Methodological challenges of transnational environmental law

Abstract

This working paper will discuss the growing need for law students and researchers to develop, and to keep honing, specific skills to understand complex and increasingly frequent transnational phenomena in environmental law. The paper will then focus on three inter-related methodological challenges: comparison, empirics, and interdisciplinarity. These considerations will lead to a reflection on the nature of collaboration and research ethics, as well as on common constraints arising from research funding opportunities. In exploring these challenges, the paper builds upon the methodological insights from a 5-year collaborative and comparative research project on the legal concept of fair and equitable benefit-sharing (BENELEX) at different regulatory and geographical sites. The BENELEX project provided a practical understanding of the need for reflexivity and accountability for researchers interested in transnational environmental law phenomena, as well as an opportunity to collaboratively develop a transnational environmental law research project and carry it out through embedded peer-learning and supportive peer-review.