Research Project

Global Governance and International Regimes

The main goal of the project is to analyze the concept of governance, especially global governance, and verify its applicability in the field of Law, as is the case with the issue of international regimes, especially environmental regimes. In that sense, we seek an in-depth study of the mechanisms practiced today in the so-called global governance, with emphasis on the performance of key international organizations and the participation and influence of non-state players and organizations representing civil society in the current scenario of globalization, discussing its role and legitimacy.

 International Law and Global Law in the context of new International Relations

In face of the new contexts International Law, as well as Global Law, have been absorbing, the need for effective international regulation and justice is evidenced, coming from the complementary assimilation of new international challenges that were once States’ absolute domain. In that segment, the new International Relations, driven by innovative global integration scenarios, pose complex opportunities and challenges. The modern dimensions established by International Relations, constituted by the approximation of people, companies, international organizations and States in an unprecedented global environment, present a significant range of problems that require solutions by International Law. In that very same sense, the contemporary digital environment driven by the Internet and international e-commerce reveals its deterritorialized, digital and international nature, presenting world-wide implications in the judicial and legislative provision. Therefore, the main goal of the research is to identify and get to know the new contexts, environments and regulatory and judicial challenges provided by today’s International Relations and propose global legal solutions. The methodology adopted is that of bibliographic research, with relevance to international documents (working papers, books, scientific journals, international treaties, European regulations, directives and foreign legislation).

State and (De)Globalization

Along with the intensification of the globalization process, from the 1990’s on, the State and its constituent elements – people, territory, sovereignty and purpose – have internationalized, that is, they have left the reserved domain of states and become governed by International Law. Thus, those elements adapted in order to fit the international integration and cooperation, adopting cosmopolitan formatting, namely: the concept of people was changed by migrations; deterritorialization and transnationalisation; sovereignty, by governance; and purpose, by the search for universal standards of Human Rights. However, with the deglobalization, after the economic and financial crisis of 2008, and the difficulties in the mechanisms of international cooperation and global governance arising, one seeks to investigate whether those elements are capable of resuming their original legal formatting, exclusive and concentrated in the national State.

Environmental Paradiplomacy in the International Regime of Climate Change – Governance Dynamics and its effects on internal legal and economic instruments

International Environmental Law, in an innovative way, has been progressively incorporating new dynamics in global environmental governance, from which new players are brought to the discussion and implementation of measures to address environmental problems. Among these players, subnational governments and their horizontal networks of action and insertion in the international decision-making scenario gain prominence. The project analyzes and verifies the role and increasing influence of those players in the international scene, specifically in the International Regime of Climate Change. The methodology adopted is that of bibliographic research, with emphasis on international documents in the area.