Laura Mai

What is the Climate? Notes on a Critical Legal Methodology

Tilburg Law Review

Tilburg Law Review (2023)

What is the Climate? Notes on a Critical Legal Methodology

Abstract

In this commentary on Prof. Ralf Michaels’ 2023 Montesquieu Lecture, I ask what it is that legal scholars invoke when referring to ‘the climate’. Drawing on material semiotics and science and technology studies, I argue that it is productive to become attuned to how the climate is in fact a multiple phenomenon which is produced across social, cultural, economic, financial, technological, political, scientific and other domains. Building on this argument, I offer some preliminary reflections on what a turn from ‘the climate’ to multiple climates might mean for developing a critical legal methodology.

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L Mai, ‘What is the Climate? Notes on a Critical Legal Methodology’ (2023) Tilburg Law Review

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Measuring It, Managing It, Fixing It? Data and Rights in Transnational and Local Climate Change Governance

by Laura Mai

Transnational Environmental Law

Transnational Environmental Law (2024)

Abstract

Measuring It, Managing It, Fixing It? Data and Rights in Transnational and Local Climate Change Governance

by Laura Mai

Abstract

The Paris Agreement, related intergovernmental decisions, and transnational climate change governance initiatives mobilize data as a means of measuring, managing, and addressing changing climatic conditions. At the same time, the Paris Agreement formally acknowledges the human rights implications of the unfolding climate crisis. Given the reliance on data and rights in climate change governance, the aim of this article is twofold. Firstly, it analyzes how processes of datafication at transnational and local levels promise, yet struggle, to render the climate governable. Secondly, the article critically reflects on the capacity of human rights to complement datafied governance processes meaningfully – specifically, in what ways rights can (and cannot) alleviate local concerns regarding datafication. Methodologically, the article develops a perspective that foregrounds situated sense-making and experience in place. It is based on an empirical case study of the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy, a transnational alliance of cities that have committed to working towards the goals of the Paris Agreement; and it engages with ethnographic literature that conceptualizes rights as lived forms of meaning-making, articulation, struggle, and resistance. Attending to place, the article confronts problematic assumptions about the universality, neutrality, and representativeness of data and rights, raising critical questions about their capacity to ‘govern’ climate change.

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L Mai, ‘Measuring It, Managing It, Fixing It? Data and Rights in Transnational and Local Climate Change Governance’ (2024) Transnational Environmental Law

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Navigating transformations: Climate change and international law

by Laura Mai

Leiden Journal of International Law

Leiden Journal of International Law (2024)

Abstract

Navigating transformations: Climate change and international law

by Laura Mai

Abstract

The global climate crisis response envisioned by the Paris Agreement is commonly understood as demanding transformative change. International law, however, lacks a holistic conceptual framing for making sense of what such change would entail, how it might unfold, and who and what it will involve. Moreover, there has been little critical engagement with the question of what is at stake when invoking the notion of transformation. Contributing to the broader debate about what the climate crisis demands of international law, this article offers a critical conceptual appraisal of the notion of ‘transformation’. Conceptually, it describes transformative dynamics as processes which work towards radically different states of affairs that seem practically impossible under the status quo, but which could arguably be realized if different conditions were in place. Developing an ontology of transformative change, the article identifies heterogenous temporality, the actualization of impossible possibilities, and distributed engagement as three central features of transformations in climate crisis. Having laid the conceptual groundwork, the article then takes a critical turn and foregrounds unresolved tensions that run through transformation thinking. The aim here is to connect to critical discourses and show how these tensions can serve as entry points for international law to meaningfully engage with the notion of transformation. The article closes by offering some reflections on what engagement with the notion of transformation might mean for international law’s disciplinary identity, rationale, and sense of purpose.

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L Mai, ‘Navigating Transformations: Climate Change and International Law’ (2024) Leiden Journal of International Law

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Orchestrating Global Climate Governance Through Data: The UNFCCC Secretariat and the Global Climate Action Platform (with Joshua Philipp Elsässer)

by Laura Mai

Global Environmental Politics

Abstract

Orchestrating Global Climate Governance Through Data: The UNFCCC Secretariat and the Global Climate Action Platform (with Joshua Philipp Elsässer)

by Laura Mai

Abstract

Since the adoption of the Paris Agreement, the focus of the United Nations climate regime has shifted from forging consensus among national governments toward animating implementation activity across multiple levels. Based on a case study of the Global Climate Action Portal—an online database designed to document nonstate actor climate commitments and implementation efforts—we trace, conceptualize, and assess how the roles of data, data infrastructures, and actor constellations have changed as a result of this shift. We argue that in the pre-COP21 negotiation phase, the United Nations Climate Secretariat strategically used the database to orchestrate and leverage nonstate actor commitments to exert pressure on intergovernmental negotiations. By contrast, in the post-COP21 implementation phase, the Secretariat, in collaboration with climate data specialists, is seeking to develop the portal to track and animate implementation activity. Given these developments, we discuss the potential and limitations of data-driven climate governance and set out avenues for future research.

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Laura Mai and Joshua Philipp Elsässer, Orchestrating Global Climate Governance Through Data: The UNFCCC Secretariat and the Global Climate Action Platform. (2022) 22(4) Global Environmental Politics; pp. 151–172.

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The ‘question of possibilities’ as a leitmotif for re-imagining law for the ‘Anthropocene’

by Laura Mai

Global Policy

Abstract

The ‘question of possibilities’ as a leitmotif for re-imagining law for the ‘Anthropocene’

by Laura Mai

Abstract

The Anthropocene thesis, albeit not an unproblematic starting point, foregrounds the inadequacy of tacitly reproduced assumptions, theoretical dispositions, and conceptual repertoires which have supported a critical mass of legal thinking and praxis. Acknowledging the disruptive effects of the ‘Anthropocene’ for law, my aim in this article is to make explicit that re-imagining law for the Anthropocene requires letting go of dominant ways of thinking and doing law, while enabling more adequate conceptions and modes of engagement to take hold. I suggest that the process of re-imagining law for the Anthropocene requires navigating a space of continuity and break that demands the legal discipline to confront questions about disciplinary identity and responsibility. Reflecting on what the process of re-imagining law might entail and how it could unfold, I propose the ‘question of possibilities’ as a leitmotif and ask: What could law become? In so doing, I map out concrete strategies and commitments which might inspire and encourage engagement with this question. These include: a practice of radical self-reflection, the cultivation of a generative outlook, the acknowledgement of legal multiplicity, and a persistent commitment to meaningful change.

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Laura Mai, The ‘Question of Possibilities’ as a Leitmotif for Re-imagining Law for the ‘Anthropocene’. (2022) Global Policy, 1–11.

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Book Review: Governing Climate Change: Global Cities and Transnational Lawmaking, by Jolene Lin

by Laura Mai

Transnational Environmental Law

Abstract

Book Review: Governing Climate Change: Global Cities and Transnational Lawmaking, by Jolene Lin

by Laura Mai

Abstract

Today, more than 8,000 cities and municipalities in 128 countries are taking action to address climate change.Footnote 1 To share information, build capacity and spread best practices, these cities participate in transnational governance networks – cross-border alliances which rely on voluntary cooperation among members.Footnote 2 By providing an evidence base for decision makers and establishing peer-to-peer learning mechanisms, these networks have the potential to enable city-level climate action.Footnote 3 However, research indicates that, as a result of limited mitigation ambition and weak monitoring processes, transnational city networks may make a less significant contribution to global climate governance than is generally assumed.Footnote 4 Even so, supporters of urban climate action argue that cities can and should play a central role in addressing climate change.Footnote 5 Jolene Lin’s Governing Climate Change: Global Cities and Transnational Lawmaking adds to the debate on whether cities and their transnational governance networks help in addressing climate change. Answering in the affirmative, Lin argues that city networks spread practices and voluntary standards, which eventually develop into ‘norms’ – reference points of appropriate behaviour which possess ‘a quality of “oughtness” that sets them apart from other kinds of rules’ (p. 127). Referring to these norms as ‘urban climate law’ (p. 128), Lin concludes that they positively contribute to global climate governance by complementing and reinforcing the international climate regime that has evolved under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)Footnote 6 (pp. 150–8).

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Mai, L. (2019). Book Review: Governing Climate Change: Global Cities and Transnational Lawmaking, Transnational Environmental Law, 8(1), 193-197. doi:10.1017/S2047102519000013

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Cambridge University Press

Transnational Environmental Law in the Anthropocene

by Laura Mai

Transnational Legal Theory

Abstract

Transnational Environmental Law in the Anthropocene

by Laura Mai

Abstract

Climate change, biodiversity loss, marine degradation and a pandemic have marked 2020. This article introduces a Special Issue that interrogates transnational environmental law in the context of the Anthropocene and invites reflection on the meaning and role of law in light of changing planetary realties. How law interacts with and governs the global environmental problems is a challenge that legal scholars have approached with vigour over the last decade and, more recently, the concept of the Anthropocene has become a topic that researchers have also begun to grapple with. One avenue of research that has emerged to address global environmental problems is transnational environmental law. Adopting ‘transnational law’ as a lens or framework through which to analyse environmental law takes a broader approach to the ways in which law may be assessed and deployed to meet global environmental challenges. The collection of articles within this Special Issue provide a timely intervention into the theoretical and practical approaches of transnational environmental law in a time of significant global uncertainty and environmental crisis.

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Emily Webster & Laura Mai (2020) Transnational environmental law in the Anthropocene, Transnational Legal Theory, 11:1-2, 1-15, DOI: 10.1080/20414005.2020.1778888

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Taylor & Francis Online

(Transnational) Law for the Anthropocene: Revisiting Jessup’s Move from ‘What?’ to ‘How?’

by Laura Mai

Transnational Legal Theory

Abstract

(Transnational) Law for the Anthropocene: Revisiting Jessup’s Move from ‘What?’ to ‘How?’

by Laura Mai

Abstract

In the Anthropocene, legal thinking is challenged to re-envision the ‘human' position vis-à-vis the ‘natural' ‘environment'. To map this challenge, this paper draws on three theoretical perspectives: social-ecological resilience thinking, social systems theory and post-humanism. The paper then explores how Jessup's perspective on transnational law could be applied to further develop legal thinking in the Anthropocene. It proposes that legal scholarship and practice would benefit from revisiting Jessup's move from ‘what?' to ‘how?': Rather than thinking about what (transnational) law might, or might not, be, legal researchers and practitioners are now tasked to understand how law can be mobilised as a tool to navigate our relationship with the planet. The paper concludes that Jessup’s practical, progressive and pragmatic approach provides a useful starting point for developing legal forms, strategies and technologies to navigate Anthropocene realities.

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Laura Mai (2020) (Transnational) law for the Anthropocene: revisiting Jessup’s move from ‘what?’ to ‘how?’, Transnational Legal Theory, 11:1-2, 105-120, DOI: 10.1080/20414005.2020.1776551

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Taylor & Francis Online

Transnational Environmental Law in the Anthropocene: Reflections on the Role of Law in Times of Planetary Change

by Laura Mai

Transnational Environmental Law in the Anthropocene: Reflections on the Role of Law in Times of Planetary Change

Abstract

Transnational Environmental Law in the Anthropocene: Reflections on the Role of Law in Times of Planetary Change

by Laura Mai

Abstract

Anthropocene is the proposed name for the new geological epoch in which humans have overwhelming impact on planetary processes. This edited volume invites reflection on the meaning and role of law in light of changing planetary realties. Taking the concept of the Anthropocene as a starting point, the contributions to this book address emerging legal issues from a transnational environmental law perspective. How law interacts with, and how law governs, global environmental problems is a challenge that legal scholars have approached with vigour over the last decade. More recently, the concept of the Anthropocene has become a topic that researchers have also begun to grapple with by engaging with disciplines beyond legal scholarship. One avenue of research that has emerged to address global environmental problems is transnational environmental law. Adopting ‘transnational law’ as a lens or framework through which to analyse environmental law takes a broader approach to the ways in which law may be assessed and deployed to meet planetary challenges. The chapters within this book provide a timely intervention into the theoretical and practical approaches of transnational environmental law in a time of significant uncertainty and environmental and human crises. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of Transnational Legal Theory.

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Emily Webster & Laura Mai (eds), Transnational Environmental Law in the Anthropocene: Reflections on the Role of Law in Times of Planetary Change (Routledge, 2021)

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Routledge

Harnessing the transformative potential of earth system law: From theory to practice

by Laura Mai

Earth System Governance

Abstract

Harnessing the transformative potential of earth system law: From theory to practice

by Laura Mai

Abstract

Earth System Law has been proposed as an alternative conceptual framework to animate and support more adequate legal responses to planetary change. The emerging Earth System Law literature has sketched the contours of this new legal paradigm and reflected on its implications for the legal scholarly community. However, to date, less attention has been paid to the challenges of harnessing the transformative potential of Earth System Law; that is, its promise to evolve from a theoretically innovative perspective to facilitating positive, on-the-ground change. In this paper, we therefore ask: Which issues and questions will the Earth System Law research community have to engage with to ensure that Earth System Law is able to initiate and drive the processes of transformative change which it purports to support? And, which starting points can we identify for productively engaging with these issues? Responding to these questions, we articulate a theory-to-practice agenda which sets out departure points for working towards Earth System Law finding resonance in practice.

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Laura Mai, Emille Boulot, Harnessing the Transformative Potential of Earth System Law: From Theory to Practice, Earth System Governance 7(2021) 100103

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ScienceDirect

Postdoctoral Researcher

What is the Climate? Notes on a Critical Legal Methodology

Measuring It, Managing It, Fixing It? Data and Rights in Transnational and Local Climate Change Governance

Navigating transformations: Climate change and international law

Orchestrating Global Climate Governance Through Data: The UNFCCC Secretariat and the Global Climate Action Platform (with Joshua Philipp Elsässer)

The ‘question of possibilities’ as a leitmotif for re-imagining law for the ‘Anthropocene’

Book Review: Governing Climate Change: Global Cities and Transnational Lawmaking, by Jolene Lin

Transnational Environmental Law in the Anthropocene

(Transnational) Law for the Anthropocene: Revisiting Jessup’s Move from ‘What?’ to ‘How?’

Transnational Environmental Law in the Anthropocene: Reflections on the Role of Law in Times of Planetary Change

Harnessing the transformative potential of earth system law: From theory to practice