Jasmine Minato Williams
@jminato.bsky.social
🌎 For optimists innovating a more resilient world
🚨New Substack: On Loopholes. Covering USMCA Jt Review and Case For Climate Provisions
On Loopholes: USMCA Joint Review, ISDS Elimination, and A Minor Case for Climate Provisions
This past summer, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued an advisory opinion making clear that states carry legal obligations to address climate change under multiple sources of international...
open.substack.com
U.S. definition of “forced labor” is not grounded in international law as applied to Section 307. ILO Convention No.29 states ‘imposition of forced labor for the benefit of private individuals, companies or associations’. U.S TAPILS says convention No. 29 cannot be ratified w/o amending U.S. law
The Section 301 Forced Labor Import Ban Report
On June 2, 2026, USTR released its report on its Section 301 investigation into acts, policies, and practices of various economies related to the failure to impose and effectively enforce a prohibitio...
ielp.worldtradelaw.net
My eighth Substack from The Benevolent Reader ‘On Disaster Mitigation’. Will the Global Plastics Treaty yield future justice legal implementations and broaden intragenerational rights approaches during negotiations in Geneva this year? Find out the limits of halo effects in petro-economies
On Disaster Mitigation: Negotiating the Global Plastics Treaty, Petro-economies, and Limits of Halo Effects
This article covers industrial prescence on integrity for the Global Plastic Treaty negotiations and concepts for future justice. What consequences face diplomatic cooperation and human rights?
open.substack.com
🌎 Welcome to The Benevolent Reader! Covering soft law, public international law, Track I/Track II diplomacy, and sustainable international development law. TBR is a compass and a mirror for human development. Fit for purpose in multilateral, justice-based, transnational rights-based approaches.
The Benevolent Reader | Jasmine Minato Williams | Substack
My personal Substack. Click to read The Benevolent Reader, by Jasmine Minato Williams, a Substack publication. Launched 5 months ago.
jminato.substack.com
My seventh Substack ‘On Erga Omnes’. The only international rights-based framework to combine human rights with environmental protection, the Aarhus Convention, is related to Third World Approaches for International Law. Find out how 👀
On Erga Omnes: Aarhus Convention Pillars, TWAIL Features, and Exigency of Rights-Based Frameworks
In 1982, UN General Assembly adopted World Charter for Nature which provided ample support for global conservation efforts and elements of environmental policy that would frame inaugural multilateral ...
open.substack.com
My sixth Substack. On Circularity: Japan’s GX-ETS: In June 2025 ICJ Opinion states it seems necessary for NDC to align with 1.5C and GHG reduction efforts. Japan started GX League voluntary carbon market three years ago. Now, it shifts to compliance with GX League convening technical working groups.
On Circularity: Japan's GX-ETS: Carbon Market Design, Avoided Emissions, and the Innovation of Voluntary Ambition
This article dissects perspectives of Japan’s CBAM. Notably, the country’s innovative framework in the circular economy, GX-ETS. From public green marketplaces to private sustainability, Japan maxes r...
open.substack.com
USMCA likely to extend another 16 years? Mexico and Canada could continue under CPTPP if U.S. pulls out. VAT treatment of exporters & forced labor review in Mexico and Canada are noteworthy. Unlikely to resolve by July 1. More probable are annual reviews stretching by U.S. using cycle as leverage
What To Expect from the USMCA Review?
The USMCA review is almost upon us. How exactly things will proceed is a bit unclear, as we've never done this sort of thing before, but July 1 is the six year anniversary of the USMCA's entry into fo...
ielp.worldtradelaw.net
GX-ETS is Japan’s CBAM. Positioned for carbon neutrality by 2050. Until this year, GX League by METI offered voluntary participation and baseline-and credit designs. Now mandatory in 2026, reporting will have impact on carbon credits capture with residual impact on Japan’s Climate Transition Bonds.
Inside Japan’s GX-ETS carbon market and its global climate impact | Carbon Direct
Explore Japan’s GX-ETS, GX-League, public funding, and carbon credit systems, and their role in shaping national policy and global climate strategies.
carbon-direct.com
FT: Iran war causes inflation and reduced fuel demand for SE Asian economies. Risk of energy shortages impacts currency deprivation for peso, rupiah, baht. Indo fisheries strike over reduction in diesel prices. Philippine transport drivers protest. Will govts for affordability limit fuel subsidies?
South-east Asian economies struggle to counter energy shock
Iran war leaves oil-poor nations trying to shore up countermeasures while battling inflation
ft.com
Watching the A List HBO Docuseries. May is AANHPI Heritage Month. We celebrate generations before us who risked their livelihoods for community wellbeing, civil liberties, and right for self-determination. Our diasporic tapestries shape our beloved community. Our stories matter today and everyday 🇯🇵🇵🇭
The A List | Official Trailer | HBO
YouTube video by HBO
youtu.be
@ununiversity.bsky.social Celebrating 70: UN-Japan Cooperation, EXPO 2025, & the Future of Multilateralism. Academia increasingly animates minilateralism w/ global perspective. Excited to tune in today! 日本の国連加盟 70周年記念 ー 日本・国連協力のあゆみ、EXPO 2025 、そして多国間主義の未来 Tanoshimi ni shite imasu!
Celebrating 70: Japan-UN Cooperation, EXPO 2025, and the Future of Multilateralism
On 18 May 2026, UNU and UNIC Tokyo will host a special symposium to commemorate 70 years of Japan’s membership in the United Nations and to explore the next generation of multilateralism.
unu.edu
The Diversity Principle examines how the backbone of capacity building for enabling environments could shift margin to center. Diverse thinking shapes new markets. Listening forward designs multipurpose perspective.
‘The Diversity Principle’: Tracking the long history of a powerful idea - Berkeley News
In a new book, UC Berkeley legal scholar David B. Oppenheimer unearths the surprising history of diversity in Western thought. While high-level critics are trying to bury the idea, he says, research s...
news.berkeley.edu
Major campaigns of Civil Rights Movement: 1) Montgomery, 2) Albany, 3) Atlanta, 4)Birmingham, and 5) Selma. Kingian non-violence activated movements of social change through peace building actions. Nonviolence is a way of life. In ‘65, Selma resulted in VRA & ending voting rights discrimination. 🧵
The ruling from the US supreme court destroying one of the last pillars of the 1965 Voting Rights Act marks the end of a long and painstaking campaign to roll back civil rights legislation by two titans of the court’s rightwing majority, chief justice John Roberts and Samuel Alito
The conservative supreme court justices behind the dismantling of the Voting Rights act
Latest ruling is culmination of Justices Roberts and Alito’s campaign to slowly but surely strangle efforts to protect democratic rights of Black and other minority Americans
theguardian.com
Pride in place: $45B+ coastal economy CA Gov Gavin Newsom pledges intention to join International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Marine protected area network first nature network secures green list award. State-level 30x30 goals on track. Over 26% lands and 21% coastal waters conserved.
California Seeks to Join International Union for Conservation of Nature
YouTube video by California Governor Gavin Newsom
youtu.be
Happy Earth Day! 📸 From 133 meter Nachi Falls in Wakayama Prefecture in Japan. At UNESCO World Heritage site Kumano Nachi Taisha Shrine 🇯🇵
Finally, a working class manifesto on taming digital services in our technocratic democracy. Sobering we’re underprepared for AI revolution. Tools for training hard to fight easy? Rep. Khanna: Single time 5% wealth tax for billionaires in CA, proposed $4.7T in revenue, plus $2T if corporations pay
AI for the People
A manifesto for an AI revolution that works for the many, not just the billionaires.
thenation.com
The ICJ historic advisory opinion has sent a clear message: climate action is a binding legal obligation. But what does this mean for international investment governance? Our expert Lukas Schaugg breaks it down. 👇 Read the full brief to learn more: bit.ly/4tSz4Um
Solid WSJ profile on commuter rail integration. Central govt funding impacts MTA municipal bond issuance. MTA funds deficit projected $47B by end of 2026. National government in Japan owns roughly 53% and Metropolitan Govt of Tokyo owns 47% of Tokyo Metro. Both depend on riders as main revenue.
Why Tokyo's Metro Is Profitable and New York City’s Isn’t | WSJ U.S. vs. Japan
YouTube video by The Wall Street Journal
youtube.com
#FinancingOurFuture A pleasure to tune into ‘A UN-DESA Classroom Policy Dialogue’ From Sevilla to 2030: Financing the SDGs in a More Fragmented World’, made possible by the UN Peace and Development Trust Fund.
Jasmine Minato Williams (@jasmineminato)
#FinancingOurFuture A pleasure to tune into ‘A UN-DESA Classroom Policy Dialogue’ From Sevilla to 2030: Financing the SDGs in a More Fragmented World’, made possible by the UN Peace and Development ...
substack.com
Why (HRDD) human rights due diligence should be implemented at all levels of international trade agreements. A brief synopsis of issue areas for USTR trade agenda for House Subcommittee. Qs raised with Congress include agreements on reciprocal trade (ARTs) and WTO anti dumping.
Congress Should Push for Transparency in the Enforcement of the New U.S. Trade Deals
U.S. Trade Rep. Jamieson Greer is scheduled to testify tomorrow before a House Subcommittee, with a focus on the USTR budget but if I recall correctly from past experience any topic can be raised at t...
ielp.worldtradelaw.net
OECD expects further falls in 2026 to ODA budgets. 2024 Pact for the Future accounted geopolitical risks at scale. What’s needed beyond 0.7% commitments or sheer political will is innovation. Frontier markets creates sustainable jobs and mobilizes youth. Measuring beyond GDP couldn’t be more vital.
What the latest OECD numbers tell us about the future of aid
Four takeaways, three charts, and one existential question raised by new data on official development assistance.
thenewhumanitarian.org
Clear-eyed, deliberate analysis of the international community shaping up foreign aid by Fmr USAID Adm: Dr. Rajiv J. Shah in FP Magazine: ‘How to Prevent 9 Million Deaths’. Delivering measurements for shared economic prosperity invites new generations with ideas to co-design the demand of our future
How to Prevent 9 Million Deaths
Rich countries must understand foreign aid can actually be popular—if people see the results.
foreignpolicy.com
Grateful to watch expert guidance notes at the Nissan Institute of Japanese Studies one-day virtual symposium ‘From Economic Security to Economic Statecraft: Insights from Japan, Europe, and the United States’. Durable economic statecraft requires innovation. @blavatnikschool.bsky.social @ox.ac.uk
Symposium
sites.google.com
A heart wrenching and healing experience. Fourth Substack post. On Transposition.
On Transposition: Hibakusha, Memory of Hate, and Arcs of Transitional Justice
In the arcs of transitional justice, what does it cost to appraise the memory of hate?
open.substack.com
ICYMI. My founder’s note for Substack: Re-Introduction As of 2.25.
Re-Introduction As of 2.25.26
Getting acquainted, embracing clarity, feeling grateful, and looking to the future with hope
open.substack.com
🕊️ I share my third Substack. Last week, I decided ‘Tower of the Sun’ by Taro Okamoto was the proper image to represent my post. Nearly forgot I crossed paths in May 2025. I was relived finding photo proof. Reproduction displayed by the Embassy of Japan and Library of Congress for Expo ‘70 in Osaka
On Apricity: Athena’s Treaties, Multidimensional Vulnerability in the Complementarity Economy, and Kinetic Non-Violence
I am writing in perspective of continuous learning during my short course on international economic law.
open.substack.com
