In recent years, the role of climate change litigation has become increasingly prominent. Thus far, most climate cases have been brought in national courts, but there is also growing interest in the role of international courts and tribunals in addressing climate change, including the International Court of Justice (ICJ), regional and human rights bodies, and […]
Climate change policy needs to be able to anticipate and plan for the possibility of rapidly escalating or abrupt changes that dramatically escalate risks to public safety. Achieving net-zero emissions of greenhouse gases is essential to solving the climate change problem. However, due to the climate system’s inertia, even rapid emission reductions may not produce […]
There is a growing risk that the global response to climate change will be inadequate to avoid an unsafe global climate. There is corresponding interest in exploring the potential need for, and feasibility of, rapid responses to avoid dangerous climate change – such as solar climate intervention (SCI). At the same time, there is concern […]
Over its 25 history, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) regime has grown tremendously in size and complexity. Much of this evolution has occurred from the bottom-up, through a series of ad hoc, incremental changes. After years of almost continuous negotiation, the completion of the rulebook for implementing the Paris Agreement presents an […]
The Paris Agreement establishes a new multilateral architecture guiding countries’ climate change efforts under the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Parties are currently negotiating more detailed rules and procedures for implementing the agreement, including provisions addressing transparency, accounting, compliance, use of market-based mechanisms, and periodic assessment of collective progress. These more detailed rules […]
The Paris Agreement’s provisions on mitigation-related information and accounting are intended to promote transparency and environmental integrity, and play a central role in the regime’s architecture. They contain two basic elements: first, general obligations on parties, and second, authorizations to the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties (CMA) to adopt […]
Like other treaties, the Paris Agreement includes provisions spelling out the manner in which a party may choose to exercise its right to withdraw. This note summarizes these provisions; relevant provisions of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC); related international law; and related provisions and practices under U.S. law. It also looks beyond […]
In fashioning the new international climate change agreement to be adopted later this year in Paris, parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)1 must address a range of legal issues. This brief outlines some of the key issues and concludes that: The Paris outcome arguably must include a core legal agreement […]
U.S. acceptance of the new climate agreement being negotiated under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) may or may not require legislative approval, depending on its contents. U.S. law recognizes several routes for entering into international legal agreements. The president would be on relatively firm legal ground accepting a new climate agreement […]
The success of ongoing negotiations to establish a new global climate change agreement depends heavily on the agreement’s acceptance by the world’s major economies, including the United States. The new agreement is being negotiated under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), a treaty with 195 parties that was ratified by the United […]
