COP29 and Its Implications for Carbon Capture and Storage Technology
By Reza Maddahi, PhD Researcher The 29th Conference of the Parties (COP29) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) concluded in November 2024 in Baku, Azerbaijan. Billed as a ‘technical COP’, this conference focused primarily on solidifying financial mechanisms and technical rules within the Paris Agreement framework. Key outcomes included the establishment of the ‘new collective quantified goal’ […]
Designing Climate Clubs in Harmony with the Principle of Common but Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities
By Catherine Hall, PhD Researcher Despite some notable successes and progress, the UN climate regime has been unable to stem the flow of global greenhouse gas emissions at the speed and scale needed to avoid dangerous climate change. The latest Emissions Gap Report reveals a particularly sobering reality. If countries fail to deliver stronger ambition […]
Democracy and Deliberation in the UNFCCC
By Tuomas Palosaari, Lecturer Democracy and the International System People living in democracies have ways to influence and follow public decision-making that affects their lives. International decision-making is problematic in this regard. The ‘chain of legitimacy’ imagined as extending from the people to the public decision-makers is convoluted when applied to international decision-making. In democracies […]
Keeping up with Article 6 of the Paris Agreement – The path towards Baku COP29
By Sara Tolonen, PhD Candidate The emerging Article 6 carbon market architecture The Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI-60) and Subsidiary Body for Science and Technological Advice (SBSTA-60) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) held their intersessional meetings in Bonn on 6-13 June 2024, with a continuing focus on making progress on […]
“Historic” or “Historic Failure”? Fossil Fuels at COP28
By Harro van Asselt, Professor of Climate Law and Policy. First published in the EJIL:Talk! Blog on 28 December 2023. Another climate change COP has come and gone. As has become quite common by now, a complex set of intergovernmental negotiations are ultimately reduced to a fight over one particular issue. At the UN Climate Change Conference […]
Climate COP-28: What is all the hype about, what exactly is it that COPs do in legal terms?
By Tuula Honkonen, Senior Lecturer of International Law. First published in the 2035Legitimacy blog on 1 December 2023. In the advent of yet another UN Climate Change Conference, it is relevant to ask what these massive gatherings produce in legal terms. What exactly are the COP decisions that are the main legal outcome of the […]
Could the law of the sea be used to protect small island states from climate change?
By Ellycia Harrould-Kolieb, Lecturer and Research Fellow in Ocean Governance, University of Melbourne and Postdoctoral Researcher, UEF Law School, University of Eastern Finland and Margaret Young, Professor, The University of Melbourne. First published in The Conversation on July 24 2023. Climate change will wreak havoc on small island developing states in the Pacific and elsewhere. […]
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 […]