Literature Review

In this, the second part of our annual analysis of sustainability reporting practices by US companies, we shine a spotlight on the risk of biodiversity loss to businesses, and the current state of reporting on biodiversity. [...] Biodiversity loss is among the top global risks to society;2 in 2022, WEF forecast it to be among the top-three most severe risks over the next decade.3 The UN reported in 2022 that up to 40% of the world’s land and 66% of the marine environment has been degraded or altered by human damage.4 This damage threatens almost 1 million species5 in what is becoming widely reported as the sixth mass extin. [...] Biodiversity Policy Disclosures Are Low but Rapidly Increasing The impact of biodiversity loss on a value chain is not always immediately felt, and, as such, biodiversity loss remains a blind spot for many companies around the world.10 Establishing and disclosing a biodiversity policy is the first step in addressing the topic, after which companies can begin to measure impact and implement specifi. [...] Even though the US did not endorse the GBF due to concerns over regulation of practices, intellectual property rights, and wealth redistribution,17 it played an important role in shaping the CBD and pushing for the COP15 deal as a member of the 116 country–strong voluntary High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People. [...] Therefore, the specific types of biodiversity credits available can vary based on regional regulations, policies, and the nature of the development.18 Because carbon and biodiversity credits have different objectives, carbon projects may not benefit biodiversity unless diversity is built into the project.

The role of technological innovation in lowering pollution is motivated by the rise of globalemissions. Technological innovation for carbon dioxide mitigation mainly focuses on therole of patents ignoring trademarks. By combining trademarks and eco-patents, this stud)introduces a new interaction term while investigatine the eftects of environmental policyenerey consumption, environmental taxes, urbanisation, and economic growin on theenvironment. The Nonlinear ARDL and OLS methods are used to test the panel eftect, whilethe Granger causality approach is used to estimate country-specific results. The findingschowthat trademarks and eco-patents reduce CO2 emissions: however, energyconsumption, urbanisanon, and economic growin are the primary polluters in oth regions.

Urban expansion has created a structural and ecological modification of the urban fabric, thus leading to complex interactions between land change and land cover. Land is essential for peace and human survival. However, various challenges must be addressed to ensure effective land management in urban areas. Several policies have been formulated to mitigate the effects of unplanned urban settlements in order to boost economic activities. This paper reviewed all the land-related policies in the past three decades and extricated the inherent environmental, agricultural, and economic implications of the policies in cities of Nigeria. Urban land management was conceptualised, while the systemic review was adopted as a methodology. Remarkably, the study revealed that: there are challenges to the documentation of rights to property on land-related disputes; unauthorised land development and inadequate access to developable land for housing led to slum formation and land use conflict; frequent flooding contributed to environmental degradation while rising land insecurity is limiting the achievement of sustainable development goals (SDG 1.3, 2.3, 5.6, and 10). The paper concluded that urban land management policies could not be effective without the comprehensive and interactive processes involving policy makers, urban planners, real estate developers, farmers; land-holding families; land speculators, decision-makers, and researchers while adaptation of modern technologies in land management, sustainable land use control policies on documentation of property rights, access to developable land for housing and open-grazing, mitigation policies on carbon emissions, physical environment, water and air quality were recommended.

This paper presents a novel study examining the effect of a property rights law reform that legalized land transfers on land quality. Using unique Chinese county-level land erosion data, we show that formally legalizing land transfers significantly reduces land erosion. This is an important and surprising benefit of a secure land transfer right to the land resource itself and a positive biophysical spillover to the natural environment that is largely ignored in the existing literature and in the policy making process. We further demonstrate that the land quality improvement brought by the law reform was associated with an increase in farming investments that can improve land quality but are subject to economies of scale. Land concentration made such investments economically feasible. We also show that the land quality-improving benefits are unevenly distributed across regions with different socioeconomic backgrounds. Future land law reforms should consider both the potential efficiency and equality implications in terms of land quality.

Summary/Abstract: Nowadays, there is a noticeable trend aimed at ensuring broad protection of the natural environment – both for the sake of preserving biodiversity and the quality of life of the future generations. However, the related activities of public authorities and private entities often involve limiting the rights of property owners. The Polish Constitutional Tribunal has ruled on the conflict between property rights and conservation of nature. The Tribunal has pointed out that the principles of sustainable development require an appropriate balance between environment protection on one hand and social and civilizational development on the other. In accordance with the previous jurisprudence of the Tribunal, the article will present the limits set for the state’s environment policy in certain specific areas by the Constitution. It is acceptable to establish mechanisms to control the exploitation of plantings belonging to real property. Property owners may be required to obtain permits for their removal, and in the absence of such permits, they may be punished with forfeiture of timber or a fine. However, it is incompatible with the principle of proportionality and infringes the right of owners by arbitrary restrictions or imposed automatically sanctions, without the possibility of taking into account the circumstances. Moreover, the Tribunal has pointed out that the Constitution does not allow disproportionate narrowing down of the possibility to seek compensation for restrictions in the use of real property for the sake of environment protection. Only the two-year deadline for submitting claims in this respect has been considered too painful – too short and impossible to be reinstated for justified reasons.

The Niger Delta region of Nigeria is rich in natural resources, but it has also been plagued by poverty, conflict, and environmental degradation. This paper explores the role of property rights in this so-called "unspoken curse." The lack of clear and enforceable property rights has led to conflict, a power imbalance, and destructive practices. This has created a cycle of poverty and conflict such as conflict over land ownership, conflict over resource extraction, and conflict between communities that has been difficult to break. The paper concluded that the lack of property rights has contributed to environmental conflict, as well as other forms of conflict, including violence and social unrest. Meanwhile, resolving these conflicts will require addressing the underlying issue of property rights, as well as other issues such as poverty and marginalization. The paper suggested among others that the government should ensure the creation of a system of land registration that recognizes both legal and customary claims, and establish a process for resolving conflicts as well as involving local communities in decision-making around oil production and environmental management in order to improve the region's development and sustainability.

This article analyzes the theoretical issues of property liability for damage caused to natural objects of ownership. Particular attention is paid to the definition of such terms as: “property liability”, “environmental harm”, “economic harm”, “classification of property liability for environmental harm”. The general and specific features of legislative acts of the Republic of Uzbekistan in the field of compensation for damage caused to natural objects of property rights are analyzed. The main shortcomings of the legislation in this area are identified, as well as conclusions and recommendations for improving land legislation in the field of property liability for environmental damage are formulated.

The environmentally harmful yet common practice of storing and destroying IP-infringing goods is untenable. This contribution discusses a number of more sustainable alternative remedies that can be considered with the aim of creating a balance between the interests of rights holders in ending infringements and the societal interest in environmental protection, which lies in preventing the wasting of scarce raw materials and pollution of the air and soil. A sustainable IP enforcement practice is very much dependent on the willingness of rights holders and their attorneys to consider more sustainable alternatives. Courts also have a part to play, by applying what is called a sustainability test when examining the proportionality of the remedies and measures claimed by rights holders.

Summary/Abstract: The aim of the article is to examine the theories that underpin the ownership and management of oil rights in Nigeria and the need for a new ownership model. The economy of Nigeria is majorly supported by revenues from natural resources, especially crude oil. With the downturn in the country’s economy, the Nigerian Federal Government recently embarked on a series of crude oil discoveries to increase revenue despite the unresolved violations of human rights of the indigenous peoples and environmental abuses committed during oil exploration in the Niger Delta region of the country. The Nigerian government finds justification for this uncontrolled exploration of natural resources in the doctrine of discovery and the rule of capture. The author argues that basing the right of the Nigerian Federal Government to explore natural resources on the two doctrines has negative implications on the rights of indigenous peoples in Nigeria and environmental protection, and is a continuation of the philosophies behind colonialism. Therefore, the article examines the doctrine of discovery, the rule of capture, the colonial philosophies of property rights, and the legal regime regarding ownership of natural resources in Nigeria. It suggests a hybrid ownership model where ownership is shared between indigenous groups and the government.

If unauthorized resource use is prevented, managing marine resources by allocating property rights may match economic and environmental conservation incentives. However, because of the developing exploitation of marine resources and accompanying pollution, species' living conditions in Europe's waters are changing more quickly than before. By considering the roles of fisheries productivity, intellectual property rights, intellectual capital rights, market size, governance, and economic growth from 1990 to 2022, this paper aims to investigate the dynamic effect of property rights factors on the sustainability of the fisheries industry in 27 European countries. At higher quantiles, the findings showed a significant positive association between governance and fisheries sustainability adopting a new method, the MMQR with fixed effects, the Method of Moments Quantile Regression. In addition, in EU27 nations, the impact of intellectual property rights was favorable and statistically significant from the first to ninth quantiles. The findings show that the EU14 developed nations have more excellent governance and intellectual capital rights than the EU13 developing countries, significantly benefiting fisheries sustainability. In the same way that market size and economic growth condense fisheries sustainability in EU14 developed and EU13 developing countries, it has been discovered that intellectual property rights do the same across all quantiles, supporting the growth hypothesis for fisheries-producing countries. The findings specifically show that the beneficial solid impact of intellectual property rights, market size, and economic development on the sustainability of fisheries is more significant in EU13 developing nations than in EU14 developed countries. These results provide policymakers with helpful information for promoting property rights aspects in EU14 and EU13 nations via effective green technologies in the fisheries sector to meet sustainable development objectives.

The talk focused on the relation between transformative climate action and individual property rights, in particular on tensions between the fundamental right to property and spatial planning law. The rule of law and the classical, liberal structure of legal systems guarantee fundamental rights for individuals, among other also the right to property, the freedom to carry on a business or the free movement of capital within the European Union, all of which might impede the efforts of environmental and climate protection policies. The talk discussed to which extent economic fundamental rights render climate actions impossible or harm its effects.

Predominant water scarcity and environmental degradation in Bangladesh's coastal communities arise due to extreme meteorological conditions, unrestrained water usage, and extensive saline intrusion into both surface and groundwater. This study leverages both quantitative data from a household survey and qualitative data from a Participatory Rural Appraisal to explore the perspectives of 150 official experts and 240 coastal public respondents regarding the implementation of a "Community-Based Rainwater Harvesting System" (CBRWHS) as a sustainable water supply technology in six major coastal districts of Bangladesh. Though CBRWHS surpasses the benefits of an individual harvesting system (IHS) due to its collective approach, high storage capacity, social cohesiveness, environmental benefits, and potential for scalability, findings suggest that the experts identify financial insolvency, lack of technical skills, and insufficient education as principal barriers against adopting CBRWHS. They propose that providing technical instructions, education, and establishing a CBRWHS pilot could serve as effective incentives. While expressing a sufficient understanding of IHS, respondents are willing to adopt CBRWHS only if financial support is provided. Given the residents' experience with IHS, they are cognizant of the financial and technical challenges intrinsic to such systems. CBRWHS, unlike IHS, operates as a shared system with collective property rights and regulations. Majority of respondents perceive CBRWHS as a potential significant mitigation tool against the water shortage situation since the challenges associated with harvesting, maintaining, and using rainwater could be addressed collectively by the user community. Similar to the official experts, public respondents identify a lack of technical expertise, financial constraints, and regulations as the most significant obstacles to IHS adoption. The findings of this study hold substantial implications not only for the local region but also for similar coastal regions worldwide, suggesting a crucial need for the prioritization of community-based solutions to water scarcity within the wider global discourse on sustainable water management.