Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Global Value Chains: Governance, Regulation and Liability

35 Pages Posted: 6 Apr 2022 Last revised: 8 Apr 2022

See all articles by Jaakko Salminen

Jaakko Salminen

Copenhagen Business School

Mikko Rajavuori

University of Turku, Faculty of Law; University of Eastern Finland - School of Law

Mika Viljanen

University of Turku - Faculty of Law

Agnes Hellner

Stockholm University

Date Written: April 4, 2022

Abstract

Our focus is on the legal conceptualization of greenhouse gas emissions from transnational production. Apportioning greenhouse gas emissions from transnational production to specific private actors, to say nothing of related governance, regulatory and liability issues, poses a challenge for the current, primarily state-centric approach to climate change mitigation. The current approach, allocating emissions to sites of production, has been criticized for not reflecting the reality of transnational consumption or control of production. We propose that global value chain theory provides a useful heuristic tool for the legal conceptualization of greenhouse gases from a holistic, transnational production perspective as a crucial complement to current state-centric approaches. Using global value chain theory as our starting point, we show how emissions from transnational production constitute a phenomenon that can be tackled on the level of law through a combination of private governance, regulation and private law doctrine. We argue that this approach enables a tighter integration of transnational greenhouse gas emissions into international, regional and local climate regulations. In doing so it also offers a glimpse on the future of sustainable private law.

Keywords: climate change, global value chain theory, private governance, private law, sustainability

JEL Classification: Q01, Q02, K10

Suggested Citation

Salminen, Jaakko and Rajavuori, Mikko and Viljanen, Mika and Hellner, Agnes, Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Global Value Chains: Governance, Regulation and Liability (April 4, 2022). Copenhagen Business School, CBS LAW Research Paper No. 22-05, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4075123

Jaakko Salminen (Contact Author)

Copenhagen Business School ( email )

Mikko Rajavuori

University of Turku, Faculty of Law ( email )

Turku
Finland

University of Eastern Finland - School of Law ( email )

Joensuu
Finland

Mika Viljanen

University of Turku - Faculty of Law ( email )

FIN-20014 Turku
Finland

Agnes Hellner

Stockholm University ( email )

Universitetsvägen 10
Stockholm, Stockholm SE-106 91
Sweden

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