Welcome to ELI’s Environmental Governance Programs

The Environmental Governance Programs work to develop inventive approaches to new or entrenched environmental problems and changing technologies and economies. The term “governance” includes the  range of legal and other tools employed in both the private and public sectors to foster environmental protection.

Governance tools include, for example, not only traditional regulations, but environmental assessments, information disclosure, market mechanisms, economic incentives, and public policies and programs that promote voluntary stewardship.

ELI’s Environmental Governance Programs operate at the international, federal, state and local levels. Key objectives are to:

• Develop and foster innovative government and business approaches to environmental protection.
• Safeguard and strengthen the safety net of federal environmental law.
• Introduce policymakers and practitioners to innovative ideas from academia.
• Educate judges about the development, implementation and enforcement of environmental laws.
• Develop effective environmental, health, and safety governance structures for new technologies.

What’s New and Upcoming....

On June 10, 2013 ELI will host a conference to discuss private governance issues.  The conference, titled "A Summit on Private Environmental Governance: Facing the Challenges of Voluntary Standards, Supply Chains and Green Marketing," will provide an overview and initiate a dialogue about the legal issues taking shape amidst the growing popularity of private governance approaches. The conference will identify, for stakeholders across affected industries and non-governmental organizations, how sustainability initiatives, standard-setting, consumer protection and competition law work together in this important and rapidly developing area.  The conference will take place at the Grand Hyatt Washington from 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.  More information about the conference, including registration information, is available here.

ELI held its sixth annual Environmental Law and Policy Annual Review (ELPAR) Conference on March 22, 2013 on Capitol Hill. The conference, hosted by ELI and Vanderbilt University Law School, showcased innovative legal and policy solutions to some of the nation's pressing environmental problems: 1) liability schemes for carbon sequestration; 2) sustainable water management; and 3) small harms under the Endangered Species Act's critical habitat regulations. More information about the conference is available here.