Country Parties Research Articles

The Start Matters: A Comparative Analysis of Climate Equity Among UNFCCC Country Parties and Country Groups

Incorrect indicators and starting years for emission cumulation can lead to confusion regarding the concepts of climate equity and climate responsibility. This article examines the variations in the results obtained by using different indicators and starting years to calculate climate equity and climate responsibilities among country parties and country groups of the UNFCCC. The article utilizes historical greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions data from 193 countries spanning the period 1850 to 2021. The data is aggregated from various sources including EDGAR, Climate Watch, and Global Carbon Budget (GCB). The article calculates cumulative GHG emissions and cumulative GHG emissions per capita, with starting years 1850, 1970, and 1990. By highlighting differences in various indicators, the article aims to provide a better understanding of climate responsibilities, climate beneficiaries, and climate equity. The results demonstrate that cumulative emissions and cumulative emissions per capita are scientific indicators that reveal a country’s level of climate responsibility and climate equity. Negotiators can achieve consensus more easily in the complex system if they have a comprehensive and scientific understanding of climate equity. It is suggested that country groups under the UNFCCC use scientific indicators and methodologies to reveal climate responsibilities and climate equity.

Nationally determined contributions to the 2015 Paris Agreement goals: transparency in communications from developing country Parties

ABSTRACT The goals of the Paris Agreement (PA) on collectively managing climate change can only be reached if all parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) commit to actions supporting their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). Developing-economy nations play a crucial role in reaching the PA targets, particularly in the Agriculture, Forest, and Other Land Uses (AFOLU) sector. However, developing country Parties also face several constraints in tracking and communicating progress towards their climate policy targets and implementation of their NDCs. The operationalization of Biennial Transparency Report (BTR) and Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF) under the PA will bring stricter reporting timeframes and advanced transparency for all parties. With these requirements rapidly coming into force, addressing reporting gaps is now a pressing priority. The present study analyzes the NDCs, and Biennial Update Reports (BURs) submitted by developing country Parties under the UNFCCC. In an illustrative exercise, our in-depth analysis concentrates on reporting on the AFOLU sector and identifies issues impeding a comprehensive and comparable Global Stock Take (GST): (i) issues of consistency in reporting timeframes (ii) issues in transparency of reporting on mitigation sectors and on relevant progress indicators (iii) incomparability of methodological approaches proposed and used, and (iv) the implications of limited national capacity for transparent reporting. The UNFCCC and developed country Parties now have the opportunity of providing specialized support for developing country Parties. This could include tailored guidance to address gaps in both greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions accounting, and reporting challenges, to ensure consistent, comprehensive, and transparent reporting to reinforce capacities moving forward following the next GST.

Deficiencies of the Nationally Determined Contributions: Risk of Exacerbating Climate Change

This paper examines the effectiveness of NDCs in the Paris Agreement for alleviating climate change and inequality. Incorporating evidence from reviews and journals, this study argues that NDCs effectively solve part of the pre-existing inequality, yet the deficiencies of this mechanism have to be improved to achieve the maximization of its function. More specifically, by evaluating the changes brought by NDCs including independent emission reduction, the improved role of developed country parties, and the re-positioned role of developing country parties, the innovations of NDCs mechanism to successfully solve the pre-existing problems in the Kyoto Protocol are clearly recognized and demonstrated. Yet by analyzing the existing deficiencies of NDCs including weak legal binding causing overall low ambition, potential vicious cycle formed, insufficient compliance motivation, and the problem of free riders causing the tragedy of Race to the Bottom, NDCs are shown to be insufficient to effectively address climate change and respond to inequality. Finally, it is worth considering strengthening the participation of non-state actors and enhancing the link between climate change and trade as possible methods to improve the deficiencies of NDCs, and other possible ways of improvement are put forward.

The Limits of Right-Wing Populism in Power and the Israeli Political Crisis of 2018–2021

Between 2018 and 2021, Israel experienced an unprecedented political crisis that saw four rounds of elections, as the country's parties failed to form a stable coalition government. This article contends that this crisis was the result of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's shift away from neoliberalism and toward a populist "anti-system" agenda. While Netanyahu's intensification of institutional subversion played a role in his success in the mid–late 2010s, it complicated relations within his party and among his political allies. The end result was years of political deadlock.

The Paris Agreement on Climate Change: Efficiency of Mitigation Obligation

The ‘Paris Climate Treaty’ is the first MEA (Multilateral Environmental Agreement) which imposes mitigation obligations not only on developed countries but also on developing country Parties. The Agreement actually extended the mitigation obligations enshrined under the UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol. It has created a universal binding obligation to take domestic actions to achieve the target of reducing emissions of GHG set out by the domestic (“bottom-up”) process. PA has recognized the best available science to carry on mitigation actions. It requires the Parties to undertake a continuous planning process to mitigate climate change impacts set out in NDC every five years. This Agreement requires a more ambitious NDC containing progression of mitigation commitment from the previous NDC. Though a ‘mandatory enforcement mechanism’ or ‘penalty for non-compliance with mitigation obligations is absent in the Agreement, the mandatory procedural obligation makes us optimistic that the target will be achieved. The information relating to mitigation actions is subject to technical expert review. For assessing the overall and collective progress towards achieving the PA’s long-term mitigation goals, the Agreement requires a “global stocktake” in 2023 and after that time in every five years. There is a “transparent, non-adversarial and non-punitive” expert-based measure to facilitate compliance with provisions containing mitigation obligations. Many Parties are committed to shifting to renewable energy and imposing a carbon tax in their NDCs to achieve their desired mitigation pledges. Many countries have started to invest in cheaper zero-carbon goods and services. When such cheaper zero-carbon goods and services capture the market, then the mitigation target will be fulfilled easily. PA is a universal consensual document. Though it is confronted with many challenges, its strong foundation and efficient mitigation obligation make us optimistic that the overall mitigation targets will be achieved and that mother earth will be safe from being “hell”. This paper shall discuss the mitigation goal and nature of the mitigation obligation under the PA and finally analyze the efficiency of the mitigation strategy. Dhaka University Law Journal, 2022, 33(1), 99-120

Financial incentives to poor countries promote net emissions reductions in multilateral climate agreements

Financial incentives to poor countries promote net emissions reductions in multilateral climate agreements

Effective tracking of nationally determined contributions: A case study on South Africa

The Paris Agreement’s enhanced transparency framework requires that all Parties track and report progress toward their nationally determined contributions (NDCs). This paper develops a qualitative, multi-criteria framework that can be used to either design effective NDC tracking systems or evaluate the extent to which Parties are prepared for NDC tracking. The paper also applies the framework to a case study on South Africa, with results indicating that the country is progressing well in terms of selecting appropriate indicators, enacting legislation, and enhancing transparency. In areas of collecting data, reporting on socio-economic outcomes, and making changes in national policy, there is room for improvement, and the paper explores options to this end. Since South Africa has a relatively advanced system for tracking mitigation goals, the findings of the paper suggest that other developing country Parties may require additional resources and capacity to track NDCs effectively.

How Do Energy Use and Climate Change Affect Fast-Start Finance? A Cross-Country Empirical Investigation

To promote the sustainable development of developing countries through the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and the impact of anthropogenic activity on the atmosphere, for some decades, developed countries and international institutions provided an increasing amount of climate financing tools, allocated through multiple channels. After the Copenhagen Conference of the Parties (COP15) held in 2009, developed country parties pledged to provide new and additional resources, including forestry and investments, approaching USD 30 billion for the period 2010–2012 and with balanced allocation between mitigation and adaptation. This collective commitment has come to be known as “Fast-start Finance” (FSF). To assess the key factors contributing to the amount and distribution of funding supporting projects using FSF, in this paper, we investigate the relationship between FSF, energy use, and greenhouse gas emissions. To this aim, two main analyses were carried out: (i) a qualitative examination of donor’s funding strategies and (ii) a quantitative analysis deepening the relationship between climate finance and greenhouse gas emissions by beneficiaries through a quantile regression model. Findings indicate a need to redesign the current aid scheme, and suggest an increasing need for financed projects to support sustainable economic innovation patterns of developing countries while paying close attention to the environmental policy context. The purpose was to provide useful feedback to policymakers to assess the effectiveness of the flow of funding for environmental plans and to avoid excessive aid dispersal and consequently a reduction of the FSF benefits.

Legal geographies of kava, kastom and indigenous knowledge: Next steps under the Nagoya Protocol

A binding international regulatory regime over access and benefit-sharing relating to biological resources and related traditional (including Indigenous) knowledge was established through the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization to the Convention on Biological Diversity 2010 (Nagoya Protocol), which entered into force in October 2014. The Nagoya Protocol encourages country Parties to take into consideration Indigenous and local communities’ customary laws, community protocols and procedures, as applicable, with respect to traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources and encourages support for the creation of community protocols. With a focus on the kava plant (Piper methysticum), this article explores some of the issues associated with implementation of the Nagoya Protocol at state and community scales. We explore concerns around patent activity and the potential impacts upon customary uses of kava especially in Vanuatu. We then consider some of the recent activities and reforms being undertaken in relation to kastom in Vanuatu, which may be of relevance for the development of access and benefit-sharing regimes and for the improved regional protection of Indigenous knowledge.

Conservatives Divided: Defending Rhodesia Against Malcolm Fraser 1976‐1978

Understanding the conflict between pro‐ and anti‐Rhodesian government parliamentarians is the only way to understand how and why Australia struggled to formulate a coherent Rhodesia policy. It reveals the extent to which Malcolm Fraser had to struggle against his own party in this matter and adds needed nuance to this period. Fraser's opinion that Rhodesia was a racist and immoral project caused a schism in the Coalition parties. Despite Fraser's open antipathy towards Rhodesia, Rhodesia's interests in Australia were largely safeguarded. This reflects the reality that the Liberal and National Country Parties contained sizeable blocs of parliamentarians who openly and publicly saw Rhodesia as a fraternal country, not a dangerous pariah. They did not hold these beliefs passively and actively sought to resist any moves made by Fraser to damage Rhodesia and its interests. By following the development of Fraser's Rhodesia policy in the late 1970s the power of Rhodesia's allies in the Australian parliament becomes clear. Opposing Rhodesia was touted by Fraser as one of the greatest achievements of his government, yet the issue was divisive and caused bitter infighting.

A factor of two: how the mitigation plans of ‘climate progressive’ nations fall far short of Paris-compliant pathways

ABSTRACT The Paris Agreement establishes an international covenant to reduce emissions in line with holding the increase in temperature to ‘well below 2°C … and to pursue … 1.5°C.’ Global modelling studies have repeatedly concluded that such commitments can be delivered through technocratic adjustments to contemporary society, principally price mechanisms driving technical change. However, as emissions have continued to rise, so these models have come to increasingly rely on the extensive deployment of highly speculative negative emissions technologies (NETs). Moreover, in determining the mitigation challenges for industrialized nations, scant regard is paid to the language and spirit of equity enshrined in the Paris Agreement. If, instead, the mitigation agenda of ‘developed country Parties’ is determined without reliance on planetary scale NETs and with genuine regard for equity and ‘common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities’, the necessary rates of mitigation increase markedly. This is evident even when considering the UK and Sweden, two nations at the forefront of developing ‘progressive’ climate change legislation and with clear emissions pathways and/or quantitative carbon budgets. In both cases, the carbon budgets underpinning mitigation policy are halved, the immediate mitigation rate is increased to over 10% per annum, and the time to deliver a fully decarbonized energy system is brought forward to 2035-40. Such a challenging mitigation agenda implies profound changes to many facets of industrialized economies. This conclusion is not drawn from political ideology, but rather is a direct consequence of the international community’s obligations under the Paris Agreement and the small and rapidly dwindling global carbon budget. Key Policy Insights Without a belief in the successful deployment of planetary scale negative emissions technologies, double-digit annual mitigation rates are required of developed countries, from 2020, if they are to align their policies with the Paris Agreement’s temperature commitments and principles of equity. Paris-compliant carbon budgets for developed countries imply full decarbonization of energy by 2035-40, necessitating a scale of change in physical infrastructure reminiscent of the post-Second World War Marshall Plan. This brings issues of values, measures of prosperity and socio-economic inequality to the fore. The stringency of Paris-compliant pathways severely limits the opportunity for inter-sectoral emissions trading. Consequently aviation, as with all sectors, will need to identify policies to reduce emissions to zero, directly or through the use of zero carbon fuels. The UK and Swedish governments’ emissions pathways imply a carbon budget of at least a factor of two greater than their fair contribution to delivering on the Paris Agreement’s 1.5-2°C commitment.

Transparency requirements under the Paris Agreement and their (un)likely impact on strengthening the ambition of nationally determined contributions (NDCs)

ABSTRACTHow will the Paris Agreement drive countries to address climate change? One expectation of the Agreement is that transparency will stimulate countries to increase the ambition of their pledges by revealing information on Parties’ climate efforts. To this end, the Agreement introduced a new ‘enhanced transparency framework’ (ETF) to report and review information on Parties’ greenhouse gas emissions, progress made in implementing and achieving nationally determined contributions (NDCs), their adaptation actions, and the financial, technological and capacity-building support needed, received and provided to developing country Parties. However, this relationship between transparency and progressive ambition over time remains largely untested. In this article, we first outline several pathways through which increased transparency could potentially lead to increased ambition. These pathways notably depend on the availability of comparable, complete and timely information on the performance of Parties. By reviewing the experience with past and existing transparency arrangements, we identify four types of challenges that will likely pose barriers to the generation of such information by the ETF, and suggest some efforts that might address these challenges to support greater ambition in future rounds of NDCs.Key policy insightsThe potential use of the flexibilities offered to developing countries on some dimensions of the ETF may lead to the generation of incomplete and incomparable information.It will be difficult to assess and compare progress made by Parties towards achieving their NDCs due to heterogenous, qualitative and conditional NDCs; the variety of indicators that Parties will choose to track their progress; and to weaknesses in the reporting guidelines on climate action and support.Despite ongoing efforts to address this, the information generated by the ETF may be outdated and non-comprehensive due to capacity gaps.The apolitical design of the ETF means that it will not lead to judgments, for example on the level of ambition of an NDC, or even on whether a country is achieving its NDC. The ETF is also not equipped to deal with cases of political unwillingness to participate in the ETF itself.

A dynamic climate finance allocation mechanism reflecting the Paris Agreement

Reaching the goal of the Paris Agreement requires substantial investment. The developed country parties have agreed to provide USD$100 billion in climate finance annually from 2020 to 2025. Ongoing negotiations on post-2025 commitments are likely to exceed that sum and include a broader scope of parties. However, there is no guidance regarding the allocation of contributions. Here, we develop a dynamic mechanism based on two conventional pillars of a burden sharing mechanism: emission responsibility and ability to pay. The mechanism adds dynamic components that reflect the Paris principle to ‘ratchet-up’ ambition; it rewards countries with ambitious mitigation targets and relieves countries with a high degree of climate vulnerability. Including developed country parties only, we find that ten countries should bear 85% of climate finance contributions (65% if all parties to the Paris Agreement are included). In both scopes, increasing climate ambition is rewarded. If the EU increased its emission reduction target from 40% to 55% by 2030, member states could reduce their climate finance contributions by up to 3.3%. The proposed mechanism allows for an inclusion of sub-, supra- or non-state actors. For example, we find a contribution of USD$3.3 billion annually for conventionally excluded emissions from international aviation and shipping.

Dancing like a toddler? The Green Climate Fund and REDD+ international rule‐making

REDD+ is a mechanism developed under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to reduce deforestation and associated greenhouse gas emissions in developing countries. The UNFCCC has envisaged the Green Climate Fund (GCF) to play a key role in coordinating and supporting REDD+. With the GCF's foundations in place, this article reviews the GCF's role as a rule‐maker for REDD+. The analysis of GCF policies and their relationship with guidance from the UNFCCC Conference of the Parties (COP) reveals that the Fund has complemented, adjusted and further developed COP guidance with considerable autonomy. This is surprising in the light of the Fund's strong relationship with the UNFCCC, coupled with the fact that the same UNFCCC country parties are represented in the GCF's main decision‐making body. Such self‐directed regulatory activity may evince the GCF's intention to leave a long‐lasting impact in the fragmented financing landscape for REDD+ implementation.

Investor-state dispute settlement and infrastructure projects: a potential impediment to good engineering and planning outcomes in Australia?

ABSTRACTOver recent years, Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) clauses have been a feature of Australia’s negotiations of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). ISDS clauses are drafted to provide increased protections for foreign investors of the contracting country parties. Some Australian newspaper journalists, politicians, academics and NGOs continue to promote the view that such provisions will disadvantage Australia. The paper explains the ISDS provisions, enumerates the number of bilateral investment treaties and FTAs to which Australia is party and notes whether they include ISDS provisions. The authors explore whether the ISDS provisions pose a real threat to good engineering and planning outcomes which might impact adversely on infrastructure investments by foreign enterprises. Whilst the initial impression, based on a little known but significant toll road arbitration case from Thailand, is that the potential risk is relatively high. Closer analysis, however, shows that the risk to Australian governments is probably moderately low and can be mitigated further.

Are Emissions Trading Schemes a Pathway to Enhance Transparency under the Paris Agreement?

The Paris Agreement (PA) provides the foundation and future for global carbon markets that country Parties can embrace to realize their nationally determined contributions (NDCs) in a transparent manner. The agreement references transparency throughout its text with article 13 specifically establishing an enhanced and flexible transparency framework. This framework requires all Parties to regularly submit a national greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory, provide information on progress in implementing and achieving their NDCs, as well as subject themselves to both expert and peer-to-peer review. Cooperative approaches in article 6.2 also offer a good opportunity for internationally transferred mitigation outcomes to be used by Parties to achieve their NDCs in a manner that ensures environmental integrity and enhances transparency. More discussions have focused on carbon markets as a pathway to reducing GHG emissions while generating economic, political, and strategic benefits. This Article further frames the argument that market-based approaches such as emissions trading schemes (ETSs) can also advance the transparency objectives of the PA. Insights are offered into how developing ETSs can promote transparency in tracking GHG emissions. I analyze some features of ETSs, especially their capacity building processes that can benefit the PA’s transparency framework. I also explore how linking transboundary ETSs can improve climate data reporting and facilitate information sharing on global climate action and progress.

Mobilising private adaptation finance: developed country perspectives

The private sector is one of the sources of finance included in developed countries’ pledge in the UN climate negotiations to mobilise $100 billion annually by 2020 to support developing countries’ efforts to address climate change. For adaptation in particular, it remains unclear what mobilised private finance is. Research so far has focused on its potential and experiences in developing countries, but not on the arguments of those who introduced and continue to advocate private adaptation finance: developed countries. This paper investigates the positions of developed countries and development banks and agencies. In particular, it aims to identify whether those actors can reach a common understanding of private adaptation finance that minimises norm conflicts in a fragmented climate finance system. Empirically, the paper examines the Biennial Reports and submissions on Strategies and Approaches for Mobilising Scaled-up Finance of six developed country parties, as well as data from interviews with experts from development banks and agencies. The analysis finds a number of discrepancies between these sets of actors, for example on motivations for and modes of private sector involvement. This discrepancy is the result of ambiguity around the concept of private adaptation finance in a highly fragmented climate finance architecture. This ambiguity is problematic when the aim of mobilising private adaptation finance is to contribute to the $100 billion commitment. However, if the aim is adaptation in practice, both ambiguity and fragmentation might actually make the climate finance system more inclusive and innovative.

Loss, Damage and Responsibility after COP21: All Options Open for the Paris Agreement

The issue of ‘loss and damage’ has proven to be a legally and politically challenging one within the international climate change regime. This article presents a brief history of the issue, and reviews related Paris outcomes, focusing on the issues of compensation and liability, governance, financial support, insurance and displacement. It concludes that despite paragraph 51 of Decision 1/CP.21 adopting the Paris Agreement, all options remain open for the development of a system under the climate regime that can address the underlying concerns raised by small island developing States and others in calling for a system of compensation and liability. In the context of the 1.5 °C temperature limit and increasing climate impacts, this article also highlights the need for the Warsaw International Mechanism to play an active role in quantifying the scale of loss and damage that is projected from human‐induced climate change in different regions and in different national contexts, over different time frames and at different emission pathways, and in sharing developments in attribution science, to help in the design of approaches to address loss and damage that are suited to assisting the most vulnerable developing country parties and to underscore the need for urgent emission reductions.

The implementation of the Nagoya ABS Protocol for the research sector: experience and challenges

Over the years, researchers in public institutions and universities have accessed genetic materials from a variety of sources, freely exchanged them with fellow researchers and institutions and shared their research results with foreign and local collaborators. The 2010 Nagoya Protocol regulating access to genetic resources is set to change this scenario. This treaty requires country parties to put in place enhanced ABS measures regulating access to their genetic resources and to provide for the sharing of benefits arising from their utilization. These measures include minimum access standards, mandatory prior informed consent of indigenous and local communities, compliance with the domestic laws or requirements of the provider country and monitoring the utilization of genetic resources. This is aimed at commercial research. Non-commercial public research which contributes to the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity is encouraged, particularly in developing countries, through simplified measures. There are undoubtedly practical challenges in operationalizing this provision without impeding research in the sector most potentially affected by ABS measures. This article presents the results of a survey of the practices of such researchers in one developing country, namely Malaysia. It examines the potential implications for the national implementation of the Protocol. Given country specificities, this study highlights and shows the importance of increasing knowledge about existing practices for an efficient design and implementation by developing countries of a complex legislation such as the Nagoya ABS Protocol.

States rights and Australia’s adoption of the statute of Westminster, 1931–1942

Some historians have speculated on whether party political disagreements between Labor and non-Labor parties were behind the more than 10 years it took the Commonwealth of Australia to adopt the main provisions of the Statute of Westminster, the 1931 imperial act which declared the independence of the parliaments of the self-governing British dominions. This article examines the efforts to adopt the Statute between 1931 and 1942 and the connection of the Statute with Western Australia’s campaign for secession. It is argued that there was a bipartisan consensus at the federal level between Labor and the United Australia and Country parties in Australia on a pragmatic approach to defining dominion status. This was one that sought uniformity throughout the Empire, and that therefore supported adoption of the Statute of Westminster by all the self-governing British dominions after it had been passed by the British Parliament in 1931. Party politics was a secondary issue in the delay and the Statute of Westminster did not function as a marker of any particular political party’s broader attitude to imperial loyalty. The Commonwealth’s relations with the States and the secessionist aspirations of one of them – Western Australia – were the major cause of the delay in the Commonwealth Parliament’s adopting the law.This article has been peer reviewed.