Sturm College of Law Professor Celia Taylor, Adjunct Professor Anita Halvorssen, and LLM Graduate Diego Parravicini Join Sustainability Effort

Three individuals with University of Denver Sturm College of Law ties have been asked to participate in Sustainable Companies, an Oslo, Norway-based effort aimed at studying how to better integrate environmental protection in the decision-making process in companies with the aim of contributing to sustainable economic development.

Professor Celia Taylor, who teaches about Securities Regulation, Business Law, and Corporations and Corporate Governance, Adjunct Professor Anita Halvorssen, who teaches the Law of Sustainable Development and Trade and Global Climate Change Law and Policy, and Diego Parravicini, a 2009 LLM graduate of the Environmental and Natural Resources Law Graduate Program and now an attorney with the Buenos Aires-based firm of Beccar Varela, have been asked to join a global group of experts examining the key issues.

The research effort, which is being co-ordinated by the University of Oslo Faculty of Law, began in January 2010. According to the project's organizers the aim of the undertaking is as follows:

Taking companies’ substantial contributions to climate change as a given fact, companies have to be addressed more effectively when designing strategies to mitigate climate change. A fundamental assumption is that traditional external regulation of companies, e.g. through environmental law, is not sufficient. Our hypothesis is that environmental sustainability in the operation of companies cannot be effectively achieved unless the objective is properly integrated into company law and thereby into the internal workings of the company.

The Norwegian Research Council has provided vital financing for the project, which will run through December 2012.

Lucy Daberkow, Associate Administrative Director of the Environmental and Natural Resources Law Graduate Program, said, "It is very impressive for the Sturm College of Law to have three participants in this important study. Professor Taylor, Dr. Halvorssen, and Mr. Parravicini will contribute excellent perspectives, from the United States and Argentina respectively, to this global study that aims to learn more about integrating environmental considerations into the heart of business decision-making."