Call for Paper Proposals: Environmental Liabilities in the Energy Sector: First International Colloquium, October 2 – 3, 2025
(October 2 – 3, 2025, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada)
The past few years have witnessed increasing public and academic attention being paid to the challenges associated with environmental liabilities in the energy sector. These liabilities are the future costs associated with closure activity: decommissioning (sometimes referred to as abandoning), remediating, and reclaiming energy assets and infrastructure. Much of this attention has been on fossil fuel assets (oil, gas, and coal) but renewable energy projects are now also part of the policy debate. The stakes are significant: total estimated liabilities range in the hundreds of billions of dollars in several jurisdictions, while many of those same jurisdictions appear to have secured only a fraction of the funds required to complete the required closure work. There is also uncertainty about the feasibility and effectiveness of current and proposed approaches to closure, especially in relation to non-conventional assets like Canada’s oil sands mines. These and other factors confound efforts to accurately estimate the extent of potential liability and expose governments and the public to significant financial and environmental risks at a time of considerable uncertainty and disruption in the energy sector.
Dates and Location:
The colloquium will take place the evening of Thursday, October 2, and throughout Friday, October 3, 2025, at the University of Calgary Faculty of Law, located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Submission Process:
Paper proposals (1/2 page) should be submitted to Martin Olszynski, Associate Professor and Chair in Energy, Resources, and Sustainability at the University of Calgary Faculty of Law ([email protected]) by April 30, 2025. Selected proposals will be confirmed by May 31, 2025, and a draft agenda, along with registration information, will be released shortly thereafter.
For more details, refer here
