COP27 flinched on phasing out ‘all fossil fuels’. What’s next for the fight to keep them on the ground?
By Fergus Green, Lecturer in Political Theory and Public Policy, UCL and Harro van Asselt, Professor of Climate Law and Policy, University of Eastern Finland. First published in The Conversation on 21 November 2022. The latest UN climate change summit (COP27) concluded, once again, with a tussle over the place of fossil fuels in the global economy. […]
International Climate Technology Transfer : an issue of human rights
By Nicola Sharman, Early Stage Researcher In recent years, the link between climate change and human rights has been increasingly recognised and used as a legal tool to demand stronger action by governments to address the global crisis. However, one element of the international regime in which rights-based arguments remain underutilised is in respect of technology […]
COP27-ilmastokokous: Onko Suomen neuvotteluvaltuuskunnan sidosryhmäjäsenillä mahdollisuuksia vaikuttaa neuvotteluihin?
Teksti: Tuula Honkonen. First published in the 2035Legitimacy blog on 06 November 2022. Vuosittainen YK:n ilmastokokous, jota joskus suureksi ilmastonäytelmäksikin kutsutaan, on jälleen täällä. Millainen rooli on varattu kotimaisille sidosryhmille Suomen neuvotteluvaltuuskunnassa? Onko heillä aitoja vaikuttamisen mahdollisuuksia Suomen toimintaan Sharm el-Sheikhissä? Miten Suomi osallistuu COP-27-kokoukseen? Ilmastonmuutosta koskevan puitesopimuksen ja Pariisin ilmastosopimuksen osapuolikokoukset (COP-27) alkoivat tällä […]
Suomen uusi ilmastolaki uskottavuustestissä – päättääkö valtioneuvosto lisätoimista nieluromahduksen johdosta?
Teksti : Kati Kulovesi, Maiju Mähönen ja Otto Bruun. This was first published in the 2035Legitimacy blog on 24 October 2022. Vuoden 2022 ilmastovuosikertomus julkaistaan tällä viikolla. Samalla Suomen ilmastopolitiikan toteutumista ja päästöjen kehitystä päästään ensimmäistä kertaa arvioimaan uuden ilmastolain kiristyneisiin ilmastotavoitteisiin peilaten. Lisätoimet näyttävät tarpeellisilta tavoitteiden saavuttamiseksi ja hiilinielujen turvaamiseksi. Ilmastovuosikertomukseen kootaan vuosittain tieto […]
A brief history of short-lived climate pollutants in environmental science and governance
By Niklas Löther, Research Trainee Interest in climate forcers other than CO2 is on the rise. The IPCC’s latest assessment report dedicates a full chapter to such substances, including gases like methane and HFCs but also aerosols like black carbon. Methane in particular then took centre stage at last year’s COP26, where over 100 states […]
US and EU must overcome protectionist tendencies to cooperate on battery supply chains
Sirja-Leena Penttinen and Emily Burlinghaus Sirja-Leena Penttinen is a Senior Lecturer at UEF Law School and an Assistant Director and Adjunct Professor at the Tulane Center for Energy Law, New Orleans, US. Emily Burlinghaus is a German Chancellor Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies, where her research focuses on sustainable battery supply chains, […]
Impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on environment, climate change and green energy transition
By Kateryna Holzer, Senior Researcher and Ievgeniia Kopytsia, Postdoctoral Researcher The Russian invasion of Ukraine is an unjustified and unprovoked act of aggression against an independent and sovereign state, as well as a violation of existing norms of international law and principles of human coexistence (Resolution A/ES-11/L.1). The use of heavy artillery and ballistic missiles […]
Taking stock of the stocktake: Reflections from the Bonn Technical Dialogue
By Nicola Sharman, Early Stage Researcher and Harro van Asselt, Professor of Climate Law and Policy From 6-16 June, government officials and other delegates, including experts, non-governmental organisations, business representatives, and other non-state actors met in Germany for the annual UN Bonn Climate Change Conference. High on the agenda was the first meeting of the […]
Finland’s new Climate Change Act and the legally-binding target for carbon neutrality by 2035: How it happened and what it means?
By Kati Kulovesi, Professor of International Law and Director of CCEEL On 25 May 2022, the Finnish Parliament adopted a new Climate Change Act, enshrining in law the goals for the country to be carbon neutral by 2035 and for its greenhouse gas emissions to continue decreasing and removals increasing thereafter, meaning that Finland must […]
The right to a healthy environment as an environmental grundnorm
By Rosemary Mwanza, PhD Candidate Introduction In the course of my doctoral research, I have often reflected on why the ideal embodied in human rights norms and the present reality always seem so far apart. In dealing specifically with the right to a healthy environment, I have felt that ascendant human rights norms may fail […]