LeXonomica

The Ethics of Climate Change, Climate Policy and Climate Justice

Elijah S. Sritharan — Wed, 06 Dec 2023 20:42:01 +0100

The fossil fuel industry is the driving force behind our current carbon-centric socioeconomic systems. The industry has imposed fossil fuel-dependent business models and behaviours on the global socioeconomic system. The actions and plans of the industry are far from being aligned with the 1.5°C target set by the Paris Agreement. Moreover, they remain overlooked in the global climate discourse and negotiations. This paper builds its arguments starting from a moral issue: climate change is an ethical failure, and the industry has had a unique role in causing, shaping, advancing, and defending the current unsustainable fossil fuel-dependent global economy, and thus bears responsibility and has duties of reparation to limit consequent harm. This paper examines the various moral principles of rectifying the unjust situation created by the actions that produced climate change. Although the Paris Agreement assigns responsibilities to states, climate lawsuits against fossil fuel companies are also on the rise. This paper helps link legal frameworks and the relationship between climate justice, sustainable development, and environmental human rights to make radical, systemic changes to ensure a sustainable future.

Charting the Course: Total Factor Productivity Trends in Croatia Post-pre-bankruptcy Act

Zdravko Šergo, Jasmina Gržinić, Mirela Sučić Červa — Wed, 06 Dec 2023 22:18:09 +0100

The synthetic control method (SCM) is a valuable tool for unbiased pre-bankruptcy reform analysis in economic policy evaluations. This study utilizes SCM to assess the impact of the Financial Operations and Pre-Bankruptcy Settlement Act (AFOPBS) on Croatia's total factor productivity (TFP). Control units and weights were meticulously chosen to construct a synthetic control for Croatia, creating a counterfactual scenario for the reform's absence. The policy's impact was quantified by comparing TFP growth post-policy between Croatia and its synthetic control. Placebo tests confirmed the results' significance, and further validation was achieved through panel difference-in-differences analysis (PDID). Our findings show that the pre-bankruptcy reform in late 2012 effectively reduced the gap between Croatia and its synthetic control throughout the post-treatment years. However, it had two short-term adverse impacts and a subsequent recovery-like phase. These effects were statistically significant and confirmed by cross-validation. In conclusion, Croatia's pre-bankruptcy reform significantly influenced TFP volatility, highlighting SCM's effectiveness in evaluating economic policies, especially those crucial for economic growth

Protection of an Individual's Information Interest in the Light of Regulation No. 1049/2001 on Public Access to Documents of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission

Katarzyna Tomaszewska — Wed, 06 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0100

The right to information, guaranteed by various legal acts, includes the right to access the content of documentation held by public entities. At the EU level, this right is regulated, inter alia, by Regulation (EU) No. 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council, dated 30 May 2001, regarding public access to documents of the European Parliament, the Council, and the Commission. The act outlines various measures and mechanisms that can be assumed to constitute instruments for protecting an individual's information interest. This article provides an analysis of the relevant provisions, which regulate these instruments. The in-depth characterization aims to enable a stance on the correctness of the protective function attributed to access to EU documentation itself, as well as to its constituent elements.

Enforcement of Choice of Court Agreements Granting International Jurisdiction to Albanian Courts

Flutura Kola Tafaj, Silvana Cinari — Wed, 06 Dec 2023 22:49:43 +0100

This paper aims to critically analyse the formal and substantive validity of choice of court agreements in favour of Albanian courts. The provisions of the Albanian Private International Law and their implementation by Albanian courts are in the focus. However, considering that the Albanian Private International Law provisions are approximated with the EU acquis communautaire and since the provisions on choice of courts agreements are drafted in terms that are fully compatible with the Council Regulation 44/2001 of December 22, 2000 "On Jurisdiction, Recognition and Implementation of Judicial Decisions in Civil Matters and Trade” (Brussels I Regulation), the interpretation of the Albanian law provisions is also done in the light of the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union. After a thorough analysis of the Albanian Private International Law provisions concerning choice of court agreements and of the Albanian case law, the paper concludes that they are not always interpreted and applied correctly and that the rich case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union can provide valuable guidance.