Abstract
Good climate laws are essential for the successful implementation of the Paris Agreement and its goal of limiting the global temperature increase to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels. Such laws are essential because they 'lock-in' policy commitments and help achieve national climate goals. Climate laws can also attract and appropriately regulate domestic and international private investments into low-carbon development. While there has been a positive trend in adopting climate laws worldwide, legal frameworks need to be strengthened at the national level to facilitate and implement more ambitious nationally determined contributions to reach the 1.5°C target. This paper first outlines what amounts to ‘good’ climate laws and why they are important. It then provides an overview of global trends and relevant examples of climate laws in different jurisdictions, and concludes with an introduction to a new tool being developed by the United Nations Environment Programme (UN Environment), the Secretariat of the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Commonwealth Secretariat to support countries to strengthen national legal frameworks to implement the Paris Agreement.
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