Environmental Policy and Law - Volume 52, issue 5-6

Authors: Desai, Bharat H.

Article Type: Editorial

DOI: 10.3233/EPL-219054

Citation: Environmental Policy and Law, vol. 52, no. 5-6, pp. 327-328, 2022

Authors: Desai, Bharat H.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Since the recognition by the UN General Assembly resolution 43/53 (6 December 1988) that “climate change is a common concern of mankind” as well as adoption of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, climate change has emerged as one of the most pressing global environmental challenges. The IPCC AR6 (April 2022) curated scientific evidence has explicitly observed that “Net anthropogenic GHG emissions have increased since 2010 across all major sectors globally.” The cumulative effect of GHG emissions appears to exacerbate the abnormal weather events, melting the polar ice caps and cause other …cataclysmic climatic changes. The effects of climate change transcend territorial boundaries and continents. It has provided a normative basis for the concerted international law-making process underneath the existing UNFCCC led global regulatory regime. It designated climate change as a common concern of humankind . The resultant soft normativity has been shaped into the hard law through the trajectory of three international legal instruments that took the forms such as common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities (1992 UNFCCC) to international legal commitments only for Annex I countries (1997 Kyoto Protocol) and the nationally determined commitments by the parties (2015 Paris Agreement). This study has sought to place under scanner the graded evolution of the climate change regime through the in-built law-making process premised upon a common concern of humankind. In the aftermath of the UN Secretary-General’s warning about climate emergency as part of “triple planetary crisis”, it is high time the international law scholars, the UN General Assembly and the UNFCCC regulatory process shift into the higher trajectory of climate change as a planetary concern . Show more

Keywords: Anthropocentric era, greenhouse gas emissions, climate change, UNFCCC, common concern of humankind, international law-making process, soft normativity, planetary concern.

DOI: 10.3233/EPL-219050

Citation: Environmental Policy and Law, vol. 52, no. 5-6, pp. 331-347, 2022

Authors: Doelle, Meinhard

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was adopted in 1992. It was opened for signature at Rio de Janeiro in June of that year. The 30th anniversary of its adoption offers an opportunity to reflect on more than a quarter of a century of UN climate diplomacy, and to consider the path ahead. This contribution takes a look back at the choices made that have led the regime to its current state. It then takes a look forward and considers the prospects of the regime meeting its ultimate aim of avoiding dangerous human interference with the climate system.

Keywords: UNFCCC, decarbonization, Kyoto Protocol, Paris agreement, NDCs, climate mitigation, climate litigation

DOI: 10.3233/EPL-219043

Citation: Environmental Policy and Law, vol. 52, no. 5-6, pp. 349-358, 2022

Authors: Marmolejo Cervantes, Miguel Ángel | Roeben, Volker | Solís, Lisa Reilly

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: This article analyzes the possibility of environmental obligations acquiring the status of jus cogens (peremptory) norms from six perspectives, namely, domestic legislation of States, national judicial decisions, academia and international organizations, United Nations documents and initiatives, treaties and international State practice, and international tribunals. Additionally, it is argued that the economic and political interests surrounding the military and fossil fuel industries and the vast resources dedicated to them hinder the world’s climate change efforts. Thus, the article presents two research questions. First, what are the possibilities of environmental obligations becoming peremptory norms of international law? Second, if these obligations …currently do not meet the requirements to be recognized as jus cogens , what would be required for them to obtain this status? Show more

Keywords: Climate change, environmental State obligations, jus cogens, international law-making, military, fossil fuel industry

DOI: 10.3233/EPL-219019

Citation: Environmental Policy and Law, vol. 52, no. 5-6, pp. 359-373, 2022

Authors: Ruppel, Oliver C. | Dobers, Cleo

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: The decision-makers, lawyers and legislators have a responsibility to know and understand the science, facts, global regulatory framework and uncertainties of climate change in order to better achieve the goals of the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the 2015 Paris Agreement as well as the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), among others. They also have linkages and relevance for the implementation of the legal obligations under Article 6 (inherent right to life) of the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and Articles 11 (adequate standard of living) and 12 (physical and mental health) of the International Covenant …on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). This study critically examines the complex interplay between different regimes regarding climate change adaptation and mitigation, sustainability and human rights so as to better respond to “climate emergency” underscored by the UN Secretary-General on 2 June 2022 at the Stockholm+50 Conference. Show more

Keywords: UNFCCC, Paris Agreement, sustainability law, climate change law, human rights protection, loss and damage, climate finance, SDGs, NDCs

DOI: 10.3233/EPL-219051

Citation: Environmental Policy and Law, vol. 52, no. 5-6, pp. 399-409, 2022

Authors: Maguire, Rowena | Carter, George | Mangubhai, Sangeeta | Lewis, Bridget | Harris Rimmer, Susan

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract:  Climate change is accelerating gender inequality, as climate extremes amplify inequalities, vulnerabilities, negative gender norms, with Gender-Based Violence (GBV) rates increase during times of disaster. Yet the gendered experiences of climate change have to date been inadequately factored into climate law and policy-making, with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) traditionally limiting its focus to ‘gender balance’ in representation within the regime. This article explores mainstreaming gender considerations within the UNFCCC by reflecting upon where we have come from, where we are now, and where we are going with respect with gender. While there was very little …progress in the early days of the UNFCCC, this article shows that from 2001 to the present there have been a series of small gains, which this article will explain and critique. Much remains to be done, however, for gender within the UNFCCC. In recommending future actions, it draws particularly on lessons from the Pacific and Australian experiences. Show more

Keywords: Gender, feminism, climate change, UNFCCC, Lima work program on gender, gender focal points, gender COP

DOI: 10.3233/EPL-219048

Citation: Environmental Policy and Law, vol. 52, no. 5-6, pp. 429-443, 2022

Authors: Morgera, Elisa | Lennan, Mitchell

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: The 2021 Glasgow Climate Pact brought the ocean into the international climate regime, and the 2022 Sharm el-Sheikh COP27 of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has finally ushered the world into a special fund to respond to loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change, including on the human rights of present and future generations. But much remains to be clarified about how ocean-based mitigation, adaptation, finance and technology will contribute to inter-generational equity. To shed light on these issues, this article starts from the premise that the ocean is an essential but little-understood …component of the interdependency between climate change and human rights. It is followed by an exploration of the importance of a healthy ocean for children’s human rights as a way to advance inter-generational equity under the 30-year-old (1992–2022) UNFCCC through systemic interpretation. The upcoming General Comment on children’s rights and the environment with a special focus on climate change (General Comment No. 26) by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child presents an opportunity to clarify the role of existing international human rights obligations in strengthening intergenerational equity at the climate-ocean interface on the basis of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). This appears vital to ensure coordination across intergovernmental bodies and national government departments to safeguard ocean-dependent children’s human rights through climate policy and action at different levels. Show more

Keywords: UNFCCC, UNCRC, Glasgow Climate Pact, ocean-climate nexus, ocean-dependent children’s human rights, inter-generational equity, COP27

DOI: 10.3233/EPL-219052

Citation: Environmental Policy and Law, vol. 52, no. 5-6, pp. 445-459, 2022

Authors: Tirumurti, T.S.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: The current name of the game on climate action by the Global North is called “Backtracking” –backtracking on almost every commitment made by them at the various Conference of Parties (COP) held under the Unites Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This comes even as the UNFCCC turned 30 on 04 June 2022. The article seeks to place under scanner issues at stake that will impinge upon the future trajectory of the climate change regulatory regime.

Keywords: UNFCCC, COP, Paris Agreement, mitigation, adaptation, loss and damage, finance and technology, global net-zero, net-negative, LiFE, global Stock take

DOI: 10.3233/EPL-219046

Citation: Environmental Policy and Law, vol. 52, no. 5-6, pp. 463-471, 2022

Authors: Junker, Kirk W. | Münster, Saskia | Shinde, Mrinalini

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: We are already witnessing climate-induced migration and thus must prepare to address the next decades of even more human mobility as a consequence of the climate disruption crisis. Fifty years after the Stockholm Conference, international environmental law still needs solutions to protect those persons most vulnerable to environmental harm. This paper seeks to focus on the concept of reparative justice as the theme and attitude of legal solutions, so as to refocus legal tools to provide relief to those persons who are displaced and dispossessed because of the climate disruption crisis. In this paper, we present possibilities for a reparative …climate justice regime that could help to break the current cycle of harm and denial in which states are currently embroiled within international climate negotiations. This focus considers how careful solutions such as credit within the financial mechanisms under the Paris Agreement, in a spirit of trust and solidarity, could contribute to legal solutions to climate migration problems. The paper first iterates the scope and history of climate-induced migration in international law and then presents the case for reparations as a strong legal response to climate-induced migration, before finally exploring the legal avenues within international climate law wherein reparative justice and financing could potentially operate. Show more

Keywords: Climate-induced migration, environmental migrants, environmental refugees, slow-onset events, climate change, UNFCCC, reparations, climate justice, reparative justice, trust fund, loss and damage

DOI: 10.3233/EPL-219053

Citation: Environmental Policy and Law, vol. 52, no. 5-6, pp. 473-485, 2022