As noted in yesterday’s post, David Farer and I recently went to Cuba as delegates to the XI International Convention on Environment & Development, specifically, the Congress of Policy, Law and Environmental Justice. At the conference, on behalf of ACOEL, we presented our paper, “Lessons Learned: Effective Environmental Regulation of Critical Infrastructure Development & Operation.” Let me share some of the “flavor” of our experience. It is first worth noting that little English was spoken at this quite international conference, but participants got by with assistance by Google Translate. Also worth noting is that many of the conference participants are familiar to us all. For example, those with exhibition booths at the conference included the Environmental Defense Fund, which has made considerable efforts to protect Cuban fisheries; and the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies, Texas A&M Corpus Christi, which is working closely with the Cuban Environmental Agency on research in the Gulf of Mexico. Also exhibiting were Cuban administrative and educational entities, such as the Nuclear Agency and the Institutes of Geology and Paleontology, Physics and Astronomy, Ecology, Science, Sea and Climate, and Meteorology, as well as several entities focusing on sustainability, local food, and climate change adaptation and environmental protection.
Fellow speakers included environmental and energy professionals from the United States, Canada, and Mexico, as well as Columbia, Costa Rica, Brazil, Peru, Chile and Spain. Topics ranged broadly from cultural heritage to mining law; the impact of climate change on urban agriculture; perspectives of ecofeminists; sustainability in urban areas; limits of rights, policy and environmental management; resolving water disputes; methods to establish legally protected areas, particularly coastlines; and approaches to protecting drinking water and defining solid waste for community waste management. Of particular interest to U.S. environmental practitioners were Cuban presentations on improving the regulation of environmentally responsible businesses, the test for environmental damage and its main problems, and approaches to a law of liability to resolve civil damages. Toward the end of the Congress, attendees were invited to the Cuban Bar Association to participate in an analysis and discussion regarding foreign investment and the environment.
The Congress ended with a presentation of the 2017 book: “Environmental Act, Twenty Years Later,” edited by Teresa D. Cruz and Orlando Rey. This 120 page book reviews, in Spanish of course, the history of Cuba’s first framework environmental law of 1997: Law No. 81, the Environmental Law. The story behind Law No. 81 –including information on Cuba’s rich biological diversity, the country’s depth in science and education, and the fact that the law was supported by Fidel Castro – are the subject of Oliver Houck’s excellent article, Environmental Law in Cuba, J. Land Use & Envtl. L. (Fall 2000). Those appreciating Professor Houck’s description of the hard road Cuba traveled to recover its original astonishing beauty after tripping along a precipice of potential environmental ruin would have appreciated the XI International Convention and the passionate arguments by presenters. They should also appreciate the new book commemorating Cuba’s environmental passage.
We are looking forward to ACOEL’s next steps toward pro bono projects with Cuba.
Hurricane Irma Note: As of the date of this posting, the Cuban people – like so many others in the Caribbean and our own country -- are facing a long and difficult road to recovery from the hurricane’s devastation. We hope that the College’s efforts can aid in this process.