Tag: COP28

Is the Loss and Damage Fund all that it promises to be? Examining some of the Fund’s shortcomings and putting things into perspective after COP 28

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By Alexia Kaplan, LLM Student, University of Bristol Law School,

Friends of the Earth International

COP 28, the latest United Nations Climate Conference, came to an end in December 2023. It began with an agreement to launch the loss and damage fund, which was kick-started by the UAE’s $100 million pledge. A further 15 countries followed suit, making pledges of varying amounts, and by 2 December 2023, a cumulative total of $655.9 million had been pledged to the loss and damage fund. The fund has been heralded by many as the biggest success of the entire conference and a historic agreement – being the first time that a substantive decision was adopted on the first day of the Conference. The delegates of nations present from around the world, rose in a standing ovation when the agreement was passed. (more…)

Loss and Damage in Developed Countries: Who or what gets left behind?

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by Temitope Tunbi Onifade, University of Bristol Law School

                                                  

Vanuatu’s proposal for ‘an International Climate Fund to finance measures to counter the adverse consequences of climate change, and a separate International Insurance Pool to provide financial insurance against the consequences of sea level rise’ put the issue of loss and damage on the agenda during the negotiations of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1991. This agenda has evolved to refer to negotiations on ways to address extreme weather and slow onset events not fully dealt with by adaptation measures. Powerful jurisdictions such as the United States and European Union uniformly opposed it when it first came up and for many years after. However, this attitude has gradually changed at subsequent meetings of the highest decision-making body of the convention, called Conference of the Parties (COP). (more…)

Did the Global Stocktake make progress in climate law through COP28? Reflecting on an in-person zoom conference in the desert

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By Dr Colin Nolden, University of Bristol Law School

With carbon emissions of around 25tCO2 per capita (global average around 4.5tCO2eq per capita) and energy demand of around 150MWh per capita (global average around 20MWh per capita), both among the 5 highest in the world, the UAE is on a per capita basis one of the largest contributors to climate change. And the host of COP28, the 28th Conference of the Parties, the main decision-making body of the UNFCCC. This makes uncomfortable reading, especially given the lack of progress in tackling human-made climate change. Then again, it probably does not matter where COPs are held as it is the agreements which countries commit to, and their success in fulfilling these commitments, which ultimately count. The number of fossil fuel business representatives makes equally uncomfortable reading. But maybe the number of fossil fuel lobbyists is a sign that they are taking COPs more seriously and rightly recognize strong action on climate change as a challenge to business as usual. Their desire to have their voices heard is testament to their recognition of the importance of the UNFCCC’s process and progress on climate policy more generally. (more…)

Equity in the Paris Agreement Global Stocktake?

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by Dr Alice Venn, University of Bristol Law School

COP28 represented a crucial juncture for international climate law in permitting some initial conclusions to be drawn surrounding the efficacy of the innovative mixed regulatory approach adopted in the Paris Agreement. The legally binding nature of the Paris Agreement provisions have previously been the subject of debate in climate law and policy literature, both in terms of the language of the provisions, many of which are not worded to create clear and concrete obligations for the States Parties, and for the use of soft law to accommodate a more inclusive approach to global climate mitigation. We saw a marked shift away from the Kyoto Protocol model of legally binding targets for greenhouse gas emissions reductions applying only to Annex 1 developed States Parties and backed by an enforcement branch, to a soft law bottom-up system of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to emissions reductions which includes developing states and permits self-determined action in line with national capabilities. This system was crucially backed by the Paris Agreement Transparency Framework in Article 13, by the Implementation and Compliance Committee in Article 15, and by a system of 5-yearly global stocktakes from 2023 onwards in Article 14 to create accountability and measure progress in line with the overarching goals of the Agreement to keep global warming to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels, with an ambition for 1.5°C. (more…)

Introduction to a Centre for Environmental Law and Sustainability COP28 blog series

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by Professor Margherita Pieraccini and Professor Elen Stokes, Centre Co-directors

Another year, another Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. This blog series captures the views of three academic members of the Centre for Environmental Law and Sustainability and an LLM student with expertise and interests in climate and energy law.  They reflect here on selected aspects/outcomes of COP28. (more…)