The Copenhagen Accord and the future of the international climate change regime

This paper analyses the environmental integrity, the nature and the political relevance of the Copenhagen Accord. According to the first two parameters, the Copenhagen Accord is not satisfactory. From a political point of view the conclusion is slightly different, albeit not positive. This paper concludes arguing that after the Copenhagen Conference the future of the international climate change legal regime is likely to be more fragmented, the Accord being one further piece of the global carbon puzzle

The Lisbon Treaty and its consequences for rural development and sustainable tourism : A case study of Romania

With the entrance into force of the Lisbon Treaty on 1 December 2009, the European Union (EU) has now more tools to deal with a scenario of 27 Member States with specific regional characteristics and different needs in the fields of rural development and sustainable tourism. An important incentive to sign the Lisbon Treaty on 13 December 2007 was the accession to the EU of twelve Central and European countries in recent years. Romania is one of these States. This country has a huge touristic potential and, at the same time, is one of the poorest EU Member State. Against this background, this paper will examine, firstly, the Lisbon Treaty novelties on rural development and sustainable tourism, paying special attention to the new Policy created specifically for tourism; secondly, it will address the EU legislative and policy frameworks in these two fields and the financial instruments that Romania is entitled to and that it could use to promote rural development and tourism; and thirdly, the paper will focus on the Romanian regulation on rural development and sustainable tourism in order to critically assess the extent to which rural development and tourism have been linked at a domestic level. The final goal of the paper is to assess whether Romania is provided with the necessary legal tools to take a strategic decision about how to develop its rural areas through, amongst other factors, tourism

Water governance in the aftermath of Rio+20

This paper focuses on water governance in the aftermath of the 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD or Rio+20). Water governance is defined here as a process in which law has a transformational role by allowing policy goals to become tangible and enforceable rights and obligations. Against this conceptual background global water governance appears to be still fragmented and incoherent. More coordination efforts and further harmonisation is needed, but more importantly global institutions are required to allow international law to operate effectively. It is within this context that the UNCSD can be seen as an international agenda setting process and three key water related topics appear to be on such agenda: water and sanitation; water and ecosystem services and water and climate change. The paper concludes with a call in favor of considering water not just as a public good, but mainly as a driver for sustainable development

Anniversary special: The inaugural issue a decade later : Climate change and security

Ten years ago, in the very first issue of Carbon and Climate Law Review (CCLR), I discussed the question of whether climate change was becoming a security issue and whether it belonged within the scope of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). The first issue of CCLR was published on the backdrop of the first ever debate before the UNSC on the impacts of climate change on international security, which took place on 17 April 2007, and just a few years after the release in 2004 of the High - Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change report that included environmental degradation as a possible threat to international security

The UNFCCC : legal scholarship in four key areas

This chapter discusses the trends in legal scholarship in the four key substantive parts comprising the international climate change legal regime: mitigation, adaptation, finance and technology transfer. Mitigation and adaptation have been the two areas that have attracted most attention in the literature. However, in the context of a Post 2015 climate change regime, climate finance and, potentially, technology transfer have become at least as relevant and important. The chapter will highlights clusters of legal scholarship for each one of the four parts of the international climate change legal regime, suggesting areas where more research is needed and work needs to be done

The Guarani aquifer agreement and transboundary aquifer law in the SADC : comparing apples and oranges?

nternational law governing transboundary aquifers is considerably underdeveloped, with only a handful of bilateral and multilateral agreements governing specific aquifer systems to date. However, the significance of transboundary aquifers in addressing water security concerns is gaining recognition, and dialogue discussing the future of the international legal framework is growing in importance. Contributing to this dialogue, we seek to compare different legal instruments applicable to the management of transboundary aquifers in different regions. We draw from the experience of the processes that led to an established transboundary agreement in one region, and compare it to another region that is yet to establish a formal legal instrument. Specifically, we compare the Guarani Aquifer System in Latin America with international legal instruments applicable to the management of transboundary aquifers in the Southern African Development Community (SADC). We identify several trends arising from the management of the Guarani Aquifer System that could have potentially valuable input for SADC countries currently embarking upon the initial stages of the management of a transboundary aquifer. Central to this article is the underlying question of whether these international legal instruments, which are placed in dramatically different contexts, can be compared in the first place. We conclude that such a comparison is useful only if undertaken as a process of knowledge acquisition, as such a broad comparative exercise is limited in its ability to produce direct policy recommendations. Gaining knowledge of regional governance practices in relation to differing aquifer characteristics is particularly important in this underdeveloped area, especially as discussions regarding the future for transboundary aquifer law are gaining momentum at the international level

Is the Paris Agreement Really Legally Binding?

In the weeks ahead the Paris COP21 summit a lot of attention was given to the fact that the outcome of Paris had to be legally binding, almost as if the “legal” accolade would make clime change disappear without any further effort. At the closure of COP21 the French Presidency declared victory stating that the Paris Agreement is ambition, fair and “legally binding”. So, is it really

Ouverture – Les îles, terres de solutions innovantes pour tous les territoires

Le titre de cette note d’ouverture est également celui de la deuxième Conférence internationale sur l’adaptation au changement climatique organisée par le gouvernement de La Réunion en partenariat avec le Réseau des gouvernements régionaux pour le développement durable, qui s’est tenue à Saint Denis, sur l’île de La Réunion, les 5 et 6 octobre 2017, et à laquelle j’ai eu le plaisir d’assister et de contribuer. Dans mon intervention à la conférence et dans cette note d’ouverture, j’ai cherché à savoir comment les Objectifs de développement durable (ODD) et les principes qui les sous-tendent sont pris en compte dans les politiques insulaires innovantes. Les expériences des îles Åland en Finlande et des îles d’Écosse serviront d’exemples pour illustrer cette innovation en matière de politiques d’adaptation aux changements climatiques

Access to minerals : WTO export restrictions and climate change considerations

In the past few years, the Chinese government opted to restrict the export of selected minerals on environmental and health grounds, subsequently leading to an uproar in countries and regions that rely heavily on imports from China to develop their renewable industry sector. This paper places the focus on the law and policy of the Chinese export restrictions of critical minerals, and its implications for the global renewables energy industry. The paper critically assesses how such export restrictions have been dealt with under the dispute settlement system of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Drawing on this WTO jurisprudence, we posit that litigation on export restrictions of the kind imposed by China poses a threat to the legitimacy of the WTO. We therefore conclude by exploring whether there are any alternatives to litigation as a means to deal with countries choosing to impose mineral export restrictions

Paris, climate change, and sustainable development

The Paris Agreement marks a significant moment in international climate law and policy. It represents a confirmation that the international community will continue to approach climate change multilaterally. However, climate change is not the only topic on countries’ agendas. The year 2015 will also be remembered for the adoption of the so-called Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This paper critically assesses the extent to which the Paris Outcome incorporates the SDGs or sustainable development concerns. It concludes that a close scrutiny of the Paris COP Decision and Agreement reveals both direct and indirect references to the SDGs and sustainable development (with the former being fewer in number than the latter). The close relationship between international climate law and the SDGs highlights the need to integrate the SDGs into the implementation of the Paris Agreement