Over the past few years, Howard Mann has undertaken a variety of research projects for international business and environmental groups, international environmental Secretariats, and environment, legal, industry, natural resources and Aboriginal affairs departments of governments.

Some examples of Howard Mann's work include:

International seminars on trade and sustainable development at London's prestigious Royal Institute for International Affairs (Chatham House).
In 2003 and 2004, Howard Mann has been part of a team of International Institute for Sustainable Development associates who have developed international seminars on trade and sustainable development at London’s prestigious Royal Institute for International Affairs (Chatham House). The second of these seminars took place in February, 2004. Co-sponsored by the Royal Institute and IISD, the seminars provide critical, high-level analysis of important issues at the nexus of economic globalization processes and sustainable development. Howard also presents original research at these meetings

A first-ever comprehensive review of the implications for developing countries of disputes between foreign investors and their host states under international agreements on the protection of foreign investors (Bilateral Investment Treaties).
In 2003, the United Nations Commission for Trade and Development (UNCTAD) engaged Howard Mann to undertake a first-ever comprehensive review of the implications for developing countries of disputes between foreign investors and their host states under international agreements on the protection of foreign investors (Bilateral Investment Treaties). Howard organized and analyzed the final or interim results of over fifty international arbitrations, many of which had never been analyzed previously. The project demonstrates Howard Mann’s internationally recognized leadership in the analysis of trade and investment regimes in the context of development and sustainable development issues.

Report on the State of Trade and Environment Law, 2003
In 2002-2003, Howard Mann led a team of four researchers and writers in the development of a report on the State of Trade and Environment Law, 2003. The report documented changes in the development of trade law as it relates to the environment over the past ten years, including on critical issues such as the relationship of science to the precautionary principle, the scope for unilateral environmental measures impacting trade, and the role of international environmental agreements in relation to trade law. The publication was released at a workshop attended by government and non-government delegates to the 2003 WTO Ministerial meeting in Cancun, Mexico.

The evolving impacts of NAFTA's Chapter 11
From 2000-2002, Howard Mann worked with other IISD associates on a broad program addressing the evolving impacts of NAFTA’s Chapter 11 (Investment) on environmental and uman health protection. The project spawned a book on Chapter 11, the IISD intervention in one major international arbitration under Chapter 11 (Methanex v. United States), and high-level conferences in Mexico City, Washington D.C., and Ottawa that brought together government, business and other civil society groups to review the issues and ways forward. As a result of this effort, several participants in the process have also published original research based on their conference participation.

The requirements of NAFTA and other trade law as it relates to environmental law
In April, 2000, the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation selected Howard Mann to undertake the first comprehensive review of the requirements of NAFTA and other trade law as it relates to environmental law making. The resulting analysis was presented at the First North American Symposium on Understanding the Linkages Between Trade and Environment in October, 2000 at the World Bank Headquarters in Washington, D.C.. The paper can be found at http://www.iisd.org/pdf/2001/trade_mann_final.pdf.

The relationship between international investment law and the environment
After several cases under Chapter 11 of NAFTA raised questions on the relationship between international investment law and the environment, Dr. Mann was commissioned to prepare a report on this issue. The report was then presented at the June 1999 annual meeting of the Council of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation, the only outside presentation to this body since it was founded in 1994. See NAFTA's Chapter 11 and the Environment at http://www.iisd.org/trade/chapter11.htm. A follow-up research piece, aimed more broadly at civil society and non-legal actors, was prepared for the Quebec City Summit of the Americas, held in April 2001. See Private Rights, Public Problems: A Guide To NAFTA's Controversial Chapter on Investor Rights at http://www.iisd.org/trade/private_rights.htm.

The linkages between biodiversity, biotechnology and intellectual property
The conclusion of the World Trade Organization agreements in 1994 and the Convention on Biological Diversity in 1992 has led to much debate on the potential conflicts between these two instruments. In 1996, Howard Mann completed an analysis of the issues and debate to that time, providing a major objective assessment of the linkages between biodiversity, biotechnology and intellectual property. See Intellectual Property Rights, Biotechnology and the Protection of Biodiversity at http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/pics/ip/mannef.pdf. Dr. Mann has remained active in this area ever since.

Persistent organic pollutants
As international attention began to focus in the mid 1990's on the problem of persistent organic pollutants, Howard Mann was engaged to prepare a comprehensive review of the international law applying to these pollutants, including those in the agricultural sector and the relevant trade law rules. The review was part of the background documentation for a conference co-sponsored by Canada and the Philippines. The paper was designed specifically to contribute to debate in a non-legal setting, and was accepted with minimal revisions as part of the record of the Conference, helping to set the stage for the negotiations that led to the signing of the Stockholm Convention in 2001.