Abstract
AbstractThere seem to be no answers to resolve the deadlock between the Global North and the Global South on liability and compensation for loss and damage from climate change. Revisiting the original story of international environmental law from the Stockholm Conference of 1972 may help us address these historical tensions. In doing so, this article unveils the genesis of Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL) from the Stockholm Conference as an alternative consciousness centred around the aspirations of the Global South. Indira Gandhi's plenary address at Stockholm outlined the Global South's position on environmental issues, which greatly influenced early TWAIL scholarship in the 1980s. Locating TWAIL's origins at Stockholm allows us to: (1) chart the environmental concerns of the Global South till date; (2) infer its evolved view on the “development versus environment” debate; and (3) understand the role of future TWAIL scholarship in challenging the enduring and structural limitations of international environmental law, especially in future deliberations on loss and damage.
Highlights
Background of with Climate Change Impacts (WIM)To nobody’s surprise, the disproportionate impacts of climate change are felt by vulnerable developing countries, vulnerable populations, and ecosystems in the Global South
This article unveils the genesis of Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL) from the Stockholm Conference as an alternative consciousness centred around the aspirations of the Global South
The loss and damage debate unpacks a range of questions on the dynamics between countries at the international climate negotiations – on interpretations surrounding the meaning of loss and damage as it exists in WIM, on livelihood concerns of vulnerable populations in developing countries amidst progressively negative projections of climate change, on the fair distribution of responsibilities among countries to address loss and damage, and on the growing need for international solutions to protect countries disproportionately affected by climate change
Summary
To nobody’s surprise, the disproportionate impacts of climate change are felt by vulnerable developing countries, vulnerable populations, and ecosystems in the Global South. Loss and damage negotiations have been subjected to a two-decade long narrative of resistance from the Global North that restricted the negotiations from accomplishing an equitable solution, as proposed by the Global South It was only at the COP25 in Madrid in 2019 that the UNFCCC recognized the need for allocating financial resources “for activities relevant to averting, minimizing and addressing loss and damage in developing country Parties”[30] through the Green Climate Fund (GCF). The loss and damage debate unpacks a range of questions on the dynamics between countries at the international climate negotiations – on interpretations surrounding the meaning of loss and damage as it exists in WIM, on livelihood concerns of vulnerable populations in developing countries amidst progressively negative projections of climate change, on the fair distribution of responsibilities among countries to address loss and damage, and on the growing need for international solutions to protect countries disproportionately affected by climate change. It casts a shadow on the construction of international environmental law and the motivations leading to the development of international environmental law as it stands today, including WIM
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