm. Well, because haters gonna... have no job.

10. Get friendly with NEXTAt most of the universities there are careers services that are supposed to help and advice students. Our career ser-vice might not be the most visible among other University organisations, but it can certainly help you by giving you for example a free CV check. I even managed to schedule a mock interview with them, and it was free of charge!

11. Consider the European Union (EU)I never meant to suggest any specific employers in this article, but the EU is really a fantastic choice for people graduating from International Law. Research deadlines for European Commission, European Parliament, and if you are an LLM, maybe even European Central Bank. They pay ridiculously well, you get all the possible benefits an employer can offer, and their applications are not as painful as the level of EU bureaucracy would suggest. And you might have an advantage if you come from a country which is under-represented in the European structures. So do it!

There really is a lot more to say about this new field of study that I and many classmates and friends of mine are becoming (still unemployed) experts at. But I would just like to drop this last piece of advice: STAY POSITIVE. What employers are really look for is confidence, and this comes from optimism. It is extremely hard, but try to imagine that everyone needs to go through it at some point, and the harder you try and the more you practice, the bigger the chances are that you land your dream job. Remember that nowadays being pro-active is the way to be, and that no job will come to you on its own: you need to get out there and chase it down. With a smile! Good luck!


“You who are so-called illegal aliens must know that no human being is illegal. That is a contradiction in terms. How can a human being be illegal?”

‘I AM HERE FOR A REASON’ – ALIGNMENT FOR DIGNITY

On February 14th, fifteen individuals lost their lives in Ceuta, Spain during an attempt to cross the border between Morocco and Spain. This tragedy marked the beginning of ‘I am here for a reason’ – Alignment for Dignity.

‘I am here for a reason’ – Alignment for Dignity is a student initiative that was founded with the intention to raise awareness of the situation of refugees at the external frontiers of and within the European Union. We are a group of students in Groningen, open for anyone to join, that was created to fight ongoing racism and to express our solidarity towards those suffering from the European Union’s migration policy.

Most importantly, we are concerned about the situation of those individuals who seek protection in the European Union, but who are instead left in disastrous conditions. When we began our research, we were shocked to dis-cover the secrecy surrounding the issue of refugees and asylum seekers in the European Union, which comfort-ably hides their ongoing human rights violations under

the caption of ‘border security’. All people in the Europe-an Union have the right and the responsibility to know what is happening inside and on the external borders of Europe. History has taught us that if one remains a bystander for long enough, one can easily become an indirect supporter of certain practices. Thus it is of utter importance that as many people as possible are informed and stay informed about the situation of migrants.

Regarding the external borders, we speak for example of the situation at the Mediterranean frontiers of Europe, where those seeking protection are often killed in their attempt to cross the European border. The latest incident that attracted most public attention was the Lampedusa tragedy: 300 individuals lost their lives in an attempt to enter Italy.

Regarding the situation of migrants within the EU, an example of a disastrous situation can be found in Greece, where racism makes the life of refugees a day-to-day struggle. In Bulgaria, Syrian refugees are left in abandoned places, without access to health care or basic

- ELIE WIESEL

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“You who are so-called illegal aliens must know that no human being is illegal. That is a contradiction in terms. How can a human being be illegal?”

‘I AM HERE FOR A REASON’ – ALIGNMENT FOR DIGNITY ORGANISATION

LILY KATHER / LLM

LEONIE JEGEN

needs coverage. This is also a problem in The Netherlands, where illegalized people face ongoing violations of their fundamental rights and find themselves put in detention centers with no access to the outside world while they await deportation. In general, poor conditions in detention centers – that can be found all around Europe and that have been established by the European Union - result in a high number of suicides.

In more general terms, we are concerned about the European Union’s security based approaches towards migration. This is, amongst others, demonstrated in the Eurosur programme, a border surveillance system which started on the 2nd of December 2013 and allowed - using a budget of 224 million Euros - the employment of drones, high-res-olution cameras and offshore sensors. More-over, we are disturbed by the inhumane and degrading situations in which refugees and asylum seekers find themselves in, not only at the borders of the EU but also in the Union itself.

Hence, we urge for a revision of the Dublin Regulations and the operational activities of Frontex with regard to human rights viola-tions caused by the current border regime.

We call for the abolition of Eurosur, which promotes an increasingly security-centred approach towards migrants who are seeking protection at the frontiers of the European Union.

We demand the end of the externalisation process of the European border regime, fos-tered by a European mobility agreement, i.e. transferring the responsibility to of dealing with asylum seekers to Morocco and Turkey.

Lastly, by organizing informative events, such as documentary screenings, guest lectures or discussion rounds, we aim to contribute to a changing discourse on migration, character-ized by an increased respect for human rights and human treatment and an alteration of the perception of migration as a threat.

Our first step of alignment took place in the form of a public remembrance display that consisted of fourteen candles placed in a circle around the town of Groningen in The Netherlands, in honor of the victims that died on the coast of Spain.

In March, we organized a screening of the documentary film “The Land Between” and this was followed by a discussion with the director. We hope that many similar events will follow in the future. For May, we have planned a fundraising party for Freedom Not Frontex, a European wide movement which is organizing a march from Kehl, Germany via Strabourg, France to Brussels, Belgium. This is where the European Council meeting will be setting new guidelines for freedom, secu-rity and justice, and among these guidelines figure the European migration policies. This march will be an opportunity for individuals ‘sans papiers’ to show their dissatisfaction with the current European migration policy.

As a group, we meet on a regular basis to research the current legal framework and its implications, to inform about the issue, to connect with other activists and activist groups world-wide and to discuss the newest legal and political developments concerning migration.

If you are willing to join us or stay informed about our actions, please con-nect with us via facebook (http://www.facebook.com/Iamhereforareason) or email ([email protected])

TEXT & PHOTO: ALEXANDRA LILY KATHER & LEONIE JEGEN


DEBATE :Foreign Policy of Russia regarding its Former Soviet States

With the recent crisis in Ukraine, Russia’s foreign policy regarding its former Soviet States has again become part of a global debate. The former Soviet States are the Baltic States, the Cen-tral Asian states, the East-Central European states and the states in the South Caucasus. These states gained their independance from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in the early 1990s and since then conflicting interests have caused difficulties between Russia and the other former Soviet States. For this issue, the relationship between these states will be discussed by several students who are from Latvia, Moldova, Georgia and Russia, and who can therefore include their personal perspectives in this debate.

EVIJA BUTANE / LLB 2

Latvia, the country where I come from, gained its independence in 1991 after the collapse of the Soviet Union. However, it is hard to say that Latvia’s economic dependency on Russia, for instance regarding trade, had been minimized. This did not decrease until their entry into the European Union in 2004 and, more recently, their entry into the Eurozone in Janu-ary 2014.

To be honest, I think that for the Baltic countries it is almost impossible to maintain com-plete political independence, since its economies are, to a large degree, influenced by Russia from the east side, and controlled by the EU from the West. Although entry into the Eu-ropean Union clearly indicated which route Latvia wanted to pursue, its trade balance is still dependent on relations with Russia. For example, Latvia imports virtually all of its gas from Russia, whereas exports to Russia amount to 8% (which seems a small number at first glance, but in reality, for a country with a small economy, it plays a big role). It must also be kept in mind that Russians form the largest ethnic minority (up to 30 %), and therefore the public opinion of what is better for the future of Latvia is divided.

In my opinion, despite a large amount of euroscepticism, it is still a better option for the Bal-tic States, or at least for Latvia, to continue integration into the European Union. It not only provides better opportunities for Latvian workers and students, but it also gives a stronger more sense of security. The latter is especially relevant with regard to today’s situation, since a lot of people express their concerns that in the future, Baltic States might experience the same fate as the Crimea.

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Foreign Policy of Russia regarding its Former Soviet StatesDEBATE

TEXT: ARCHIL BEGIASHVILI / AIDA ZIGANSHINA / MIHAI AFRAM / EVIJA BUTANE PHOTOS: COURTESY OF CREATIVE COMMONS

MIHAI AFRAM / LLB 3

All Former Soviet States (FSS) were weak economies after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, reliant on the old system. Because of this background, the FSS needed to preserve a state of coexistence, economic collaboration and political closeness with Russia even after 1990. For the Russian Federation, the intervention into other states’ internal affairs became a custom that outlived the Soviet Union’s dissolution.

The Russian-Moldovan bilateral relations will serve as an example of the dynamics of their foreign policy. Moldovan exports rely on the Russian market because (1) it is a large market, (2) it has knowledge of the quality of Moldovan products, and (3) it accepts lower stan-dard production compared to the EU market. Russia exercised its influence over Moldova’s external affairs with the economic blockade of wine, right before the EU Association treaty was to be signed between Moldova, Ukraine, and the EU. This put pressure on the Moldovan economy, but it did not prevent it from signing the treaty. Russia’s influence over Ukraine is more potent, and it led to more dramatic consequences.

The dominant strategy for the FSS is to have good diplomatic relations with both the EU and the East. However, the EU has recently offered better deals for Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine and these countries have already chosen EU integration as their political track. It is a purely rational choice, because the EU will:- Grant more financial support (based on the pre-integration phases of Romania and Bulgar-ia);- Give FSS access to a larger market and the Customs Union; and - Promote democratic reform and a more superior legal order capable of defending Human Rights.

Based on Russia’s political feedback, it seems difficult for FSS to keep pragmatic working relations with both the East and the West. Russia should step back and give FSS the ‘closure’ they need and realize that it is incapable of promising an EU-level of welfare when its own social, economic and political realities are in terrible shape.


ARCHIL BEGIASHVILI / LLB 1

Despite the enormous amount of support that former Soviet States have been receiving from the international community and from international organizations, Russia still finds a way to create constant instability in the region. Political turbulence hinders the economic and social progress of former Soviet States and it impedes on their integration with the western world. Cooperation with Russia was a much desired, yet challenging task for most former Soviet States; keeping an independent political course while maintaining its healthy relations with Russia ended up being impossible. Russia’s colonial attitude towards the former Soviet States remained wholly unchanged. For seventy years, Russia pursued its own interests without ever considering the interests of other Soviet States. When decisions made by former Soviet States were not in accordance with Kremlin’s views, Russia would, for example, introduce trade em-bargos, deport nationals, and allow tensions in conflicting regions to escalate.

Russia has established autonomous units (autonomous republic or autonomous districts) on ethnic grounds in almost every former soviet state. During the 70 years of Soviet Union his-tory, Russia has promoted discord and strife in each of these autonomous units; such units act like time-bombs, capable of triggering ethnic conflicts and destabilizing the at any given time. The Georgia - Abkhazian and South Ossetian ethno conflicts, the Armenia –Highland Kara-bakh ethno conflict, and the Moldova-Transnistrian ethno conflict serve as perfect examples of this. In such regions, Russia increases the number of Russian citizens by illegally issuing Russian passports. Furthermore, when an ethno conflict escalates, such as in the Crimea, Rus-sia moves forward to ensure direct military annexation of the independent country, with the casus belli of defending its own citizens.

By using all kinds of legal and illegal instruments against its neighboring states, Russia con-trols and misappropriates all effective economic levers, such as railways, sea ports, natural resources (key gas pipelines, high voltage electric transmission lines), energy generative and related energy objects, as well as companies owning the licenses to natural resources. When needed, Russia uses such economic levers to manipulate its neighbours.

The United States and Europe have always been seen by former Soviet States as a panacea when it comes to solving their difficulties with Russia. And yet, recent developments in the Crimea clearly demonstrate that the Western World is unable to control Russia using diplo-matic means. This was a clear message to the former Soviet States, that they’ll have to resolve their problems with the Kremlin on their own. Even Ukraine, the largest of them all, turned out to be helpless against Russia’s aggression. There’s a little bit of hope left that other states will be able to pursue an independent and western-driven political course. The ancient Greek saying “Wise to resolve, patient to perform” seems to be the best political guideline when you look at the current political condition of former soviet republics.

“Anyone who doesn’t regret the passing of the Soviet Union has no heart. Anyone who wants it restored has no brains.”

Vladimir Putin

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“Anyone who doesn’t regret the passing of the Soviet Union has no heart. Anyone who wants it restored has no brains.”

AIDA ZIGANSHINA / LLM

The Russian Federation has often been accused in recent years for its imperialistic desires. I believe that there is no ground for such accusations. Most of the time the West tends to mis-understand Russia’s actions, still seeing Russia as the Soviet Union. Even though Russia is the successor of the USSR; there is a big difference between Russia and the USSR.

In the 90s, Russia chose a completely different course for development: different economic and political systems, different ideology, and a new constitution. But what truly happened at that time was that Russia was treated as the loser of the Cold War. Since the Warsaw Pact failed to exist it had to come up with something else; the Commonwealth of Independent States sound-ed like a good idea back in the 90s when the USSR states still considered Russia as an “older brother”.

If you see what Russia was like in the 90s, you would notice a weak state full of terrorists, se-cession movements in the richest regions, no working economy, poverty, alcoholism and other problems. Russia was unable to remain a strong actor in international politics. But when gas and oil prices hit a record high, even corruption didn’t stop Russia from developing. Russia’s desire to be strong again grew, and it did not want to be seen as a third world country, hav-ing to accept everything that the USA had to offer. When talking about Russia, I personally believe that the West’s main problem is its misunderstanding of Russian mentality. It is differ-ent from anything else and it would be irrational to ignore that fact. Russia is ready to suffer an economic disadvantage, but is not ready to accept itself as a weak state. While the West considered Gorbachev as a good politician, no Russian would agree with that.

While Russia was weak, the USA did not waste its time. The moment when Russia “woke up” it was surrounded by countries which did not consider Russia a “brother” anymore. Former USSR countries wanted to become NATO members and there weren’t many options left for Russia. Russia lost it chances with the Commonwealth and with its military partners.

However, it would be wrong to say that there is no cooperation in that field anymore. Russia still provides billions of dollars to Common Wealth States (CWS). Also, Russia cooperates with CWS for the production of military equipment. Moreover, a Customs Union was created between Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. Of course, the cultural and historical background plays a major role in these relations.

While the West mostly discusses failed policy cooperation between Russia and Georgia, Ukraine, and Moldova, there are still good examples of successful cooperation between Russia and the ex Soviet states. Russia sees the cooperation of these states with NATO as a threat, and this is the reason behind Russia’s actions in the past ten years.

President Vladimir Putin is not trying to create a new version of the Soviet Union. He is sim-ply trying to make of Russia a state whose voice also counts. Although I do not agree with the actions Putin takes, Russia wants to be strong, it is as simple as that.


The Shinawatras

Thaksin Shinawatra, our ousted Prime Minister and brother to Yingluck Shinawatra, our “current” Prime Minister (PM), whose parliament has been dissolved. Thaksin came to power in 2001 and his policy of “30 Baht for every disease”, which made medical treatment more affordable, was a great hit among the rural areas. He was accused of conflicts of interest due to his family’s holdings in Shin Corporation (a telecom business). It was reported that he used his influence as PM to bring business to Shin Corp (which is illegal). He finished his term, and got re-elected in 2005.

So where did he go wrong?

His repeated insults towards the Royal family (also illegal), all political and state bodies who were against him, and only promoting and giving high ranking jobs to people in his party, got on the wrong side of many Thais and broke a few laws in the process. The breaking point was when the Shinawatras sold their share of Shin Corp to Singapore, ensuring tax evasion. This basically meant that they had sold one of the country’s biggest telecommunications company to another country. The Bangkokians and mostly the South of the country were very angry about this because of the effect this sale had on the country’s economy (billions of Baht going directly out of the country). These reasons and more led to protesting and eventually to the military coup in 2006. The situation escalated very quickly simply because red shirt protesters who came into Bangkok were setting up barracks and burning down the city.

Thaksin was found guilty by the constitutional court for

corruption charges and his political party was dissolved. Once the judgment was passed, Thaksin fled the country into a self-imposed exile (It is unclear why he was not under arrest or prevented from leaving the country). To this day he complains that he cannot come “home”, because if he ever enters the country again he will be imprisoned for 6 years for the crimes he has committed.

Democrats won the next elections

The Democrats policies were aimed more towards increasing GDP and having to fix the wrongs and debts left behind by the Thaksin regime. This made them unpopular in the rural areas, who still very much love Thaksin, because there was no direct attention and money coming their way. More polit-ical turmoil arose and sadly his Majesty the King was caught in the middle, as Thaksin was still ranting through Skype to his Red shirts to overthrow the monarchy. The King is the highest power in the Kingdom which is a problem because Thaksin wants to be top dog. The main reasons why it is dif-ficult to get the red shirts to see reason, and understand why their actions are negatively affecting the economy, is because the red shirts have generously provided these rural villages with several gifts including satellite television which only receives red shirt approved news. This is also mainly why the Democrats did not win the next round of elections because their support base was a lot smaller than the red shirts’.

Yingluck!

Our first female PM, a marvelous step forward for woman’s rights! Sadly, she is nothing more than puppet for her big brother and this is very obvious! How did a puppet come

Before getting into this long story, I am afraid there are some aspects, usually cultural, that people who have never been to Thailand (or even Thai people themselves) will not understand. I will try to keep things as simple as possible, but what the reader must remember is this:

Red shirts = Shinawatra supporters. The majority consists of farmers from the north whose votes can easily be bought, and because rice farmers are usually always in debt - they will easily sell their votes. Also the rural villagers are easily influenced by the village heads who are generously paid to literally bring people by the truck-load to either vote Shinawatra, or to demonstrate.

Yellow shirts = Democrat supporters and supporters of the Royal family. Mostly people from Bangkok, businessmen,- and the South as they are mostly dependent on tourism and the businesses derived from it, so the country being strong and economically stable is important.

RENATA LANDOLT / LLB 3

OPINION

WHAT IS GOING ON IN THE LAND OF SMILES?TEXT & PHOTO: RENATA LANDOLT

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into power? The Shinawatra family is a very influential and rich family. They hold shares in the country’s most successful companies and banks, and get their support as mentioned from the North, and the North has a bigger population.

Why is her government now under attack?

1. She is such an embarrassment! The leader of the coun-try who knows nothing about what is going on, she keeps telling the press she does not know or turns around to the ministers to ask for the answer.

2. Rice pledging scheme: governments have always sup-ported the rice farmers by giving them a price guarantee on their crops. This scheme usually manages to cover its costs through exports. However, Yingluck promised to pay almost 50% over world market price for rice, and you don’t need to be an economist to figure out if you buy something at 50% above market price you will not be able to re-sell it at a profit because other rice producing countries will be selling at a cheaper price (the market price), this means foreign countries will chose to not buy Thai rice. Apparent-ly, the Yingluck government thought they could control the market price but seemed to forget that Thailand is not the only rice producing country.

3. Amnesty Bill: another controversy. The bill would have granted a pardon for all political crimes from the begin-ning of Thaksins regime to 2010 and violating the rule of law. This means his charge on corruption will be wiped away, all red and yellow shirt protesters imprisoned for murder, political crimes and burning down the city will be pardoned. The bill passed the lower house but was found to be unconstitutional and stopped by the upper house. The government claims that they will not try to bring the bill back.

4. Unfair dismissals: like her brother, she likes to give the most prestigious jobs to people from the party, with no afterthought as to the repercussions this will have to the country. A red shirt supporter replaced the previous director of Thai Airways. Before this change Thai Airways made a prosperous profit year after year, after the change it needed government funding to help cover losses.

Demonstrations against Yingluck’s government began around November with demonstration stages set up in var-ious key locations across the city and the closure of several government complexes. The biggest rally was during the “Shut down Bangkok” rally when approx. 3 million people took to the streets of Bangkok to peacefully demonstrate. A significant difference between the current demonstrations and those during the Coup is that the Yellow shirts are do-ing it peacefully - whistles are blown (which is annoying),

flowers are handed out to the police (who are under Thak-sins payroll), and people are singing and dancing in the streets with several celebrities making guest appearances and performances. Furthermore, the demonstrations were paused during the week of His Majesty the Kings Birthday, the demonstrators took hoses and cleaning equipment’s to clean the demonstration sites so it can be decorated to celebrate His Majesty’s Birthday.

However, once demonstrations began again the red shirts, now quite desperate, retaliated with force by attacking Ramkamhaeng University with armed men, shooting at students; this attack ended as a hostage situation. The army, who have vowed to not be involved, and the Kings guard, later came to rescue the students. Additionally, the red shirts have hired guns from neighboring countries, such as Cambodia (Thaksins strong hold), to pose as yellow shirt protesters to plant bombs and violently attack the police. This would have provided Yingluck’s government with and excuse to use force against the yellow shirt demonstrators.

As mentioned Yingluck, after several months of protesting and her government forcing her not to, finally dissolved her parliament. The February elections appeared to have been successful, as no new government has been formed. This is because the yellow shirts refused to let the elections take place, as the political players were exactly the same! They wanted a people’s panel to be formed so that reforms in the political system can be made. The main point of reform include personal responsibility - currently policies that are aimed for election purposes only, such as paying 50% over market price for rice, are implemented because once the current administration finishes its term it receives no repercussions for any negative impact it has done to the country. So a new rule is to be formed to create liability.

Yingluck refuses to allow a peoples panel to be formed, and offered her government to implement the reforms. The yellows did not allow this because there is not guarantee that Yingluck will make the reforms, and if she does, her government will ensure that it will never affect them.

Currently, the demonstrations are still occurring, but on a smaller scale, and Yingluck’s government is still dissolved. There are still problems in the country which she does not solve with the excuse that she does not have the full powers of a PM to do so due to her cabinet being dissolved. The main problem right now is that the rice farmers have not been paid for the rice sold to the rice pledging scheme since before the demonstrations began. They are now even more in debt and have joined the yellow shirts in demon-strating against Yingluck, while several have taken their lives due to debt. She uses her “go to” excuse as to why she is not paying what her government owes them, but still re-fuses to step down so that a proper government or the peo-ple’s panel can take power in order to solve the problem.


What will become of our United Kingdom? For over 300 years, Scotland and England have defiantly stood shoul-der to shoulder, from the trenches of the Somme, to the inception of the NHS, and the crowds of the 2012 London Olympics. Together, great things have been achieved. However, this may soon be nought but history. On the 18th of September the people of Scotland will vote in a referendum to decide upon the future of our position within the United Kingdom. Campaigning has been intensifying in recent months, and is certain to continue right up until polling closes. Both sides of the debate have, often justifiably, had accusations levelled relating to the use of underhand methods of influence. One must look only so far as the timing of the referendum to comprehend the intricacies of the politics involved. The end of June will herald the 700th anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn, which for those unknowing, is the Scottish Battle of Thermopylae, with the only difference being we achieved heroic victory, as opposed to heroic defeat, naturally. A multi-million pound, publicly funded, visitor centre is set to open on the battle site in time for the anniversary, including the op-portunity to: “take part in an interactive BATTLE GAME led by the BATTLEMASTER”, and kill the English for the glory and freedom of Scotland. Furthermore, the utmost is bring done to ensure that our youth is aware of this euphoric banishment of invading forces, by increasing the Battle’s prevalence in the curriculum across Scottish schools. Soon after, the 2014 Commonwealth Games are set to be staged in Glasgow, and then the referendum will take place just before the 2014 Ryder Cup at Gleneagles, riding atop the crest of a wave of manufactured national pride. Howsoever, this is not to suggest the pro-Union campaign, “Better Together”, has been unerring. Allega-tions of scaremongering have been well-founded, with unconfirmed reports claiming members of the campaign team refer to it internally as “Project Fear”. Regardless, the oft-mentioned “negative” strategy is not as perverse as some claim, it is merely the natural role to be fulfilled. The Union is the status-quo, and thus its positive aspects, and potential future benefits, are already portrayed by the

general political discourse of the UK. This rears to the topic of UK politics, and the common nationalist argument that independence would allow us to escape from the stranglehold of a Conservative-led, Westminster government. This is a position that is inveterately flawed, primarily, because inciting major constitutional changes, as a result of a temporary, democratically elected gov-ernment, is short-sighted in the extreme. Additionally, in contrast to what The Guardian may suggest, the current government is actually rather competent, and have so far guided the country in a more than satisfactory manner. Without delving to far into a different debate, a few figures to evidence this include: the steep fall in crime, by over 10%, to its lowest level in recorded history; a stable econo-my, growing at the fastest rate since 2007; unemployment falling quickly, now at 7.2%, well below the EU average; and a budget-deficit shrinking at one of the fastest rates in the developed world, with austerity measures highly praised by the IMF. It is not incorrect to state that Scotland and En-gland have, to a certain extent, different political cultures and ideals. However, this should not necessitate such a nuclear option as independence. Whatever has happened to the democratic values of compromise, and collectivism? It is without doubt that the general interests of a person living in northernmost Scotland differs greatly to those of much of urban London, however, these issues can

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BATTLE OF SALMONGRAD:

be addressed by devolution, and the distribution of power to local authorities – something the largely centralist, Edinburgh focused SNP, has proven to be against. In this regard it may be important for one to note that the islands of Orkney and Shetland, situated off the North coast of Scotland, and as far away from London as possible, both in terms of geography and political interests, have advocated holding a referendum of their own soon after the main referendum, in which they will opt for either remaining in the UK, joining an independent Scotland, or forming their own state. The single most important issue upon which the Scottish people will base their vote, as evidenced by sev-eral polls, is the economic situation. There are some who claim that this referendum should be decided on issues transcendent of economics, instead using terms such as “fairness”, “equality”, and “better society”, however often these are still, in basis, economic arguments, merely fo-cusing solely upon the spending and distribution of funds. Currently, Scotland provides 9.4% of UK revenue, while receiving 9.2% of public spending in return. Clear? Not at all, when one is to exclude the current UK owned oil reserves, Scotland provides a mere 8.3% of revenues. It is highly unlikely that Scotland would receive the rights to all oil that would technically be within its exclusive economic zone, as the UK believes this to be UK oil, and would look to maintain certain rights to benefit from its exploitation as part of any secession agreement. Further-

more, even if we were to assume stewardship over all oil that the SNP avows we can, production has been falling sharply in recent years, a trend expected to accelerate (38% fall is predicted by 2017-2018, Office of Budget Re-sponsibility). Accompanying this reduction in production are the looming costs of decommissioning many of the rigs and facilities within the North Sea. The outlook predicted in the recent white paper on independence (a 670 page plan for independence produced by the Scottish government) differs greatly, predicting the future oil revenues dragging us into the top ten countries when ranked by GDP per capita, but these figures are massaged at best, and grossly manipulated with intent to mislead at worst, quelle surpise! Aside from taking the absolute top estimations of both reserves left, barrel price, and exchange rates, there has been a myste-rious oversight of the percentage of such wealth that may flow to private, foreign parties. In the form of oil compa-nies, perhaps? In fact, this prediction is double that of the Office of Budget Responsibility, and is so optimistic that the Institute of Fiscal Studies has warned of the potential shortfall Scotland could face as a result of this disparity. This is a true manifestation of the crux of the doubt overshadowing the pro-independence campaign, that they have become so encapsulated by the romantic notion of independence, to which they have devoted their life, that they can no longer consider the issue objectively. The white paper has been attacked repeatedly for some of the complete untruths that it contains, and the unortho-dox granting of votes to easily swayed 16 and 17 year olds, and generally pro-independence resident migrants, while excluding non-domicile Scots, has been likened to ballot rigging. There would appear to be an assumption that the idea of independence is infallible, and that everything possible must be done to effectuate this, no matter wheth-er it is actually best for Scotland. It would be unfair to accuse people who have sacrificed much time and effort to advancing the interests of Scotland of having the intent to harm it, nor would it be correct, however suggesting their views are warped, is not. The reality is that an independent Scotland would probably not become a dystopian wasteland akin to a Mongol ravaged North Korea, nor is likely that we would be an inconceivably wealthy northern nirvana. In fact I have doubts that the average Scot would even notice a difference after independence. However, if we are to take this leap it must not be one of faith, it should be based upon a solid foundation, comprehensive plan and metic-ulous, impartial, weighing of evidence. This, I have yet to witness.

TEXT: RUARIDH MACFARLANE

RETORT

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1. PHOTO: GRAHAM HORN2. PHOTO: MATTHEW REEVE3. PHOTO: BYRONV24. PHOTO: THE SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT

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LET US NOT STEP BACKWARDS


BIBLIOGRAPHY:BUSINESS AS USUAL WON’T DO:

- Climate Report: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), “Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis”, online: IPCC <https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/wg1/>.- Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Kyoto, 10 December 1997, in force 16 February 2005, 37 ILM (1998), 22.- United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 9 May 1992, New York, in force 21 March 1994, 31 ILM (1992), 849.

Journals:

- Lecocq, Franck and Philippe Ambrosi, “The Clean Development Mechanism: History, Status, and Prospects” (2007) 1:1 Review of Environmental Economics and Policy 134.

Books and Contributions:

- Lehtonen, Johannes & Jukka Välimäki, “The difficult problem of anxiety in thinking about climate change” in Sally Weintrobe, ed, Engaging with Climate Change: Psychoanalytic and Interdisciplinary Perspectives (Hove, E Sussex: Routledge, 2013) 48.- Lifton, Robert J., Indefensible Weapons: The Political and Psychological Case against Nuclearism (New York: Basic Books, 1982).- Merchant, Carolyn, The death of nature: women, ecology, and the scientific revolution (San Francisco: Perennial Library, 1982).

Newspaper:

- The Associated Press, “Climate change ‘greatest challenge’: UN chief ” (10 August 2009), available online: cbc news <http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/climate-change-greatest-challenge-

un-chief-1.808303>

THE SHIP BREAKING INDUSTRY: Books and journals:

- Bhattacharjee, S., From Basel to Hong Kong: International Environmental Regulation of Ship-Recycling Takes One Step Forward and Two Steps Back, Trade, Law and Development, (1) 2009, pp. 193-230.- Demaria, F., Shipbreaking at Alang–Sosiya (India): An ecological distribution conflict, Ecological Economics, (70) 2010, pp. 250-260.- Hossain, Md. M. – Islam, M. M., Ship Breaking Activities and its Impact on the Coastal Zone of Chittagong, Bangladesh: Towards Sustainable Management, Young Power in Social Action (YPSA), Bangladesh, 2006.- Pelsy F., The Blue Lady Case and the International Issue of Ship Dismantling, Law, Environment and Development Journal (4/2) 2008, pp. 137-148.- Puthucherril, T. G., From Shipbreaking to Sustainable Ship Recycling: Evolution of a Legal Regime, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, The Netherlands, 2010.

Treaties and documents:

- Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal, Basel, 1989.http://www.basel.int/Portals/4/Basel%20Convention/docs/text/BaselConventionText-e.pdf - International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships, Hong Kong, 2009. http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/ships/pdf/Convention.pdf

Web-links (consulted December 2013):

- http://ban.org/subsidiary/shipbreaking_and.html - http://www.imo.org/about/conventions/listofconventions/pages/the-hong-kong-international-convention-for-the-safe-and-environmentally-sound-recycling-of-ships.aspx - www.basel.int/implementation/legalmatters/banamendment/tabid/1484/default.aspx - http://www.shipbreakingbd.info/Environment.html

THE HIDDEN COSTS OF OUR DINNER:- World Watch Institute, State of the World 2006 report: China and India Hold World in Balance, 2006 < http://www.worldwatch.org/state-world-2006-china-and-india-hold-world-bal-ance>.- European Environmental Agency, Agriculture < http://www.eea.europa.eu/themes/agriculture/intro>.- Heinrich Boll Foundation, Meat Atlas: Facts and figures about the animals we eat, 2014 < http://www.boell.de/sites/default/files/meatatlas2014_ii.pdf>.- European Commission, Agriculture and Environment report: Nitrogen in Agriculture < http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/envir/report/en/nitro_en/report.htm>.- European Commission, Science for Environment Policy, Intensive Farming Methods affect birds and plants in Europe, 2011 < http://ec.europa.eu/environment/integration/research/newsalert/pdf/264na3.pdf>.- Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, Agricultural Policy Monitoring and Evaluation, 2012.- United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, Livestock’s long shadow, 2006.- ETC Group; Keith O. Fuglie et al., Research Investments and Market Structure in the Food Processing, Agricultural Input, and Biofuel Industries Worldwide, USDA ERS, 2011.- EMA, Sales of veterinary antimicrobial agents in 25 EU/EEA countries in 2011, Third ESVAC report, 2013.- A. Y. Hoekstra, M. M. Mekonnen, The water footprint of humanity, Twente 2011. - Nippon Ham Annual Report FY 2011 <www.waterfootprint.org>- United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, International Scientific Symposium, Biodiversity and Sustainable Diets United Against Hunger, 2010 < http://www.fao.org/ag/hu-mannutrition/23781-0e8d8dc364ee46865d5841c48976e9980.pdf>.

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FINALLY WE WOULD LIKE TO THANK ALL CONTRIBUTORS, HELPERS AND READERS FOR MAKING THE COMPLETION OF THIS MAGAZINE POSSIBLE. WE ARE MAKING THIS MAGAZINE FOR YOU - YES, FOR YOU! THEREFORE, WE RELY ON YOUR FEED-BACK, COLLABORATION, INPUT, AND COMMENTS IN ORDER TO KEEP PRODUCING MAGAZINES THAT YOU WANT TO READ. SO, PLEASE BE IN TOUCH! NEXUS MAGAZINE COMMITTEE

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