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Burundi is on the verge of a climate and environmental catastrophe due to an interlinked combination of extreme poverty, explosive population growth, over-reliance on biomass energy sources and rapidly declining forest cover in the largely agrarian country. 100 per cent of its internally displaced population are climate change-related displacements, yet the government struggles with balancing strict climate regulations alongside promoting voluntary climate change behavioural changes. This paper critically analyses the reformation of Burundi's climate change legal framework utilising a 'Carrot and Stick' legal approach to engender a transition to cleaner energy sources and promote climate mitigation and adaptation. The paper examines the key drivers of a sustainable climate change legal framework, the mechanisms of adopting a 'carrot-and-stick' approach to climate change regulation and the delicate structuring of Burundi's regulatory framework to effectively punish and persuade households to adopt climate change goals in their energy and agricultural activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate transition plans are emerging as new ways of involving businesses in climate action. Without their engagement, the transition towards climate neutrality will be challenging. Voluntary undertakings by individual companies, and various initiatives on best practices and standards currently dominate. The EU has decided to require the largest companies operating in the internal market to develop and implement a climate transition plan with legal consequences. The idea is to compel companies to ensure that their business models and practices align with the transition to a sustainable economy, the global temperature goals of the Paris Agreement, and targets of the European Climate Law. This paper undertakes an in-depth analysis of Article 15 of the draft EU Directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence that introduces a climate transition plan as a legal instrument to combat climate change. Considering the directive's pending approval, the paper will assess the legal nature, function, content elements and enforceability of the plan, as well as its relationship with the mandatory corporate sustainability due diligence outlined in the EU institution's proposals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A rising number of climate cases is brought against governments, administrations, and companies in support of enhanced climate action. This is the second of two articles that aim to scrutinise climate litigation as a social process and as a driver towards deep decarbonisation from the perspectives of law, social, and political sciences. Working towards more systematic research on societal embedding and dynamics of climate litigation, we further develop and test two analytical tools, the Social Plausibility Assessment Framework and the Global Opportunity Structure, at two levels. While the first article presented these analytical tools and analysed general developments in climate litigation in their societal context at an overarching level, this second article zooms into a case-specific level and examines two landmark decisions, Neubauer and others v Germany and Milieudefensie and others v Shell. The analytical approach generates valuable insights about the conditions and effects of climate litigation on both levels. Our results show that climate litigation is a significant driver towards deep decarbonisation that is shaped by, and continuously shapes, legal, socio-political, economic, and scientific scripts and repertoires that enable novel forms of societal agency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines the relevance of the right to information and public participation in the context of the consultation process to update the Italian National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP), which was recently adopted pursuant to regulation (EU) 2018/1999 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the governance of the EU for energy and climate action. To this end, the paper will firstly focus on the relationship of interpretation between the relevant provisions of the regulation and the Aarhus Convention on the right to information and public participation. Secondly, it will examine the practice of the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee (ACCC) in this area. The paper will then assess the performance of the Italian authorities in light of this broad legal framework and considering the ACCC/C/2023/205 communication submitted by the NGO A Sud before the Committee. Finally, the author will make some brief critical remarks on the political and legislative situation of Italy, as well as on the potential role of the Committee to clarify the relevance of the right to information and participation concerning NECPs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A growing number of court cases are being brought against governments, administrations, and corporations in support of enhanced climate action. This is the first of two articles that examine climate litigation as a social process and potential driver of deep decarbonisation from a perspective that combines legal, social, and political science. Contributing to an emerging interdisciplinary research agenda on the dynamics and effects of climate litigation and on its societal embeddedness, we present and test two analytical tools, the Social Plausibility Assessment Framework and the Global Opportunity Structure for Climate Action. The first article introduces these analytical tools, and applies them to assess the overall evolution of climate litigation and identify developments in its legal and societal context that enable or constrain future driver dynamics. Based on this assessment, we conclude that climate litigation constitutes an important but on its own insufficient driver of deep decarbonisation, which is shaped by, and continuously shapes, legal, socio-political, economic, and scientific scripts and repertoires that enable novel forms of societal agency. The second article further operationalises and illustrates the approach by zooming in on a case-specific level and examining two recent landmark decisions in the Netherlands and Germany. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As we watch continuous news coverage of heat waves, wildfires, epic floods and beaches full of dead fish due to unprecedented ocean temperatures, action is being taken at the international level to clarify state obligations under the law of the sea convention as they pertain specifically to climate change. In the face of the stubborn remaining large gap between what is necessary and what is actually being done to mitigate the worst of climate change, systemic climate litigation in national courts is gaining in importance as a driver of more ambitious climate action. This paper considers the implications of a hypothetical inclusion of law of the sea due diligence arguments in national systemic climate litigation as a potential tool to require states to significantly increase their immediate- and near-term ambition to dramatically reduce GHG emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper showcases the potential that bamboo holds in contributing to the fight against climate change both in terms of mitigation and adaptation. Drawing on relevant primary and secondary sources, the article applies content analysis and doctrinal research methods to demonstrate the suitability of bamboo in enhancing climate change mitigation and adaptation (CCMA) action in Cameroon. Based on such suitability, the article critical assesses the legal and policy opportunities for promoting bamboo-based CCMA actions in Cameroon. The analysis reveals that bamboo is still underdeveloped in Cameroon despite its versatility in providing crucial socio-cultural, economic, ecological and more importantly, climate services. The reason why this potential is still untapped in Cameroon especially within the framework of combatting climate change is because relevant legal and policy instruments which are the springboards for climate action have not adequately captured and promoted bamboo for its CCMA values. Consequently, the necessary legal and policy impetus for bamboo-based CCMA actions to take root in Cameroon is weak. The paper concludes with a recommendation that the Cameroonian government revise and update its existing CCMA policy instruments to capture and promote bamboo-based CCMA actions, in line with international CCMA policy guidance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The latest issue of the Carbon & Climate Law Review focuses on the intersection of law and climate change. The articles in this issue address various challenges related to climate change, such as carbon pricing, emissions trading systems, and sustainable development in vulnerable countries. The authors provide insights and recommendations for policymakers to navigate these challenges and advance decarbonization objectives. The issue emphasizes the importance of legal frameworks and collective commitment to address the urgent need for climate action. [Extracted from the article]

With the European Climate Law, the European Union (EU) has recently raised the ambition of its climate action for the post-2020 period. This increased ambition intensifies the pressure on member state action in strategically-relevant sectors, such as the transport sector. At the Austrian level, the clear need to take climate action in relation to emissions of the transport sector has translated into several measures, including the introduction of a carbon pricing mechanism. However, these operational measures are not linked to a strategic framework, which steers measures in the same direction and allows for assessing their effectiveness. Operational measures, and also the recent carbon pricing mechanism, are therefore somewhat hanging in mid-air. The contribution explores how a link between the strategic and operational framework is missing and potentially affects climate action in the Austrian transport sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Evolution of Blue Carbon Management Policies in China: Review, Performance and Prospects", 23 Climate Policy (2/2023), pp. 254-67. Climate Law & Governance - Domestic and Regional Aro, Kalle, et al. "The Use of Scenarios in Climate Policy Planning: An Assessment of Actors' Experiences and Lessons Learned in Finland", 23 Climate Policy (2/2023), pp. 199-211. This section provides an overview of recent literature on climate change law and legally relevant aspects of climate change governance. [Extracted from the article]

Following a 2020 popular initiative, a citizens' council was established for the first time at the federal level in Austria on the topic of climate change. 100 citizens, making up the Citizens' Council on Climate Change, are tasked with drafting measures, which are necessary to achieve Austria's climate targets. Representative of the Austrian population, the 100 citizens forming the Citizens' Council are called upon to develop a proposal for climate measures in these fields of action. [Extracted from the article]

A clear imperative in addressing the climate crisis is to turn finance promises into climate action. This article explores this challenge through the lens of the emerging concept of 'legal readiness for climate finance'. It is defined as the degree to which a country has coherent regulatory architecture in place, together with requisite domestic technical expertise and institutional capacity, to systematically attract and mobilise finance at scale to address climate change and its impacts. Legal readiness is relevant for all countries; yet it is especially pressing for developing countries that must mobilise finance for implementation of Nationally Determined Contributions pursuant to the Paris Agreement in the context of sustainable development. By drawing on empirical data and theories of regulation, this article presents pioneering research on the legal and regulatory dimensions of climate finance with particular attention to mobilising private finance. It addresses three core questions: what is legal readiness for climate finance; why should countries pursue it; and how can they retain it in light of political vicissitude? In addressing these questions, this article also explores three key learnings about legal readiness for climate finance for the benefit of decision makers in developing countries: strengthen national law and regulation for 'putting out' as well as 'calling in' climate finance; pursue an integrated regulatory framework to enhance institutional coherence; and seek support from multilateral financial institutions such as the Green Climate Fund for regulatory mapping as well as technical and institutional capacity building (not just project funding). At its heart, this article encourages decision makers to see the challenge of financial implementation of the Paris Agreement as an opportunity for endogenous empowerment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing countries that are rich in fossil fuels are now designing their climate mitigation plans with carbon capture and storage specifically in mind. These techniques allow them to utilize their fossil fuel-based revenue while also complying with their mitigation commitments. Carbon capture and storage, which are ideally supposed to be deployed in developing countries, with financial support for doing so coming from developed countries, has been proposed by Iran in its intended nationally determined contribution. This article explains the opportunities open to Iran, as a developing country, for the implementation of carbon capture and storage in the event that it ratifies the Paris Agreement. There are number of mechanisms and bodies under the UN climate regime that would help carbon capture and storage get off the ground in Iran, of which the Climate Technology Centre and Network and the Green Climate Fund are the most obvious. Article 6 also has great potential for carbon capture and storage within the Paris Agreement regime. Iran could harness the opportunities available under the Agreement, provided its national Parliament ratifies it: something that has not happened so far due to political controversies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Africa is vulnerable to the effects of climate change. While some African states have contributed very little to the global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions driving climate change, others are heavier polluters. Over many decades, Nigeria's oil and gas industry and the gas flaring for which it is notorious, has significantly contributed to the global rise of GHGs. The country is already experiencing the adverse effects of climate change in term of increasing cases of droughts, sea-level rise, acid precipitation and floods, among others. Global climate litigation has foregrounded the potential contributions which a national court can make in regulating the human activities that fuel climate change and undermine mitigation and adaptation efforts. Against this backdrop, this paper will assess the current status of climate change litigation in Nigeria. The paper argues that climate change litigation in Nigeria is still in its infancy. However, it will critically assess the paradigm shifts evident in the decision of the Nigerian Supreme Court in the recent case of Centre for Oil Pollution Watch (COPW) v Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), arguing that this case potentially clears the way for future climate change litigation in Nigeria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on these definitions, countries might have, within a given time period, net-zero emissions, net-positive emissions (i.e. annual GHG emissions are higher than annual GHG removals within the territory), or net-negative emissions (i.e. annual GHG emissions are lower than annual GHG removals within the territory). In general, the following definitions are useful:[13] Net-zero emissions: at the global level, "net-zero GHG emissions" refers to a global balance between anthropogenic emissions and removals of GHGs over a given time period (typically a year); at the country level, net-zero emissions (excluding international transfers of GHG mitigation outcomes) refers to keeping GHG emissions from sources within the national territory in the target year in balance with GHGs removed from the atmosphere by sinks within the country's territory in the target year. Importantly, this goal requires not only rapid and deep GHG emission reductions but simultaneously the protection of GHG sinks and the significant enhancement of GHG removals. [Extracted from the article]

This article provides a case study of the New Zealand experience in climate change mitigation. It examines New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions profile, and explores the policy response of the courts under the Resource Management Act 1991, the impact of statutory reforms on public participation, judicial review of emissions targets and local authority action, novel torts, and public policy and statutory attempts to get to zero carbon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evidence on the ground shows that climate change has evolved from being an environmental problem to a sustainable development (SD) challenge. REDD+ – a key mechanism designed primarily to mitigate climate change by reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, has expanded in scope to serve as a potential lever for socio-economic development in developing countries. Drawing on existing primary and secondary data, this article finds that there is little evidence of meaningful national ownership of REDD+ implementation in Cameroon. Arguing that weak national ownership threatens to undermine the country's climate mitigation and SD objectives, the article provides an analysis into the reasons behind this lack of national ownership, including: a lack of compliance with international guidelines for national ownership of REDD+ implementation; lack of horizontal transfer of technology necessary for REDD+ implementation; lack of national budgetary allocation and reliance on conditional external funding that appears to frustrate proper national ownership; and a poor representation and involvement of some crucial national SD actors who continue to play very peripheral roles in REDD+ implementation. The article finds that strong and meaningful national ownership is a key prerequisite in order for REDD+ to effectively contribute to climate mitigation and socio-economic development in Cameroon. For this to happen, the government needs to implement and enforce international guidelines for national ownership of REDD+ implementation, for example through a regulatory enactment which unambiguously guarantees national ownership and its proper implementation on the ground. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On 31 July 2020, the Irish Supreme Court issued a decision in the case of Friends of the Irish Environment v Ireland that has been praised as a great victory for the struggle against climate change. In this judgment, the Court quashed the national climate change mitigation plan adopted by the Irish government for falling well short of the standards required by the enabling legislation. This article analyses this decision from a comparative perspective and provides a critical appraisal of its impacts on the advancement of climate litigation. It focuses in particular on the contribution of the case to the understanding of two common legal hurdles in climate litigation: standing and separation of powers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the climate lawsuit brought against the French State in ' I l'affaire du siècle' i [1], the environmental NGO "Notre affaire à tous" (NAAT)[2] filed a second high-profile climate court case against one of the "carbon majors", Total, a French corporate group based in 130 countries and at the origin of almost 1% of global GHG each year[3]. The constitutional principle of the liberty of enterprises will surely not allow the courts to interfere that far in Total's operations. 3 According to the Carbon Majors Reports, Total is one of the 20 companies contributing the most to global warming worldwide (see Carbon Disclosure Project, Richard Heede "Carbon Majors Report" [2017]) since Total's direct and indirect GHG account each year for approximately 1% of global emissions (458 Millions of tonnes of CO2equivalent). 'The GHG Protocol Corporate Standard classifies a company's GHG emissions into three "scopes". [Extracted from the article]

Climate change mitigation is a common topical issue in contemporary times at global, regional and country-specific levels. It requires the formulation and implementation of national regulatory and policy regimes in different countries. At a country-specific level, this article provides a critique of New Zealand's climate policy, focusing on its frameworks for addressing emissions from the energy and agricultural sectors. The analysis is anchored on identified issues in two key areas – the restriction of offshore petroleum production and the treatment of agricultural sector emissions. For the energy sector, we argue that the ban on new offshore oil exploration permits does not represent an optimal policy measure if onshore petroleum activities can potentially increase emissions in the country. This is, at best, a form of carbon leakage. The likelihood of shifting offshore operations to other jurisdictions with weaker regulatory regimes can also lead to carbon leakage. For agricultural sector emissions, the changes to the country's emissions trading scheme would start pricing agricultural sector emissions, which had been hitherto exempted. This addition is however weak, as the law will likely cover only 5% of agricultural emissions, leaving 95% uncovered. This seems to undercut the ultimate objective of net-zero emissions reduction. Our analysis suggests the need to entrench a well-considered stringent regulatory regime that incentivises large-scale emissions reduction, especially in the highest emitting sectors of the New Zealand economy – agriculture and energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This section provides an overview of recent literature on legal aspects of carbon trading and other dimensions of climate change regulation. "Consistency between the Granting of State Aid and the Polluter-Pays Principle: Aid Aimed at Mitigating Climate Change", 10 Climate Law (1/2020), pp. 28-49. "No Credit Unless You Show Your Work: How Judges Can Stop the Gaming of Climate Change Discount Rates in Federal Rulemaking", 31 Colorado Natural Resources, Energy & Environmental Law Review (1/2020), pp. 85-146. "Climate Change Litigation: Trends, Policy Implications and the Way Forward", 9 Transnational Environmental Law (1/2020), pp. 11-16. [Extracted from the article]

Four associations filed l'affaire du siècle, a climate legal action against the French State before the Administrative Court of Paris in May 2019. This lawsuit questions the State's actions and inactions in matters of climate change mitigation and adaptation. Even though the complaint is mainly based on legal constructions and theories that are well-known to French Courts, this paper focuses on three ground-breaking legal innovations brought by the plaintiffs: a pre-existing general State obligation to combat climate change, a pre-existing right to live in a sustainable climate system, and, eventually, the remediation of the pure ecological damage (préjudice écologique) linked to climate change through a formal demand for monetary compensation of one symbolic euro and an injunctive relief to take all measures to limit global warming under the 1.5 °C threshold. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This section provides an overview of recent literature on legal aspects of carbon trading and other dimensions of climate change regulation. "Integrating Human Rights in the Paris Climate Architecture: Contest, Context, and Consequence", 9 Climate Law (3/2019), pp. 180-201. "Implementing the Paris Agreement: Lessons from the Global Human Rights Regime", 9 Climate Law (3/2019), pp. 159-164. "Climate Change Litigation and Human Rights: Pushing the Boundaries", 9 Climate Law (3/2019), pp. 244-262. [Extracted from the article]

While Emission Trading Systems (ETS) with a focus on GHG-intensive sectors have been subject to frequent analysis, relatively little attention has been paid to the role that Personal Carbon Trading (PCT) can play in climate change mitigation. Although the concept of PCT dates back to 2006, it has received little traction mainly due to the policy being considered 'ahead of its time'. However, as the extent of the climate emergency is becoming clearer, this potentially effective carbon reducing system may be viable for future policy consideration. This paper will look at the main theoretical hurdles that stand in the way of successful PCT implementation and will examine how these hurdles have been addressed in the European ETS legislation. The paper concludes with a short fictitious case study on the impact of PCT if it were to be implemented in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Paris Agreement was largely understood as an implicit recognition of the need for a large-scale deployment of negative emissions technologies, in particular bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS), as part of an enhanced action on climate change mitigation. Yet, a large-scale deployment of BECCS, if feasible at all, would raise serious concerns relating to the social and environmental impacts of bioenergy, the safety of the transportation and the durability of the storage, as well as more general matters of cost-sharing, burden-sharing and responsibilities on the international plane. Although no international law instrument addresses these concerns specifically, some principles of general international law are relevant. Accordingly, this article identifies existing and emerging principles of general international law of relevance to BECCS and discusses the need for and opportunity of further developments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The successful adoption and rapid entry into force of the Paris Agreement has been hailed as a milestone for global climate governance. However, mitigation and adaptation efforts pursued under the treaty are unlikely to prevent harm resulting from residual climate impacts. Even after Paris, loss and damage fromadverse climate impacts continues to be a hotly debated issue in the climate negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The article assesses the progress made on loss and damage under the UNFCCC, including developments in the Warsaw International Mechanism (WIM) and the Paris rulebook. It further considers approaches to address loss and damage outside the UNFCCC, including climate litigation and insurance, and assesses their potential to strengthen the work of theWIM. The article then charts possible future directions for the UNFCCC response to loss and damage and provides timely recommendations for the review of the WIM at COP 25. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The regulations that operate this quota program have not yet been published and the number of quotas available, as well as the allocation rules, are expected to be set based on the national GHG emission reduction targets. Recognising that one of the main elements of a carbon market is the adequate measurement and monitoring of emissions, in 2014 Colombia began the gradual process of developing a system to monitor mitigation actions at the national level. Colombia continued the process in 2018 with Resolution 1447 to regulate the national system for registering activities to mitigate GHG emissions. [Extracted from the article]

Recently, the Petersberg Climate Dialogue 2023, brought together governments for a high-level debate on how energy transition can be accelerated, addressing issues related to decarbonisation, finance flow and a roadmap for global response to climate challenges. During the conclusion of the first global stocktake, a critical moment to assess collective progress under the Paris Agreement, countries have been engaging in discussions on progress, challenges and opportunities. Nevertheless, for the region, there is still a long way on the path of structuring mandatory carbon markets and adjusting policies for an efficient energy transition and to fight the challenges brought by climate change. [Extracted from the article]

In its original guise, the 2018 facilitative dialogue (now Talanoa Dialogue) was envisioned as a preliminary barometer of mitigation ambition in advance of the '2020 starting point' of the Paris Agreement. The early entry into force of the Paris Agreement has 'repositioned' the Talanoa Dialogue vis-à-vis the ongoing work to operationalise the Paris Agreement. The Talanoa Dialogue now must be focused and narrow enough in scope to result in very clear messaging at COP 24 that leads to renewed political ambition. In addition to the near-term impact of the Talanoa Dialogue, it should have the additional benefit of being a 'staging ground' for the global stocktake (GST), the first of which is scheduled for 2023. The Talanoa Dialogue provides an opportunity to 'test' how the GST might function in the area of sources of input and modalities, but also in its process, ie multi-phased with 'technical' and 'political' components. This article critically analyses the Talanoa Dialogue to assess how effective a 'launching pad' it really can be to re-focus high-level attention on the purpose and long-term goals of the Paris Agreement and the GST 'ambition mechanism' put in place to achieve them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon pricing is routinely presented as the most efficient way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and therefore as an indispensable pillar of ambitious climate policy. For incremental emission reductions on the margin, this static perspective may be correct, expressing the ability of carbon pricing to identify and spur abatement options with the lowest cost. At the same time, meeting the 1.5°C target requires achievement of zero net emissions in the relatively near term, implying a need for full decarbonisation rather than marginal abatement. To date, there is only limited empirical evidence suggesting that carbon pricing has produced deep emission cuts. Emission reductions triggered by carbon taxes and emissions trading systems are typically modest or relate to a baseline rather than absolute levels, even in cases where price levels are relatively high. Consequently, we posit that deep decarbonisation in line with the 1.5°C target can only be ensured by drawing on a portfolio approach, in which carbon pricing operates alongside other instruments including regulation and legal mandates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The adoption of the Paris Agreement in 2015 marked a major milestone in international efforts to address climate change. One of its standout features are the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) which express each countrie's pledges to support the implementation of the Agreement. However, the Nationally Determined Contributions are conditional and predicated on adequate support for implementation. Developing countries who have submitted their NDCs are also striving to strike a balance between taking adequate climate action and meeting their broader development objectives. We argue that the conditionality of NDCs presents a systemic risk to the successful implementation of the Paris Agreement.We explore these risks in detail and outline opportunities to mitigate them. However, we conclude with the optimistic prognosis that the review mechanism of the Paris Agreement presents an important opportunity for Parties to develop modalities to ensure transparency and robustness of support for the implementation of NDCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Good climate laws are essential for the successful implementation of the Paris Agreement and its goal of limiting the global temperature increase to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels. Such laws are essential because they 'lock-in' policy commitments and help achieve national climate goals. Climate laws can also attract and appropriately regulate domestic and international private investments into low-carbon development. While there has been a positive trend in adopting climate laws worldwide, legal frameworks need to be strengthened at the national level to facilitate and implement more ambitious nationally determined contributions to reach the 1.5°C target. This paper first outlines what amounts to 'good' climate laws and why they are important. It then provides an overview of global trends and relevant examples of climate laws in different jurisdictions and concludes with an introduction to a new tool being developed by the United Nations Environment Programme (UN Environment), the Secretariat of the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Commonwealth Secretariat to support countries to strengthen national legal frameworks to implement the Paris Agreement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scenarios for limiting warming below 1.5°C require both drastic emissions reductions measures and the large-scale deployment of negative emissions technologies. Both of these measures carry the potential for major unintended consequences, particularly as we do not yet understand the full implications of negative emissions technologies. Historically, the unintended consequences of climate mitigation efforts have disproportionately been borne by already marginalised communities and hence there is a potential for the unintended consequences of measures taken to limit warming below 1.5°C to result in environmental injustice. This article argues that environmental and climate justice concerns need to be accounted for in the design of policy measures for keeping warming below 1.5°C, and outlines policy guidance for safeguarding against unintended consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Parties to the Paris Agreement have made ambitious commitments to combat climate change - both in terms of greenhouse gas emissions and climate resilience targets as well as financial targets. In their Nationally Determined Contributions, most developing countries have made their commitments conditional on receiving international financial support. Developed countries and international organisations, in turn, have responded by offering various types of capacity development support. However, not enough attention has been paid to assessing the legal frameworks of the developing countries to identify legal barriers and opportunities for legal modernisation to optimise options for climate finance to fund their Nationally Determined Contributions. This article highlights some of these legal barriers and showcases examples from the Lao People's Democratic Republic1 and the Republic of Fiji where the countries have embarked on legal modernisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented which discusses articles within the issue on topics including the ways to address the gap between the global objective formulated by the Paris Agreement and the national commitments; climate change mitigation; and critical assessment of carbon pricing.

The promise of climate finance has been a fundamental challenge within the UNFCCC regime since its inception. While the Parties agreed on a Financial Mechanism, and that developed countries would provide 'new and additional resources', developed and developing countries have often been at odds over this commitment, and more fundamentally, what constitutes 'climate finance', how much should be provided, and whether there has been adequate balance between mitigation and adaptation. Just when Paris seemed to show signs of momentum toward climate finance targets, the new US Administration reversed course on the prior administration's commitment to the Green Climate Fund. This article looks at the possible impacts of the US decision on climate finance, including the efforts of other countries and international organizations to address the potential funding gap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Paris Agreement was specifically designed to provide sovereign nations with the flexibility they need to craft their own greenhouse gas reduction plans. The cyclical and transparent review of progress toward those goals is established to allow and encourage increasing ambition over time - a global race to the top. The withdrawal announced by the Trump Administration in June of 2017 has begun to motivate sub-national and non-state actors in the US to strengthen their own commitments. This combined effort, which is building off the tremendous technology advances underway, has the potential to keep the US in a global leadership position in the near-term. States and cities are continuing to craft legal frameworks to enable these transitions and the cost of clean power has evolved to make most public service commissions in the US comfortable with de-carbonisation plans. To achieve a very low carbon economy, federal policy to further unleash market forces will be needed in the longer-term. In light of the flexibility of the Paris Agreement regarding domestic policy, the likely continuation of technological advancement in key areas, and the momentum demonstrated by sub-national and non-state actors, the Administration is presented with an opportunity to take a new approach and claim a 'better deal' on the Paris Agreement. Looking at this groundswell of non-state and sub-national action and the opportunity for market-based approaches that have bipartisan support, there is no reason the Administration could not reformulate the US NDC in a way that contributes to resolving the climate problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Obama Administration's signature effort to abate greenhouse gases (GHGs) that contribute to climate change was its Clean Power Plan (CPP), an innovative approach to reining in GHGs from existing fossil fuel-fired power plants, the US's largest source of stationary source emissions. The CPP never went into effect, however, the victim of an unusual stay issued by the United States Supreme Court before its effective date. Subsequently, a lower court halted the litigation attacking the CPP at the request of the Trump Administration to allow it to review (and presumably repeal) the CPP and put its own stamp on climate policy. This article discusses the review process the US Environmental Protection Agency has embarked upon, its potential outcome, and the extent to which regulatory policies and market considerations are likely to shape GHG emissions from the US electric power sector in the foreseeable future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Trump Administration's assault on climate change policy has both frustrated and energised leaders at the state and local level. With the announcement of withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, the rollback of the Clean Power Plan, and the reconsideration of US EPA 2022-2025 motor vehicle emissions standards, governors and mayors are pledging to step up efforts in order to help fill the gap in federal leadership. They are building on existing climate, clean energy, and efficiency programs and are often accelerating or expanding their efforts to transition to a lower carbon economy while preparing for the impacts of climate change. However, their work will be made more challenging by federal rollbacks on climate change and by the Trump Administration's promotion of fossil energy production, consumption, and exports. US states and cities are on the front lines of climate change impacts and are already feeling the effects of rising seas, more intense storms, searing heat waves, and more severe droughts, fires, and floods. Governors, mayors, and other officials cite climate impacts their communities are experiencing as one key impetus for urgent action. They also point to the significant opportunities and benefits that come from a shift to cleaner energy. 1 This article identifies the steps that leading governors and mayors are taking to move forward on both climate change mitigation and adaptation, and puts these developments in the larger context by describing what was already happening before the Trump election. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In spite of the apparent lack of success of international emission trading under the Kyoto Protocol, numerous jurisdictions are implementing mitigation mechanisms that put a price on carbon, whether by taxing activities that cause release of carbon to the atmosphere, or by creating markets through which the cost of atmospheric release of carbon is internalised to the relevant activities by way of emission trading schemes. These diverse and heterogeneous mechanisms - in particular the emission trading schemes - might achieve greater efficiency, larger scale, and other benefits, were they to be connected. Against this background, this paper sets out a proposal for a conceptual model for the networking of emission trading schemes, built on the architecture of distributed ledger technology. In this way, it is argued, the interconnection of these emission trading schemes might be achieved flexibly, cost effectively and efficiently, while taking account of the requirements for cooperative approaches, evidenced in the Paris Agreement. The purpose of the article is to stimulate, and provide a starting point for, more detailed, intensive discussion of what the technical requirements might be of some such scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the extent to which the procedures for review and adjustment contained in the climate change treaty regimes facilitate the efforts of the Parties in pursuing their final objectives. It shows that the activity of among others, the expert review teams and the compliance mechanism respond to the need that Parties are not put at a disadvantage when, irrespective of their political will to implement their commitments, they experience difficulties in estimating and projecting the emissions. This holds true for a treaty regime which imposes obligations of result, such as the non-modifiable emission reduction targets under the Kyoto Protocol, as well as for a regime that imposes obligations of conduct, such as the nationally determined contributions under the Paris Agreement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate policies have often focused on the role of State as a regulator. Meanwhile, their role as leading economic actors, especially as shareholders and investors, has been neglected. State-owned enterprises control significant shares of economic sectors which are central to a carbon-intensive economy (eg fossil fuels, power generation), in particular in emerging economies. Positioned within a general trend towards active ownership, this article seeks to initiate a debate on the role that State ownership policies could play in mitigating climate change. After assessing the position of State-owned enterprises in relevant sectors and countries, the article explores policy opportunities for State ownership policies not just to divest from unsustainable practices, but to actively lead the way towards a carbon-neutral economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]