NELA's International Linkages

In line with its objective of promoting an understanding of the role of environmental law in Australia, the National Environmental Law Association is also actively working to develop relationships with similar organisations overseas in an endeavour to build NELA's international profile.

NELA currently enjoys a strong relationship with the Resource Management Law  Association of  New Zealand (RMLA) which was strengthened in 2008 following agreement of both Associations to sign a Memorandum of Understanding to outline our approach to reciprocal membership rights across the organisations, and provide some guidelines around publishing articles in our respective journals. The MoU signals the beginning of a much deeper relationship with the RMLA at an Executive level as well as opening up some dialogue amongst the membership of both bodies. As an immediate result of this relationship between the two organisations, NELA Members are being offered a special subscription rate to purchase Volume 5 of the RMLA's Resource Management Theory & Practice which became available in November 2008. The aim of the journal is to provide a vehicle for in-depth analysis of resource management issues relevant to the New Zealand and Australian scene. Volume 5 focuses on the impacts of socio-economic and scientific change on resource management.

Information about the work of RMLA, access to its newsletters and an order form for the Resource Management Theory & Practice journal can be found at www.rmla.org.nz. (Order form can also be accessed via the link below.)

NELA is a member of the IUCN, the World Conservation Union, one of the 39 members in the OCEANIA region, and a member of the Australian Committee for IUCN which is located in Sydney. IUCN has a membership of more than 1,000 organisations from 147 countries spread across its eight statutory regions. The largest group of members represents non-governmental bodies, with other members representing government organisations and affiliates. NELA receives regular journals and information on the work of IUCN. 

An update of IUCN Oceania's programs and activities for January to September 2009 is now available for download on the IUCN Oceania website: www.iucn.org/about/union/secretariat/offices/oceania/oro_programmes/.

IUCN will be well represented at the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change to be held in Copenhagen from 7-18 December 2009. The IUCN places great importance on this meeting and will be well-represented there. It is striving to ensure that nature-based solutions are incorporated into a post-2012 agreement to mitigate climate change and adapt to the impacts that cannot now be avoided. A copy of a memo sent to IUCN members can be accessed through the link at the bottom of this page, or you can access the link to the IUCN webpage on Copenhagen at: .http://www.iucn.org/unfccc/events/copenhagen/

Further afield, links are being developed between NELA and the American and Canadian Bar Associations through their respective sections on environment, energy and resources. NELA President, Robyn Glindemann, has had discussions with relevant executives in both organisations and there was universal interest in developing links between the CBA, ABA and NELA. Initially, these links will be fairly simple, for example linking websites and exchanging relevant information about environmental laws and law reform between our groups. But the intention is for the relationship to grow over time and may include things like providing articles for publication in our respective journals.  As evidence of these developing relationships, Robyn Glindemann recently travelled to Ottawa, Canada to attend and give a keynote address at the Air Quality and Climate Change Summit co-hosted by the Canadian Bar Association's National Environmental, Energy and Resources Law Section and the American Bar Association's Section of Environment, Energy and Resources. NELA President Robyn Glindemann recently contributed an editorial to the ABA Section of Environment, Energy and Resources bi-monthly newsletter. Click on the link below to read Robyn's article.