From the Environmental Officer

Hui Chi Goh, Environment Officer

Not a day has gone by where we have not heard of some scientific report filled with dire warnings about melting glaciers, species loss, desertification, increased likelihood of drought and the imminent death of the world’s rivers and coral reefs. Each report has made it blindingly clear that 2008 has to be a year of action, one where all of us consciously adopt measures and practices that minimise the impact we have on Nature.

As Environment Officer, my overall objective is to involve the Law School and its students in the struggle to protect our Earth. There are three aims I hope to fulfil:

1. Reduce the ecological footprint of the Law School by implementing ‘lifestyle’ changes,
2. Run information sessions on the various facets of environment law in Australia, and
3. To provide practical opportunities for law students to be involved in environment policy development and litigation.

By the time you read this article, I hope that I would have managed to ensure that all our course reading materials are printed on 100% post-consumer recycled paper. Copious amounts of paper are used to produce our notes, and I find it hard to justify the cutting down of forests, be it domestic or overseas, to serve a purpose that is extremely short-lived-roughly four months. I would also like to address the problem of the paper coffee cup, the bane of the environment, possibly by introducing a recycling system for it. Finally, I will ensure that all LSS events will have some form of a zero-waste management system. 

To my mind, good environment policy development and an effective environmental law framework cannot exist unless we first understand the industries that this legal framework is designed to regulate. Thus on the agenda is the running of a series of information sessions hosted by professionals working in fields such as water management, carbon emission trading, agriculture and forestry, whereby they will provide some insight into the industry they work in and the environmental challenges which they face. By doing so, I hope that we may learn about matters such as the intricacies of the nation’s water laws, water trading, and the legal background to creating an effective carbon trading scheme.  

I also intend to provide such opportunities by reviving the ‘Students for Forests’ program which is hosted by ‘Lawyers for Forests’, a group of legal professionals who work to protect and conserve Australia’s native forests. Students assist LFF by conducting research for writing submissions on government environment polices and for current cases. I will also source similar opportunities at other environment organisations. 

Finally, the Environment Law Students Group will be created this year so that law students can become involved in the environment portfolio, and I warmly invite all of you to join it!