Part V Subject Matter, Ch.29 Climate Change

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rajamani Lavanya ◽  
Werksman Jacob D
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
International Law ◽  
Environmental Law ◽  
Paris Agreement ◽  
Due Diligence ◽  
Address Climate Change ◽  
Rules And Principles ◽  
Harm Prevention ◽  
And Function ◽  
The Universe

This chapter provides an overview of international regulatory efforts to address climate change. It focuses on the UN climate change regime, which comprises the 1992 UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change), the Kyoto Protocol, the Paris Agreement, and decisions of parties under these instruments. However, the universe of climate change law extends well beyond the UN climate change regime. There are rules and principles of general international law, such as the harm prevention principle, due diligence, and state responsibility, which apply to climate change. There are treaty regimes and institutions, including those addressing other areas of international environmental law or other fields of international law, which intersect with, complement, and function to implement the UN climate change regime. There are also a multiplicity of rules, regulations, and institutions at the regional, sub-regional, and national levels that directly or indirectly address climate change, many of which have been put in place in response to the UN treaties.

scholarly journals Due Diligence in the International Legal Order

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Environmental Law ◽  
Legal Order ◽  
Due Diligence ◽  
Present Book ◽  
International Economic Law ◽  
International Legal Order ◽  
Rules And Principles ◽  
And Function ◽  
Diverse Interactions

Due diligence is a prominent concept in international law. Still, for long, its role seemed to be that of a familiar stranger. Frequent referrals to the concept in arbitral awards, court decisions, and in scholarly discussions mostly on state responsibility hide the fact that the specific normative content and systemic relation of due diligence to rules and principles of international law has largely remained unexplored. The present book provides the first comprehensive analysis of the content, scope, and function of due diligence across various areas of international law, including international environmental law, international peace and security law, and international economic law. Sector by sector, contributors explore the diverse interactions between due diligence and area-specific substantive and procedural rules as well as general principles of international law. The book exposes the promises and limits of due diligence for enhancing accountability and compliance and identifies the rise of due diligence as a signal for change in the international legal order towards risk management and proceduralisation.

The International Law Association’s Legal Principles on Climate Change and Climate Liability Under Public International Law

Climate Law ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 201-216
Author(s):  
Christoph Schwarte ◽  
Will Frank
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
International Law ◽  
Environmental Law ◽  
Legal Rights ◽  
Due Diligence ◽  
International Agreement ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Legal Principles ◽  
National Jurisdiction ◽  
Tackle Climate Change

In April 2014, the International Law Association (ila) adopted draft articles on the existing legal principles relating to climate change. Developed by leading legal scholars, these draft articles with commentaries formulate potential guidance to states in their joint efforts to tackle climate change and negotiate a new international agreement. The ila finds that the general principles of public international and international environmental law apply to climate change. States are under a ‘due diligence’ obligation to ensure that ghg emissions under their jurisdiction or control do not cause damage in other states or areas beyond national jurisdiction. States that violate the duty of prevention can be held liable. However, there are different obligations and rights for industrialised and developing countries. The ila’s Legal Principles Relating to Climate Change clarify and develop the relevant criteria. Overall, they mark a paradigm shift in favour of ‘victim states’ that are particularly exposed to the negative effects of climate change. As a result, the traditional beneficiaries of international charity have become creditors with legal rights.

scholarly journals STAGES OF INTERNATIONAL LEGAL REGULATION IN THE FIELD OF CLIMATE PRESERVATION

2021 ◽  
Vol 02 (06) ◽  
pp. 108-116
Author(s):  
M.I. Putilina ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
United Nations ◽  
International Law ◽  
Environmental Law ◽  
Legal Regulation ◽  
Paris Agreement ◽  
Legal Documents ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Politics And Law ◽  
Quantitative Assessments

The subject of the article is a chronological analysis of the development of the institutions of international law that regulate the issue of climate preservation. Active international legal cooperation in this area can be seen as a sign of growing attention of the international community to the problem of climate change, its integration into other areas of politics and law. This article provides a periodization of the stages of the process of formation of the main institutions of environmental law in the field of climate preservation from 1972 to the present, considers the most important milestones within the proposed stages, systematizes this information, gives comparative assessments of legal documents, taking into account their effectiveness at all stages as they are adopted. The study revealed the continuity of the process of adapting the adopted agreements to changing perceptions about set goals, quantitative assessments of the fulfillment of their obligations by states, the effectiveness of institutions for the implementation of agreements both at the international and regional or national levels. The author concludes that the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement have played a key role in stimulating and guiding international legal efforts to preserve the climate.

International Law Obligations Arising in relation to Nationally Determined Contributions

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 251-275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benoit Mayer
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
International Law ◽  
Paris Agreement ◽  
The Other ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Legal Obligations ◽  
Nationally Determined Contributions ◽  
The One

AbstractThis article analyzes the international law obligations that arise in relation to nationally determined contributions (NDCs). It argues that distinct and concurrent obligations arise from two separate sources. On the one hand, treaty obligations arise under the Paris Agreement, which imposes an obligation of conduct on parties: they must take adequate measures towards the realization of the mitigation targets contained in their NDCs. On the other hand, communications such as NDCs may constitute unilateral declarations that also create legal obligations. These unilateral declarations impose obligations of various types, which may extend beyond mitigation. For example, they may specify measures of implementation or demand the achievement of a particular result. The potential ‘double-bindingness’ of NDCs should be a central consideration in the interpretation of international law obligations regarding climate change.

10. International environmental law

2021 ◽  
pp. 186-208
Author(s):  
Anders Henriksen
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Environmental Protection ◽  
Environmental Law ◽  
Common Interest ◽  
Hazardous Substances ◽  
Legal Regime ◽  
International Environmental Law ◽  
Balanced Approach ◽  
Rules And Principles

International environmental law is an area of international law where states have decided to cooperate with each other in order to fulfil certain goals of common interest and, for the most part, its rules and principles belong in the category of the international law of cooperation. This chapter discusses the most important parts of international environmental law and its main legal sources. It presents the fundamental principles of international environmental law, including those that seek to prevent damage to the environment and those that seek to ensure a balanced approach to environmental protection. It provides an overview of the most important parts of the substantial regulation in international environmental law, including the legal regime for the protection of the atmosphere, the conservation of nature and the regulation of hazardous substances. It also discusses features related to implementation and enforcement that are particular to international environmental law.

Part III Conceptual Pillars, Ch.16 Harm Prevention

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brunnée Jutta
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Law ◽  
Environmental Harm ◽  
Due Diligence ◽  
International Environmental Law ◽  
Significant Harm ◽  
Actual Harm ◽  
The Face ◽  
Harm Prevention ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter addresses how international environmental law originates from and revolves around the harm prevention rule. It focuses on three points of contention, each related to the role of due diligence in harm prevention, and each highlighted by recent judicial engagements with the harm prevention rule. First, it is generally accepted that a state's obligation to prevent environmental harm is not absolute, but requires due diligence in the face of risk of significant harm. However, it is unclear whether a failure to act diligently to avert harm on its own—absent actual harm—can amount to a breach of the harm prevention rule. Second, the relationship between the procedural and substantive dimensions of the harm prevention rule remains ambiguous. Third, there is some uncertainty as to where the line runs between the harm prevention obligation and the precautionary principle, given the focus of both notions on risk. These inter-related conceptual questions affect the harm prevention rule's function as a reference point for international environmental law.

The Paris Agreement and the Future of the Climate Regime

2019 ◽  
pp. 189-205 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annalisa Savaresi
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
International Law ◽  
Paris Agreement ◽  
Global Mean Temperature ◽  
The Future ◽  
International Climate ◽  
The One ◽  
Global Mean ◽  
Important Objective ◽  
Climate Change Governance

This chapter discusses how international law has responded to climate change, focusing on the challenges that have faced implementation of existing climate treaties, and on the suitability of the Paris Agreement to address these. Expectations of this new treaty could scarcely be greater: the Paris Agreement is meant to provide a framework to improve international cooperation on climate change, and to keep the world within the global mean temperature-change goal identified by scientists as safe. Yet, whether and how this important objective will be reached largely depends, on the one hand, on the supporting political will and, on the other, on the redesign of the international architecture for climate governance. This chapter specifically reflects on international law-making and on the approach to climate change governance embedded in the Paris Agreement, drawing inferences from the past, to make predictions on what the future may hold for international climate change law.

10. International environmental law

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anders Henriksen
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Environmental Protection ◽  
Environmental Law ◽  
Common Interest ◽  
Hazardous Substances ◽  
Legal Regime ◽  
International Environmental Law ◽  
Balanced Approach ◽  
Rules And Principles

International environmental law is an area of international law where states have decided to cooperate with each other in order to fulfil certain goals of common interest and, for the most part, its rules and principles belong in the category of the international law of cooperation. This chapter discusses the most important parts of international environmental law and its main legal sources. It presents the fundamental principles of international environmental law, including those that seek to prevent damage to the environment and those that seek to ensure a balanced approach to environmental protection. It provides an overview of the most important parts of the substantial regulation in international environmental law, including the legal regime for the protection of the atmosphere, the conservation of nature, and the regulation of hazardous substances. It also discusses features related to implementation and enforcement that are particular to international environmental law.

Climate Change-related Displacement of Persons

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane McAdam
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
International Law ◽  
Internal Displacement ◽  
Address Climate Change ◽  
Political Incentives ◽  
International Borders ◽  
Refugee Law ◽  
International Refugee Law ◽  
Impacts Of Climate Change

This chapter examines the scope of existing international law to address ‘climate change-related displacement’, a term used to describe movement where the impacts of climate change affect mobility decisions in some way. It looks into the role of international refugee law, human rights law, and the law on statelessness in protecting people displaced by the impacts of climate change. The extent to which international law and international institutions respond to climate change-related movement and displacement depends upon: whether such movement is perceived as voluntary or forced; the nature of the trigger; whether international borders are crossed; the extent to which there are political incentives to characterize movement as linked to climate change or not; and whether movement is driven or aggravated by human factors, such as discrimination. The chapter also considers the extent to which existing principles on internal displacement provide normative and practical guidance.

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