Professor Michael Jeffery, QC

Professor, School of Law
B.A., LL.B (univ. of Toronto), LL.M (Osgoode Hall, York Univ. Canada), QC (Canada)

• Biography
• Areas of Research / Teaching Expertise
• Grants / Current Projects
• Selected Publications
• Contact Details

Biography

Michael Jeffery is currently a Professor in Environmental Law at the University of Western Sydney. He is also Head, UWS Social and Environmental Responsibility Research Group, and part-time Professor, School of Law, Wenzhou University, PRC. A former Dean of Law and Director of Macquarie University’s, Centre for Environmental Law, he brings a unique breadth of experience to his position at UWS. Appointed a Queen’s Counsel in 1978, Michael left private practice in 1981 to take up an appointment as Chair of the Environmental Assessment Board of Ontario. In the past four years Michael has focused on building strong international linkages with leading university environmental law centres and research institutions around the world. He is a much sought after supervisor of PhD candidates in his areas of research and several of his current students have followed him to UWS in order to continue to be supervised by him. Throughout his career, Michael has given his time and utilized his experience and expertise to assist in achieving the goals of several national and international organizations and associations. These include having served as Vice-Chair of the International Environmental Law Committees of both the International and American Bar Associations; Founder and Editor-in-Chief of the Canadian Journal of Administrative Law and Practice; Canadian Section Editor for the Environmental and Planning Law Journal; Elected Regional Governor of the International Council on Environmental Law (ICEL) and Deputy Chair of the IUCN’s Commission on Environmental Law. He is currently the Deputy Chair of the NSW Environmental Defenders Office Board of Management.

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Areas of Research / Teaching Expertise

International and Comparative Environmental Law; Climate Change; Biodiversity Law; Trade and Environment Law; Water Law; Globalisation; Polar Law; Marine and Ocean Governance; Litigation and Trial Advocacy.

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Grants / Current Projects

In recent years Michael has participated as a co-researcher in a number of competitive research projects. These include:
• Governance of Water: An agreement model for Customary Law Governance (2006-2008) Anmatyerr Community, CLC, NT Gov, Pastoralists; $93,000 (co-researcher with Professor Donna Craig and Naomi Rae)
• Cultural Values of Water and Recognition in NRM Process, Structure and Institutions (2004-2007) with Anmatyerr Community, NT Gov, CLC, Macquarie Uni CEL (co-researcher with Naomi Rae and Professor Donna Craig); $310,000
• Christensen Fund (USA) Grant ($78,000 AUD) awarded to Macquarie University through its Centre for Environmental Law - “A Project to Develop Legal Strategies to Strengthen Community-Based Institutions, Customary Laws and Environmental Management Approaches” in Melanesia. Project Directors - Professor Michael Jeffery, QC and Professor Donna Craig (September 2005);
• Murray Darling Basin Commission Grant to Macquarie University's Centre for Environmental Law to contribute research towards Murray Darling Basin Indigenous Action Plan. The purpose of this project was to Identify and Assess Existing Models, Strategies, Processes and Mechanisms that are Suitable Benchmarks for Best Practices in Indigenous Engagement within the Murray-Darling Basin. (2004).

Michael is leading a project team comprised of senior researchers at UWS, the M.C. Mehta Environmental Foundation, Wuhan University’s Research Institute of Environmental Law (PRC) and Teibhuvan University (Nepal) with respect to melting glaciers in the Himalayas from climate change and the resulting impact on major river systems in the affected Regions. Funding is being sought for this major research project over three years.

In addition he will continue to supervise a number of PhD candidates who are researching in the areas of soil contamination, climate change, corporate sustainability in the transport sector; the use of Kyoto Protocol financial mechanisims in the PRC and related environmental topics.

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Selected Publications

Michael’s over 65 publications reflect his broad professional and academic interests and are often cited by fellow academic researchers, legislators as well as courts and tribunals in several countries. Selected publications are listed below:

• Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Policy Options: The Role of Industry in Reducing Australia’s Dependence on Coal, Natural Gas and other Non-Renewable Energy Resources (accepted for publication in the University of Indiana International and Comparative Law Review) 2010
• “Carbon Capture and Storage: Wishful Thinking or a Meaningful Part of the Climate Change Solution”, 27 Pace Envtl. L. Rev. (2010) 1-1, 1-38,; also available at http://digitalcommons.pace.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1571& context=envlaw.
• “Beyond Kyoto: Climate Change Including a Discussion of the AP6 Initiative from the Australian Perspective” in Koh Kheng Lian, Lye Lin-Heng, Jolene Lin eds. Crucial Issues in Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol, World Scientific, Publishing Co. Singapore, (2010), c. 14 at p. 473.
• Book Review – International Law & The Environment, by Patricia Birnie, Alan Boyle and Catherine Redgwell, (2010) 47 Osgoode Hall Law Journal, Toronto, Can.
• “The Impacts of Climate Change on Poverty Alleviation: Managing the Risks” Carbon and Climate Law Review, 4/2009 at p. 483, Lexxion, Berlin Ger.
•  “Integrating Sustainable Development into Global Institutions: Reforming the United Nations” (with Donna Craig), Chinese Journal of Population, Resources and Environment, (2009) Vol. 7, No. 4.
• “Marine Biodiversity Issues Associated with High Seas Governance: the Oceania Perspective”, Oceanis, Vol 35n 1-2, (2009) at p. 187
• Non-Lawyers and Legal Regimes: Public Participation for ecologically sustainable development (with Donna Craig)) in David Leary and Balakrishna Pisupati eds, The Future of Environmental Law, UNU Press, 2010 at p. 103
•  “Terrestrial Area Management in Polar Regions: Applying the Ecosystem-Based Approach to the Coalface of Climate Change”, in theYearbook of Polar Law, eds. G. Alfredsson, T. Koivurova and D. Leary, Brill Publishing, Leiden, the Netherlands and Boston, USA  Vol. 1, (2009) at p. 101.
• “Imperativos Medioambientales en el Mundo Globalizado: el Impacto Ecologico de la Liberalizaction del Comercio”, Revista Aranzadi de Derecho Ambiental, Numero 14, 2008-2 at pp.. 29 - 50
• “Global Environmental Governance and the United Nations in the 21st Century (with Donna Craig) in Environmental Governance: Concepts, Relevance and Lessons, Debashree Mulkherjee ed, The Ikfai University Press, Hyderbad, India, 2008 at p. 14
• 'Biodiversity Conservation in the Context of Sustainable Human Development: A Call to Action' in Michael I Jeffery, Jeremy Firestone, Karen Bubna-Litic (eds) Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo, 2008.
• ‘Using a Legally Enforceable Knowledge Trust Doctrine to Fulfill the Moral Obligation to Protect Indigenous Secrets’ (co-authored with Paul Martin), (2007) 11 NZJEL at p.1
• ‘Environmental Imperatives in a Globalised World: The ecological impact of Liberalising Trade’ (2007) 7 MqLJ at p.25.
• 'Environmental Governance: A Comparative Analysis of Public Participation and Access to Justice, JSPL Vol 9 (2005) Issue 2 online at http://www.paclii.org/journals/fJSPL/vol09no2/2.shtml
• ‘Environmental Impact Assessment: Addressing the Major Weaknesses’ in Nathalie J. Chalifour, Patricia Kameri-Mbote, Lin Heng Lye, John R. Nolon (eds), Land Use Law for Sustainable Development, Cambridge University Press Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo, 2007.
• ‘Substantive and Procedural Dimensions of Old and New Forms of Property: IPRs, the CBD and the Protection of Traditional Ecological Knowledge’, in Smajgl A and Larson S (eds), Adapting Rules for Sustainable Resource Use, CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems, Townsville, June 2006.
• ‘Foundations In University Education’, in Adrian J. Bradbrook, Rosemary Lyster, Richard L. Ottinger, Wang Xi (eds), The Law of Energy for Sustainable Development, Cambridge University Press Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo, 2005
• "An Overview of Selected International Legal Frameworks for Conservation of Biodiversity in the DMZ", presented at the 2005 Ecocity International Symposium "DMZ: Conservation and Sustainable Management of the DMZ and Surrounding Areas", Seoul, Republic of Korea, December 7, 2005; published in book form in both English and Korean languages, available from The Korean Federation for Environmental Movement - Friends of the Earth Korea (www.kfem.org)
• "An International Regime for Protected Areas", (Section 2 of a 4 part paper, presented at the Vth World Parks Congress 2003, Durban, South Africa, 12 September 2003; Published in John Scanlon and Francoise Burhenne-Guilmin (Eds), (2004), International Environmental Governance: An International Regime for Protected Areas, IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK pp 9-38
• Capacity Building For Sustainable Energy Regimes and Effective Compliance and Enforcement: Foundations Foundations in University Education The Law of Energy for Sustainable Development, Adrian J. Bradbrook et al (Eds) Cambridge University Press, New York, NY (2005) at p. 540.
  • Bioprospecting: Access to Genetic Resources and Benefit-Sharing under the Convention on Biodiversity and the Bonn Guidelines (2002) 6 Sing JICL at pp 747-808
• "Intellectual Property Rights and Biodiversity Conservation: Reconciling the Incompatibilities of the TRIPS Agreement and the Convention on Biological Diversity” Ong, Burton (Ed.) Intellectual Property and Biological Resources, (2004) Marshall Cavendish Academic, Singapore Ch.5.
• "Wildlife Management in Australia: Different Perspectives in Indigenous Participation” (co-authored with Donna Craig), Revista de Direito Ambiental Ano 9, n. 35, julho-setembro de 2004, Instituti “O Direito por um Planeta Verde at pp.217 – 237.
• The Impact of Intellectual Property Rights and Trade-Related Issues on Biological Diversity; published in Lye, Lin-Heng with Manguait, Maria Socorro Z. (Eds) (2003), Towards a 'Second Generation’ in Environmental Laws in the Asian and Pacific Region: Select Trends. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge U.K. at p. 143
• "Environmental Management Through Market-Based Incentives: A Role for Carbon Trading", Capacity-Building for Environmental law in the Asian and Pacific Region, Donna Craig et al eds, Vol 1, 2002, Asian Development Bank, Manila, at p.349.
• Intervenor Funding As The Key To Effective Citizen Participation In Environmental Decision-Making: Putting The People Back Into The Picture, Arizona Journal of International and Comparative Law, Vol. 19 Number 2, 2002, James E. Rogers College of Law, The University of Arizona, pp. 643-677.
• Where Do We Go From Here? Emissions Trading Under the Kyoto Protocol, UNSW Law Journal Forum, Vol. 7 No. 2 at p. 26.
• Using Market-Based Incentives to Curtail Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Factors to consider in the design of the Clean Development Mechanism, Joint Implementation and Emissions Trading, co-authored with Warwick R. Baird, Asia Pacific Journal of Environmental Law, Vol. 6 Issue 2 2001, Klu,

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