Laurel Besco

My Research Interests

Broadly speaking my research is focused on innovative law and policy approaches to tackling the complex and pressing challenges associated with sustainability. More specifically, my main focus has been on how design and implementation of legal instruments and policy tools can help advance sustainability in three areas: aviation, corporate decision-making, and tourism. While much of my research has focused on these issues in the Canadian context, I also seek to compare with other countries and to look at the issues at an international level. I am currently seeking MA and PhD students interested in either aviation and sustainability or law and policy development focusing on issues of energy efficiency or plastic waste.

I participate in the following research clusters:

Human-Environment Interactions

Graduate Student Recruitment

I welcome graduate students interested in undertaking research exploring connections between corporate norms and legal instrument choice as well as the social, economic, and legal dimensions of climate change, specifically as they relate to aviation. In addition, I welcome students interested in sustainable tourism research.

Selected Publications

Kirk, Elizabeth & Besco, Laurel. (2021). Improving Energy Efficiency: The Significance of Normativity. Journal of Environmental Law. https://doi.org/10.1093/jel/eqab018

Besco, Laurel & Kirk, Elizabeth. (2020) Industry perceptions of government interventions: generating an energy efficiency norm. Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning, 23(1), 130-142. https://doi.org/10.1080/1523908X.2020.1832884

Mackie, Colin & Besco, Laurel (2020). Rethinking the Function of Financial Assurance for End-of-Life Obligations. Environmental Law Reporter, News and Analysis, 50(7), 10573-10603. ELR 10573-10603

Besco, Laurel. (2018). Responses to the Clean Power Plan: Factors Influencing State Decision-Making. Review of Policy Research, 35(5), 670-690. https://doi.org/10.1111/ropr.12307

Chalifour, Nathalie & Besco, Laurel. (2017). Taking Flight: Federal Action to Mitigate Canada's GHG Emissions from Aviatoin. Ottawa Law Review, 48(2), 577-625.