Kunz, Raffaela

Saiger, Anna-Julia

Schmalz, Dana

English

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International law in an age ofcatastropheCall for Contributions for a symposium on ClimateJusticeAnna-Julia Saiger, Dana Schmalz,Raffaela Kunz 2020-02-10T16:03:16We live in an age of catastrophe. This is not alarmism. Rather, denying this wouldmean disregarding all scientific evidence we have. At the beginning of this newdecade, Australia is literally on fire and Indonesia under water. 2019 has markedthe year in which the climate crisis has finally entered broader public debate, withprotesters around the globe demanding that governments take the threat seriouslyand significantly increase the efforts in limiting emissions. This increased interestand concern is also visible on this blog, where last year we had an unprecedentednumber of posts on issues related to the climate (see e.g. here, here, and here).Nonetheless, the recent meeting of the parties to the UNFCCC in Madrid, the so-called COP25, has not brought the government commitments many had hoped for.Today, there is no doubt that even with a warming of up to two degrees Celsius, thethreshold that the Paris Agreement aims to keep, life on earth will change drastically.A recent IPCC report shows that even the difference of half a degree – between 1,5and 2 degree Celsius – is of major impact. We live in an age of catastrophe and asinternational lawyers we must recognize that the climate crisis is not purely a matterof international climate change law nor international environmental law more broadly.Rather, it is likely to affect all areas of international law. But climate change is aphenomenon that is hard to grasp for international law in that its causes and impactsare local and global at the same time. The warming of the atmosphere no doubtaffects the whole globe and clearly requires international answers; the contributionto the problem and its impact, however, are uneven. States with coastlines will firstsee the effects of rising seas, states with desert will first experience that the desertis expanding. Climate change affects states in the so-called Global South and theirpopulations to a great degree, while they have contributed to the problem far lessthan the so-called Global North (see here; for number see here). This reinforces andaccelerates the well-known inequalities and power structures of the existing worldorder and accentuates many of the problems of our times. Climate change thusraises unprecedented questions of global justice. It could be said that the climatecrisis tests international law’s ability for coordinating action as never before.Against this backdrop, Völkerrechtsblog will host a symposium which seeks to shedlight on the issue of Climate Justice from different international legal perspectives.The hope is to prompt debate, recognizing the urgency this has as a topic ofinternational legal scholarship. As citizens, we can do our best to limit the harm- 1 -we create to this planet and human life on it. As scholars we must think about howour subject, international law, is part of the problem and part of the solution. Withview to tomorrow, we must begin thinking what norms of justice can guide humancoexistence on a radically changing common globe.In the following, we sketch some areas we consider relevant and that contributionsto the symposium might take as a starting point. The list is of course not conclusive,and merely collects some thoughts on how the fundamental condition of climaterequires attention in international law.International economic lawTraditionally, climate change is treated as a matter of international environmentaland biodiversity law. Another field regularly evoked is international economiclaw, which, largely built on a growth paradigm, is often said to stand in the way ofmore effective climate measures. But international economic law, and probablyincreasingly so, also plays a crucial role with regard to possible answers to theclimate crisis, with emerging carbon emission trading systems, bans of certain goodsuch as plastic (see most recently China) and questions of climate financing andtechnology diffusion becoming ever more important (see here).But climate change also increases the economic inequalities between states. Itis probable that those who most benefitted from industrialization – and bear thegreatest historical responsibility for climate change – are likely to take the lead nowin a world of low-carbon economy (see e.g. the European Green Deal Initiative). Thetransition to a more sustainable economy is of course very much desirable, but itcomes with the risk to leave behind less well-developed states.Contributions to the symposium might discuss and analyze solutions to the climatecrisis proposed in international economic law from different perspectives, also takinginto account questions of distributive justice.Statehood and relationship between statesBut climate change affects many more – if not all – areas of international law. Tobegin with, rising sea-levels and shrinking islands lead to geographical changewith consequences for existing boundaries and jurisdiction at land and sea (see forexample here). It is thus not far-fetched to say that it poses challenges to the verynotion of statehood which builds the basis of the existing international legal order.Rights of people within statesWith effects on rights such as the right to health, food and housing, climate changehas furthermore become a basic human rights issue. How to feed a growing worldpopulation in times of droughts, water scarcity and increasingly extreme weatherconditions? Also, procedural rights, such as the right to information and participation,are of increasing relevance. Another question concerns the protection of humanrights during and after events caused by natural hazards and the intersections withthe field of disaster relief law. The fact that climate change has different impact on- 2 -different people and is likely to affect vulnerable and marginalized groups more(“intersectionality”) raises further questions of equity and fairness.With increasing effects on the living conditions of humans, climate-related claimsagainst governments or private actors are likely to become an ever-bigger subject oflitigation before domestic and international courts (“climate litigation”). One pressingand yet unanswered question is who has to pay for climate damages and whetherthe historic dimension of the problem should be taken into account.Blog posts might thus discuss aspects concerning the intersection and interrelationbetween climate law and human rights law and how domestic or international courtsvia human rights litigation might contribute to Climate Justice.MigrationChanges in climate cause displacement and are important factors for migration(see on the recent first ruling of the Human Rights Committee concering a “climaterefugee” here). The complex causalities linking climate change and migrationconstitute a challenge for legal responses. At present, international law does notknow any rules on what states might owe to persons who lost their homes dueto rising sea levels or other conditions related to climate change. In 2015, theblog co-hosted a symposium on displacement for reasons of climate change andenvironmental disaster (parts in German), discussing i.a. the Nansen initiative, whichresulted in the Agenda for the Protection of Cross-Border Displaced Persons inthe Context of Disasters and Climate Change. There is no question that the nexusof climate-related environmental changes and migration raises significant justicequestions and will require international attention. In that sense, the 2018 GlobalCompact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration repeatedly references climatechange.Possible contributions might discuss in how far new legal frameworks are neededand conceivable, and how existing regimes might be interpreted with a focus onclimate justice.Armed conflictsAll these issues taken together or separately might furthermore increasingly becomesecurity issues, with battles over land, water and other resources becoming morefrequent. Last year’s wildfire in the Brazilian Amazon furthermore gave rise to adebate about states’ right or even obligation to intervene in another country in orderto prevent irreversible and possibly global harm to the environment (see here).While the question of the role of the UN Security Council (UNSC) regarding climatechange remains disputed and unclear, the UNSC has debated the issue of climatechange and security on several occasions and has recently adopted the term ‘threatmultiplier’ for the phenomenon (see for a good overview of the debate regardingclimate change in the UNSC here). Germany has announced that it intends to useits term as member of the UNSC to further discuss the issue of climate change as athreat to international peace and stability on the agenda (see here).- 3 -Possible blog posts might thus further discuss climate change as a security issue.Cross-cutting questionsClimate change furthermore raises cross-cutting questions. The failure to findinternational compromises at the recent COP25 conference is yet another examplefor the current inability of states to solve what might be the most pressing issue ofour times. This failure prompted actors that are not as such subjects of internationallaw to step in and take measures in the absence of state action. One example arecities: the C40 forms an alliance of cities with the aim to take the lead in climateaction. Hundreds of cities and local governments have further declared the state ofclimate emergency.Another important actor is the business sector. A report shows that just 100companies are responsible for around 70% of global greenhouse gas emissionssince 1988 (see here). A report by the OHCHR clearly identifies business as duty-bearers in relation to climate change. It is thus clear that any solution regarding theclimate crisis needs to involve industry.Contributions might thus also discuss the role of subnational or other actors or linkthe field of business and human rights to the issue of Climate Justice.Questions beyond the current international lawMore fundamentally, the current crisis raises the question as to how certainmechanisms or areas of international law help the harming of the earth and itsinhabitants rather than protecting them. Is the international law as we know it ableat all to deliver solutions to the climate crisis, or is it part of the problem? In otherwords, the question is whether the current crisis can be solved within our currentlegal and economic system – or whether we need more fundamental changes. Intimes of increased awareness for “planetary boundaries“, this question becomesmore and more pressing. An increasing number of critical voices point to the factthat the climate crisis cannot be solved through the “greening” of internationaleconomic law and the “marketization” of climate law and that we must re-think thevery structures of the current law (see here; for a feminist view see here).Also such critical approaches to the topic are welcome to the symposium.Send us your contributionWe invite contributions on any of these topics – and on any further questionsrelevant to the symposium’s theme. Contributions should be around 1000-1500words long, and are welcome in English, French, or German. The symposium willtake place in May 2020, contributions will be received till 31 March 2020. Pleasesend us your texts or inquiries at editorial-team@voelkerrechtsblog.org. - 4 -Cite as: Raffaela Kunz, Dana Schmalz & Anna-Julia Saiger, “Internationallaw in an age of catastrophe. Symposium on Climate Justice”,Völkerrechtsblog, 10 February 2020.- 5 -

International law in an age of catastrophe: Call for Contributions for a symposium on Climate Justice

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International law in an age of catastrophe: Call for Contributions for a symposium on Climate Justice

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