title: Effective, accountable and inclusive institutions? An analysis of the Chevron v. Ecuador (II) investment arbitration and the Lago Agrio environmental justice movement

authors: McGiven, Timothy Clyde

subjects: environmental policy

abstract: The international investment agreement regime, one of the more obscure global institutions, has a significant impact upon how states, local governments and communities develop. Many investment agreements include investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanisms, which seek to protect investors from unjust expropriation by host states. Yet, the implications of such a mechanism for fulfilling the vision of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have never been studied. This thesis examines the ISDS mechanism by conducting a case study of the Chevron v. Ecuador (II) [CvE2] investment arbitration. 
The thesis analyses case documents such as hearing transcripts, decisions and submissions to identify the discourses at work within the arbitration; determine the implications of such discourses for processual developments; and explore how such processes influence the space afforded to those nongovernmental organisations and environmental justice groups affected by the arbitration. The research utilises an analytical framework informed by critical development theory and environmental justice theory, to demonstrate that the CvE2 arbitration is dominated by an exclusive discourse that prioritises a strict adherence to international investment law, to the exclusion of other principles such as those of international human rights law and environmental law. The dominance of such a discourse reduces the legitimacy of the institution and its rulings for many key stakeholders. The findings also reveal that marginalised stakeholders, such as environmental organisations representing indigenous communities, were refused access to the arbitrations though they were materially affected by the claims, and additionally, were denied consideration - whereby the material impact of the ruling upon the stakeholder group was deemed irrelevant to the proceedings. The findings provide evidence that ISDS, in its current form, is incompatible with the United Nation’s goal for ‘effective, accountable and inclusive institutions’ (United Nations Development Programme, 2016, p. 1). 
This thesis contributes to the scholarship on environmental justice and environmental policy through its analysis of the implications of arbitration mechanisms embedded in international investment regimes for environmental justice claims and, more broadly, the goal of sustainable development. The thesis highlights the need for further research into investor-state investment arbitrations and provides evidence that significant reform is necessary in order for the institution to be reconciled with the SDGs.

text: Effective, accountable and inclusive institutions? An analysis of the Chevron v. Ecuador (II) investment arbitration and the Lago Agrio environmental justice movement The international investment agreement regime, one of the more obscure global institutions, has a significant impact upon how states, local governments and communities develop. Many investment agreements include investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanisms, which seek to protect investors from unjust expropriation by host states. Yet, the implications of such a mechanism for fulfilling the vision of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have never been studied. This thesis examines the ISDS mechanism by conducting a case study of the Chevron v. Ecuador (II) [CvE2] investment arbitration. 
The thesis analyses case documents such as hearing transcripts, decisions and submissions to identify the discourses at work within the arbitration; determine the implications of such discourses for processual developments; and explore how such processes influence the space afforded to those nongovernmental organisations and environmental justice groups affected by the arbitration. The research utilises an analytical framework informed by critical development theory and environmental justice theory, to demonstrate that the CvE2 arbitration is dominated by an exclusive discourse that prioritises a strict adherence to international investment law, to the exclusion of other principles such as those of international human rights law and environmental law. The dominance of such a discourse reduces the legitimacy of the institution and its rulings for many key stakeholders. The findings also reveal that marginalised stakeholders, such as environmental organisations representing indigenous communities, were refused access to the arbitrations though they were materially affected by the claims, and additionally, were denied consideration - whereby the material impact of the ruling upon the stakeholder group was deemed irrelevant to the proceedings. The findings provide evidence that ISDS, in its current form, is incompatible with the United Nation’s goal for ‘effective, accountable and inclusive institutions’ (United Nations Development Programme, 2016, p. 1). 
This thesis contributes to the scholarship on environmental justice and environmental policy through its analysis of the implications of arbitration mechanisms embedded in international investment regimes for environmental justice claims and, more broadly, the goal of sustainable development. The thesis highlights the need for further research into investor-state investment arbitrations and provides evidence that significant reform is necessary in order for the institution to be reconciled with the SDGs.

year: 2017

title: Geological, hydrodynamic and biogeochemical variability of a New Zealand deep-water methane cold seep during an integrated three-year time-series study

authors: Law, C.S.

subjects: methane

abstract: Cold seeps are widely distributed on active and passive margins and display considerable temporal variability in terms of gas and fluid expulsion rates and volume, over scales of hours to days. To constrain this variability, two cold seeps, the North and South Tower, located at the Wairarapa Seep site on Opouawe Bank, Cook Strait, New Zealand, were monitored in an integrated geological and biogeochemical study during eight surveys between 2005 and 2008. To ensure sampling of the water column within the flare overlying the seeps the vessel was manoeuvred in response to the backscatter data from a hull-mounted 38 kHz single-beam echo-sounder. High methane concentrations (> 100 nmol l− 1) were found within 400–450 m-high flares at both sites, and within an 825 m-high flare at a newly identified seep, southeast of Pahaua Bank. Elevated bottom water methane was also found over newly identified mud volcanoes on the Campbell Bank, Cook Strait. The locations of the seeps appear to be structurally controlled with active methane vents occurring on anticlinal ridges and associated with a 30 m-high normal fault scarp on Opouawe Bank. Fluid flow is facilitated by sedimentary layer permeability properties, structural focusing and dilational fracturing on the crest of a large anticlinal ridge, cored by a seaward-verging reverse fault. The South Tower cold seep did not significantly influence bulk sediment and water column particulates and nutrients, although high bacterial biomass, productivity and methane oxidation rates were associated with elevated methane in the flare. The seep flares exhibited depleted δ13C–CH4 values (− 63 to − 70‰), characteristic of shallow biogenic gas sources. Incorporation of the δ13C–CH4 and CH4 concentration data in a mixing model, and comparison of the water residence time with methane oxidation rates, indicated that the primary fate of methane in the flare was dilution. The dissolved methane originating from the seeps was retained in the water column at depths > 700 m, with minimal contribution to atmospheric emissions, as confirmed by surface methane mapping. Nevertheless, the South Tower seep was a significant source of methane with a column-integrated burden below 700 m of 5.6 mmol m− 2, and an estimated annual emission of 0.5–1 × 106 mol CH4. The structural and tectonic setting of the Wairarapa Seep provides a useful analogue model for other convergent margin cold seeps on the Hikurangi Margin and elsewhere. This unique, three-year integrated study provided valuable insights into the linkage between geological structure and overlying water column biogeochemistry, and confirmed the value of this cold seep site for long-term monitoring.

text: Geological, hydrodynamic and biogeochemical variability of a New Zealand deep-water methane cold seep during an integrated three-year time-series study Cold seeps are widely distributed on active and passive margins and display considerable temporal variability in terms of gas and fluid expulsion rates and volume, over scales of hours to days. To constrain this variability, two cold seeps, the North and South Tower, located at the Wairarapa Seep site on Opouawe Bank, Cook Strait, New Zealand, were monitored in an integrated geological and biogeochemical study during eight surveys between 2005 and 2008. To ensure sampling of the water column within the flare overlying the seeps the vessel was manoeuvred in response to the backscatter data from a hull-mounted 38 kHz single-beam echo-sounder. High methane concentrations (> 100 nmol l− 1) were found within 400–450 m-high flares at both sites, and within an 825 m-high flare at a newly identified seep, southeast of Pahaua Bank. Elevated bottom water methane was also found over newly identified mud volcanoes on the Campbell Bank, Cook Strait. The locations of the seeps appear to be structurally controlled with active methane vents occurring on anticlinal ridges and associated with a 30 m-high normal fault scarp on Opouawe Bank. Fluid flow is facilitated by sedimentary layer permeability properties, structural focusing and dilational fracturing on the crest of a large anticlinal ridge, cored by a seaward-verging reverse fault. The South Tower cold seep did not significantly influence bulk sediment and water column particulates and nutrients, although high bacterial biomass, productivity and methane oxidation rates were associated with elevated methane in the flare. The seep flares exhibited depleted δ13C–CH4 values (− 63 to − 70‰), characteristic of shallow biogenic gas sources. Incorporation of the δ13C–CH4 and CH4 concentration data in a mixing model, and comparison of the water residence time with methane oxidation rates, indicated that the primary fate of methane in the flare was dilution. The dissolved methane originating from the seeps was retained in the water column at depths > 700 m, with minimal contribution to atmospheric emissions, as confirmed by surface methane mapping. Nevertheless, the South Tower seep was a significant source of methane with a column-integrated burden below 700 m of 5.6 mmol m− 2, and an estimated annual emission of 0.5–1 × 106 mol CH4. The structural and tectonic setting of the Wairarapa Seep provides a useful analogue model for other convergent margin cold seeps on the Hikurangi Margin and elsewhere. This unique, three-year integrated study provided valuable insights into the linkage between geological structure and overlying water column biogeochemistry, and confirmed the value of this cold seep site for long-term monitoring.

year: 2010

title: Location of Te Wahitapu Stream and other possible streams in 1877

authors: de Lange, Willem P.

abstract: Review of evidence to establish, with as much confidence as possible, the path of the Te Wahitapu Stream at Matapouri in 1877. The review also examines if other streams may have been present on or in the vicinity of Te Wahitapu Stream in 1877, and if the 1877 or later tsunami may have latered the course of the boundary stream.

text: Location of Te Wahitapu Stream and other possible streams in 1877 Review of evidence to establish, with as much confidence as possible, the path of the Te Wahitapu Stream at Matapouri in 1877. The review also examines if other streams may have been present on or in the vicinity of Te Wahitapu Stream in 1877, and if the 1877 or later tsunami may have latered the course of the boundary stream.

year: 2009