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Our current society is not successful in mitigation of global social and environmental challenges. States lack legal tools, and sometimes also the will, to secure social and environmental interests transnationally and the existing soft and private regulation is criticized for its weak legitimacy, effectiveness and enforcement. Regardless of this regulatory gap, companies who do not comply with the globally accepted sustainability standards run reputational risks that can lead to long-term negative economic effects. Moreover, stakeholders expect companies not only to follow the standards themselves but also to do business exclusively with socially responsible partners. Unawareness, either intentional or negligent, of unethical behaviour within a company's supply chain may lead to an assumption that the company is complicit in such a conduct. The paper discusses a hypothesis that sustainability contractual clauses (SCCs) in international supply chain agreements may help to overcome the regulatory gap in relation to global sustainability while concurrently protect companies against potential social, economic and legal risks threatening in connection to unethical behaviour of their suppliers. As parts of enforceable business contracts, SCCs are considered to overcome the heavily criticized softness of other CSR regulation and, therefore, to be more successful in fostering ethical behaviour of suppliers who are legally independent but often in economic and business terms dependent on the sourcing companies. However, this hardening function is questionable faceto- face the lack of case law or another proof of SCCs' formal enforcement. This article aims to shed a light on the question whether SCCs can be the efficient regulatory solution for global challenges we are looking for or whether they are yet another corporate social responsibility tool 'without teeth'. The central questions are: why SCCs are presumed to be effective regulatory means for global sustainability, how these clauses are seen through the lenses of international contract law and whether they can actually contribute to a positive change in suppliers' social and environmental performance. Based on the analysis of SCCs' features and the underlying regulatory framework, the author concludes that while SCCs would not be enforceable by courts in most cases, they can still be successful in regulating global sustainability. Their positive effects on suppliers' behaviour will depend on how companies draft and use such clauses. It is suggested that the full potential of private contracting could be triggered by adequate governmental regulation.

Pharmaceutical science has provided humans with better and cheaper treatments. However, with improved access to medicines, the amount of pharmaceutical waste also grows. Pharmaceutical waste is regularly mismanaged by households, which is considerably and unnecessarily adding to the "pharmaceuticals in the environment" problem. Redesigning existing pharmaceutical takeback schemes and their regulation is a potential step towards a reduction of the problem. Interdisciplinary research between the fields of psychology, law, public health and medical science is necessary to tackle the issue and to design effective regulation steering responsible patient behaviours.

AbstractThe potential exposure to organisms and humans of pharmaceutical waste presents society with a wicked problem. The health benefits of pharmaceuticals are obvious, but the public awakening to the risks posed by pharmaceutical residues in the environment is in its early stages. Regulators in the US and the EU require an environmental risk assessment of a medicinal product before it can enter the market. This article compares the US and EU approach to assessing these risks, with the purpose of providing a different perspective on how to approach this delicate balancing act of risk and benefit and to reveal the different values underpinning the risk assessment.

Introduction / Lauren Neumann and Katerina Mitkidis -- Five theses on the dialectic of unity and plurality in postnational law / Kaarlo Tuori -- The politics of transnational law / Thomas Gammeltoft-Hansen and Tanja Aalberts -- Transnationalism in the Arctic ocean : legitimacy strategies of the Inuit Circumpolar Council, the European Union and China / Cécile Pelaudeix -- Transnational ecosystem-based norms covering the Danish/Greenlandic Arctic marine area / Ellen Margrethe Basse -- Brexit : a note on the EU's interlegality / Reza Banakar -- Beyond nations and continents? : harmony and solidarity as common endeavours in a digital era of populism, propaganda and fiction? / Hanne Petersen -- Development of transnational contract law? / Katerina Mitkidis -- Towards the participation of a global public in transnational law-making? : everyday ICT platforms as legitimacy opportunities for bottom-up governance / Karin Buhmann and Sameer Azizi -- Pushing back international human rights law : counter reaction to transnational law? / Jens Vedsted-Hansen -- Balancing legal obligations in Europe' cooperation with Libya in the fight against migrant smuggling / Fenella M.W. Billing and Nikolas Feith Tan -- Enforcing transnational labour law in local contexts / Louise Munkholm -- The principle of equality as a transnational principle / Natalie Videbæk Munkholm and Christian Højer Schjøler -- How domestic courts may shape international commercial law norms / Thomas Neumann -- Transnational religious law : exemplified by the United Methodist church / Lisbet Christoffersen -- Is formality legitimacy? : defining the obligations of non-state armed groups / Lauren Neumann -- Transnationalisation and legal actors : legitimacy in question / Louise Munkholm, Cécile Pelaudeix and Bettina Lemann Kristiansen.