Climate agenda on the eve of COP-26: experience of Latin America

The newest world history has been marked by economic crises, environmental disasters an increase in intrastate and interstate armed conflicts, as well as an escalating confrontation in the field of energy resources. Among these risks, environmental problems such as global warming, sea level rise, soil erosion and shortages of food and fossil fuels have become unprecedentedly visible. This article focuses on a new climate agenda in the light of COP-26, taking place in Glasgow, and the regional experience of Latin America in confronting climate threats and adapting to climate changes since the ratification of the 2015 Paris Agreement. The authors consider the main international climate instruments, as well as those achievements on the way to greening national economies, which were undertaken by the LAC states within the mechanisms of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. Since the ratification of the Paris Agreement, every Latin American state has made progress in implementing the environmental agenda and developing legislation aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to climate change. The conclusion highlights the need for broad state participation on the base of proven instruments for solving major environmental problems, further developing early warning systems and consistent implementation of the planned action plans to reduce the risk of disasters and their consequences. Primary importance is attached to interstate dialogue to tackle the environmental challenges, commitment to the responsible fulfillment of international climate agreements and further development of international framework in the field of environmental law. Joint initiatives among the states of the region are expected to have significant effect on reducing emissions of these gases. Moreover, the market-based instruments proposed by the Paris Agreement are known to be an important complement to the ongoing efforts to comply with the overall UNFCCC climate agenda.

Inequity in International Climate Change Negotiations

Nation State: Journal of International Studies ◽

10.24076/nsjis.v4i2.444 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 4 (2) ◽

pp. 153-177

Author(s):

Serge Silatsa Nanda ◽

Omar Samba ◽

Ahmad Sahide

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Developing Countries ◽

Kyoto Protocol ◽

Developed Countries ◽

Paris Agreement ◽

Climate Change Negotiations ◽

Climate Agreements ◽

Climate Negotiations ◽

The adoption of international climate agreements requires thorough negotiation between parties. This study aims to analyse the inequities between developed and developing countries in climate negotiations. This was done through a scrutiny of the main stages of these negotiations from the Rio Conference to the advent of the Paris Agreement. Our analysis has shown pervasive inequities along the climate negotiations over time. The UNFCCC made a qualitative separation between developed and developing countries in the principle of common but differentiated responsibility. Furthermore, the Kyoto Protocol emphasized this with the commitment of developed countries to reducing their greenhouse gas emissions by at least 5%. The Kyoto Protocol by introducing flexibility mechanisms such as the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) contributed to increase inequalities. The Paris Agreement has increased inequity by requesting each country to submit nationally determined contributions (NDCs) even though the global emission of developing countries remains very low. The negotiation style of developing countries is mostly limited to compromise and accommodation to the desires of the powerful states, as is the case in most international cooperation. The reality of the climate change negotiations mirrors the inequalities between developed and developing nations.

Philosophical Transactions of The Royal Society A Mathematical Physical and Engineering Sciences ◽

Better predictions, better allocations: scientific advances and adaptation to climate change

10.1098/rsta.2015.0122 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 373 (2055) ◽

pp. 20150122 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Mark C. Freeman ◽

Ben Groom ◽

Richard J. Zeckhauser

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Social Welfare ◽

Climate Science ◽

Consumption Smoothing ◽

Adaptation To Climate Change ◽

Adaptation Measures ◽

Climate Agreements ◽

International Climate ◽

Informative Signals

Climate science initially aspired to improve understanding of what the future would bring, and thereby produce appropriate public policies and effective international climate agreements. If that hope is dashed, as now seems probable, effective policies for adapting to climate change become critical. Climate science assumes new responsibilities by helping to foster more appropriate adaptation measures, which might include shifting modes or locales of production. This theoretical article focuses on two broader tools: consumption smoothing in response to the risk of future losses, and physical adaptation measures to reduce potential damages. It shows that informative signals on the effects of climate change facilitate better decisions on the use of each tool, thereby increasing social welfare.

Cities Towards Global Climate Governance: How the Practices of City Diplomacy Foster Hybrid Multilateralism

Przegląd Strategiczny ◽

10.14746/ps.2021.1.21 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 365-377

Author(s):

Nikola Strachová

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Central Government ◽

Global Climate ◽

Climate Agreements ◽

Global Issues ◽

International Climate ◽

Climate Crisis ◽

Global Values

One of the effects of globalization is the increasing number of transnational ties that central governments not only ceased to control but also ceased to participate in; therefore, in recent decades, cities have been increasingly motivated to respond to international issues and initiate various contacts with foreign economic, cultural, and political centres. This article examines practices of city diplomacy in light of the current climate crisis. Albeit cities could be in conflict with their central government, they are executing the global climate agenda. Nonetheless, how do we frame cities’ autonomous activities in the global governance agenda? The article seeks to determine whether the framework of hybrid multilateralism is the niche for cities to assume the role of the central government in defending common global values such as preservation of the environment when the state fails to do so. Based on a dataset consisting of various subnational initiatives responding to climate change, we suggest a remarkable growth in the pledges to the international climate agreements’ commitments involving many subnational actors. Through these pledges, cities enter the international negotiations with various partners under hybrid policy architecture. Cities hold an enormous potential to influence the global conversation on climate change agenda. Furthermore, we conclude that cities are taking on the states’ role in global issues when they identify the inadequacy of the central governments’ action. Their conflict position forces them to carry out autonomous activities and fosters the new phenomenon of hybrid multilateralism.

Regional and sectoral impacts of climate change under international climate agreements

International Journal of Global Warming ◽

10.1504/ijgw.2015.073051 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 8 (4) ◽

pp. 463 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Shin Sakaue ◽

Koichi Yamaura ◽

Toyoaki Washida

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Climate Agreements ◽

International Climate ◽

Impacts Of Climate Change

How can New Zealand schools respond to climate change?

10.18296/set.0184 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 30-39

Author(s):

Rachel Bolstad

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

New Zealand ◽

Educational Policies ◽

Climate Agreements ◽

Global Challenge ◽

School Network ◽

International climate agreements say education can play a key role in responding to the global challenge of climate change. My team and I are currently carrying out research to help build a national picture of educational responses to climate change. Our research suggests that New Zealand’s educational policies and strategies currently provide a diffuse framework for responding to climate change, and there is a lack of coherent messaging “from the top” about what could or should be expected of schools. Yet some innovative practices and approaches are visible across the school network. This article describes what we currently know about climate and sustainability thinking and practice across English-medium schools, and what further actions and supports may be needed across the system.

IDB Group and Climate Action

10.18235/0003754 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Latin American ◽

Paris Agreement ◽

Climate Finance ◽

Development Bank ◽

Multilateral Development Banks ◽

Climate Action ◽

The Caribbean ◽

Development Banks ◽

Bank Group

As one of the leading development partners for Latin American and the Caribbean (LAC), the Inter-American Development Bank Group (IDB Group) is fully committed to lead by example on climate change action. Since the signing of the Paris Agreement, the IDB Group has provided over $20 billion in Climate Finance, amounting to about 60% of all Climate Finance to the region from Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs).

Efficient incomplete international climate agreements

Resource and Energy Economics ◽

10.1016/0928-7655(94)00022-c ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 17 (1) ◽

pp. 25-46 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

Rolf Golombek ◽

Catherine Hagem ◽

Michael Hoel

Keyword(s):

Climate Agreements ◽

Analysis of International Climate Change Agreements in the Context of Latin America and the Caribbean

10.1007/978-3-030-57281-5_35 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1465-1490

Author(s):

Diana Belem López Cruz ◽

Roberto Ariel Abeldaño Zuñiga ◽

Gabriela Narcizo de Lima

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Latin America ◽

International Climate ◽

The Caribbean ◽

International Climate Change

The Paris Agreement and the Future of the Climate Regime

How International Law Works in Times of Crisis ◽

10.1093/oso/9780198849667.003.0012 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 189-205 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

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.

Part V Subject Matter, Ch.29 Climate Change

10.1093/law/9780198849155.003.0029 ◽

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.