The UMKC Law Review is pleased to announce a call for submissions relating to International Environmental Law and Sustainability. Selected papers will be published in the Special Topics Symposium, Spring (April) 2025 edition of the UMKC Law Review.

This symposium invites proposals for papers that explore the legal and regulatory issues associated with global environmental concerns and sustainability efforts. International environmental law seeks to manage the profound changes human activity has brought upon the global environment and biosphere by incorporating environmental protection into the global economy and addressing global environmental issues and sustainability.

Since the 1972 UN Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm, international environmental summits like the Rio Earth Summit in 1992 and subsequent conferences in Johannesburg and at Rio+20 have further emphasized sustainability. The Paris Agreement, adopted in 2015, was a key milestone in addressing climate change, with 195 countries pledging commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and shift away from fossil fuels. Other international agreements tackle ozone depletion, conservation of biodiversity, management of oceans, and regulation of chemicals and hazardous substances. And just in the last year, the UN General Assembly submitted a request to the International Court of Justice for an advisory opinion regarding states’ obligations under customary international law to prevent climate change, and COP 28 was held in Dubai marking the conclusion of the first global stocktake under the Paris Agreement.

The evolving global environmental landscape creates a unique opportunity for legal scholars to help shape policy for the future. We are soliciting articles that will address recent treaty negotiations, the effectiveness and limitations of treaties, challenges in implementation and enforcement of such instruments, future prospects of international environmental law, thoughts about the pending ICJ advisory opinion on climate change, the intersection between human rights and the environment, the impact of new technologies on environmental regulation, and other relevant topics.

This symposium will be the final issue of UMKC Law Review’s 93rd Volume and will explore these and related topics with the goal of both advancing awareness and influencing public policy. Articles and essays of all lengths and papers by single authors or multiple authors are invited. Preference will be given to works between 5,000 and 25,000 words. To be accepted for publication, articles must not have been previously published.

First drafts of articles selected for publication are due August 16, 2024, and final papers are due September 20, 2024.

Proposals for papers should be submitted by March 30, 2024, to the attention of:

Tara Janowski at tdj634@umkc.edu (Editor)

Professor Timothy Lynch at lynchte@umkc.edu (Faculty Advisor)

Professor Irma Russell at russelli@umkc.edu (Faculty Advisor)