Assessing the European Union's global climate change leadership: from Copenhagen to the Paris Agreement

The Paris Agreement on combating global climate change expresses the consensus of almost all countries in the world on the awareness of the unpredictable dangers of global climate change. We all have to work together to execute the necessary solutions to fight global climate change. Human-induced CO2 is a fundamental part of the global greenhouse effect, so must be handling sources of CO2 emissions into the earth’s atmosphere. From electricity production processes using fossil fuels releases huge amounts of carbon dioxide into the environment, which is the main reason for global climate change. In the meantime, until now, people have not had effective solutions to thoroughly treat industrial emissions. Therefore, we must quickly eliminate all thermal power plants with fossil fuels, and must quickly deploy renewable energy production processes.

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Obligations to Reduce Emissions: From the Oslo Principles to Enterprises

Journal of European Tort Law ◽

10.1515/jetl-2017-0008 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 2017 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Philip Sutherland

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Global Climate Change ◽

Global Climate ◽

Tort Law ◽

Paris Agreement ◽

Business And Human Rights ◽

Reduce Emissions ◽

Mitigate Climate Change ◽

Central Pillar ◽

Domestic Law

AbstractThe release of Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) by the activities of humans is a major contributor to current global climate change. A major environmental catastrophe caused by this climate change will be averted only if the emission of GHGs are drastically reduced. Attempts have been made to reach international agreements among nations to achieve this, but these attempts, of which the Paris Agreement is the most recent, appear to be inadequate and ineffective. A group of scholars, the Oslo group, therefore asked the question whether more comprehensive obligations that bind states and enterprises could be deduced from other sources of law. The attempts to answer these questions have culminated in the Oslo Principles on Global Climate Change Obligations. The basic methodology that was followed in drafting the Oslo Principles is described. The Oslo group concluded that several concrete obligations to mitigate climate change could be stated by reference to international and domestic law. Particular attention is given in this contribution to tort law as a basis for mitigation obligations in the Oslo Principles but some attention is also given to other areas of law. The central pillar of the Oslo Principles is the primary mitigation obligation, which according to the Principles, is imposed on states. The ambit and nature of this obligation are described. Finally, it is acknowledged that the Oslo Principles only describe rudimentary obligations on enterprises and that it is both difficult and necessary to set out mitigation obligations that can be imposed on enterprises. The contribution finally proposes that the ideas behind the Oslo Principles and United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights can be utilised in devising basic mitigation obligations for enterprises.

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The gap report of global climate change mitigation, finance, and governance after the United States declared its withdrawal from the Paris Agreement

Chinese Journal of Population Resources and Environment ◽

10.1080/10042857.2017.1365450 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 15 (3) ◽

pp. 196-208 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Qimin Chai ◽

Sha Fu ◽

Huaqing Xu ◽

Weiran Li ◽

Yan Zhong

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

United States ◽

Global Climate Change ◽

Climate Change Mitigation ◽

Global Climate ◽

The United States ◽

Paris Agreement ◽

Change Mitigation

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The Paris agreement on Global Climate change cannot be fully enforced, because this is an incomplete agreement

Earth & Environmental Science Research & Reviews ◽

10.33140/eesrr.03.02.11 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 3 (2) ◽

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Global Climate Change ◽

Feasible Solution ◽

Global Climate ◽

Paris Agreement ◽

Preliminary Review ◽

Phase 2 ◽

Earth’S Atmosphere ◽

The World ◽

Earth's Atmosphere

In 2007, billionaire Richard Branson launched a contest with a prize of $ 25 million to choose a feasible solution to protect the Earth’s atmosphere and combat global climate change [1].The contest lasts 5 years, divided into 2 phase, the first phase from 2007 to 2010. By the end of 2010 the organizers will conduct a preliminary review, if a winner is found, the competition is considered to be over. But in fact after the first round, no winners, so the organizers had to conduct phase 2 from 2010 to 2012 to finish. What a pity after 5 years with the participation of millions of scientists, scientific collectives, all over the world, without finding a winner.

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Do Sustainability Rating Schemes Capture Climate Goals?

Business & Society ◽

10.1177/0007650319825764 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 60 (1) ◽

pp. 125-160 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Saphira A. C. Rekker ◽

Jacquelyn E. Humphrey ◽

Katherine R. O’Brien

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Global Warming ◽

Greenhouse Gas Emissions ◽

Greenhouse Gas ◽

Global Climate Change ◽

Global Climate ◽

Paris Agreement ◽

Gas Emissions ◽

Climate Targets ◽

Climate Indicators

The 2015 Paris Agreement set a global warming limit of 2°C above preindustrial levels. Corporations play an important role in achieving this objective, and methods have recently been developed to map global climate targets to specific industries, and individual corporations within those industries. In this article, we assess whether Sustainability ratings capture corporate performance in meeting the 2°C target. We analyze nine rating schemes used by investors and three commonly used in academic studies. Most rating schemes do consider corporate greenhouse gas emissions in their analysis, whereas only a minority scale emissions by factors that have the potential to allow benchmarking against science-based targets. None take the final step of mapping climate indicators against the 2°C target. Furthermore, we find a lack of consistency in the climate change ratings of the databases used in academic studies. These results are concerning in the context of being able to meet global climate change goals.

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FIVE YEARS OF THE PARIS AGREEMENT: THE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE OF THE GLOBAL CLIMATE TREATY

History and modern perspectives ◽

10.33693/2658-4654-2021-3-1-20-29 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 3 (1) ◽

pp. 20-29

Author(s):

YURI KOVALEV ◽

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Global Climate Change ◽

Global Climate ◽

Negotiation Process ◽

Paris Agreement ◽

Ecological Modernization ◽

The World ◽

Climate Treaty ◽

Paris Climate Agreement ◽

National Economies

The article presents an analysis of the main stages in the development of climate diplomacy on the eve of the Paris Agreement and the specifics of the negotiation process at the very summit in Paris in November-December 2015. The main provisions of the Paris Climate Agreement are described, its “strengths” and “weaknesses” are shown. The development of the negotiation process within the framework of the post-Paris climate policy at the Conference of the Parties in Marrakesh (2016), Bonn (2017), Katowice (2018) and Madrid (2019) was considered. The main decisions and conclusions of the Conference of the Parties on the further improvement of mechanisms for combating global climate change and adaptation to its consequences have been identified. An increasing tendency in many countries of the world towards the creation of a national carbon-neutral economy by 2050, their rejection of “dirty” technologies and the declaration of a deep ecological modernization of sectors of national economies are noted. The groupings of countries participating in the negotiation process under the UN climate change convention are analyzed. Shown are the vanguard countries of the negotiation process and the states blocking or “inhibiting” the negotiation process. The high dependence of the Russian economy on the extraction and export of fuel resources complicates the processes of environmental modernization. The country is dominated by a negative narrative about climate change. It sees the urgent ecological modernization of the country’s economy as a threat to the “key” sectors of the economy. Russia is one of the last countries in the world to ratify the Paris Agreement (October 2019) and to submit its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to the UN in the fight against global climate change (November 2020). In the conclusion, generalizations are made and prospects for the further development of climate diplomacy are presented.

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THE REALITY OF A CARBON FOOTPRINT IN GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE

THE LIFE OF THE EARTH ◽

10.29003/m2437.0514-7468.2020_43_3/328-335 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 43 (3) ◽

pp. 328-335

Author(s):

Viktor EFIMOV

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Carbon Dioxide ◽

Carbon Footprint ◽

Global Climate Change ◽

Industrial Production ◽

Global Climate ◽

Carbon Dioxide Concentration ◽

Paris Agreement ◽

Margin Of Error ◽

Earth’S Climate

The article calls into question the theory of the global greenhouse effect escalation attributable to the increase in the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere due to human activity, as well as the very ability of industry to influence the Earth’s climate. The author finds dubitable the very approach to understanding greenhouse gases and their impact on the climate reflected in the Paris Agreement. Analysis of authoritative opinions of the world’s leading climate scientists leads to the conclusion that the increase in global temperatures due to industrial production, given a doubling of carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere, would constitute about 0,02 degrees. This is lower than the margin of error in modern global temperature measurements.

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