THE FUTURE CHALLENGES IN LABOUR ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION: GOING BEYOND BORDERS

When we talk about “labour”and “environmental”protections together, we already cross the borders of distinct legal disciplines, which have tended to operate in parallel. My suggestion is that we need to consider these protections in tandem. This raises two challenges. The first is to traverse legal boundaries, fusing together different branches of the law. This mission might entail the redesign of labour and environmental laws in substantive ways that enable their interaction, for example rethinking employment status and our understandings of work. This may also require engagement with other legal disciplinesand jurisdictions. The second challenge is to respond to the ecological and labour harms thatcross geographical borders. Here we caninterrogate the content of domestic laws which have cross-border effectsand addressthe scope for effective transnational regulation. This exercise requires recognition of the complex inter-connections between legal disciplines, but also appreciation of their multiple layered interactions across state borders. Both challenges raise profound questions regarding the agency of actors involved in these processes. Reform of procedural–as much as substantive–laws and their implementation may offer opportunities, responding to the desire to act in solidarity and fostering the capacity to do so effectively.