I am delighted to pass along information about the 2019 (2nd annual) Purdy Crawford Workshop. The Workshop, which will take place Sept. 26–28 at the Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University, is “The Role of Business Regulation in Advancing the Sustainable Development Goals.” The Workshop announcement noted:

“The sessions will explore diverse issues relating to the SDGs and business regulation, with workshop streams on tax, investment, and climate justice,” says Schulich School of Law Professor Kim Brooks, the Purdy Crawford Chair in Business Law, who organized the event with Professors Olabisi Akinkugbe and Sara Seck.

The Workshop is divided into three streams: (1) Revenue Mobilization; (2) Trade, Investment, Development and Inequality; and (3) Business Responsibilities for Human Rights and Environmental/Climate Justice.

More information follows below, including the tentative program:

Purdy Crawford Workshop to explore the role of business regulation in advancing sustainable development goals

In 2015, the global community endorsed 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as part of a shared agenda for people and the planet. SDG 16 cuts across all goals, with the aim of strengthening peace, justice, and institutions. The SDGs also aim to address inequality, foreign direct investment, and development assistance and financial flows between developed, developing, and least developed countries.

Meanwhile, the private sector is called upon as a partner to contribute to sustainable development solutions in creative and innovative ways, all the while respecting human rights and the environment. But what is the role of law and business regulation? The workshop will examine this question.
A rich exchange of ideas

Kicking off the workshop on Sept. 26 is the joint Wickwire Legal Ethics Lecture and the Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP Business Law Forum. Seck will moderate a panel of four experts from Canada, the United States, and Europe as they discuss the ethical and professional responsibilities of business lawyers: business, human rights, and the SDGs.

The program will cover a broad range of topics from national and international experts. Among many key topics, the sessions will consider tax incentives and sub-Saharan Africa; Chinese and Brazilian approaches to global ecological challenges such as ocean acidification and rainforest conservation; trade, investment, development, and inequality; and loss and damage in climate law.

“We are looking forward to a rich exchange of ideas that we hope will contribute to the design of legal solutions to some key global sustainability challenges,” says Seck.

_________

Business Ethics and the Law Panel

The Schulich School of Law and the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society invite you to the F.B. Wickwire Memorial Lecture in Professional Responsibility & Legal Ethics and the Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP Business Law Forum. This year's speakers will explore "The Ethical and Professional Responsibilities of Business Lawyers: Business, Human Rights, and the Sustainable Development Goals."

The panel members are:
• John F. Sherman, III, Shift
• Penelope Simons, Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa
• Larry Catá Backer, Law & International Affairs, Penn State
• Birgit Spiesshofer, International Law and Business Ethics, University of Bremen and Dentons Europe LLPB

The panel will be moderated by Schulich Law Professor Sara L Seck.