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7 LegalResponses toClimateChange… 193
7.5 TheInternationalClimateLawRegime
After thisoverviewofcustomaryinternational law, thepresentsectionturns to inter-
nationalobligationsbasedonclimate treaties.Several treatieshavebeennegotiated
to address climate change, in particular the UN Framework Convention on Cli-
mateChange(UNFCCC1992), theKyotoProtocol(1997),andtheParisAgreement
(2015).Thesetreatiesestablishaninstitutionalframeworkcomposedinparticularby
aSecretariat andaConferenceof theParties.TheConferenceof theParties adopts
decisionsat itsannualmeetings.Thetreatiesanddecisionsadoptedunderthemform
what isoften referred toas the international climate lawregime.
Incontrastwithcustomaryinternational law, theinternationalclimatelawregime
isnegotiatedbystates.Morepowerfulstateshavenaturallyagreatersayinthenego-
tiations.Diplomatic andfinancial pressure isoftenexercisedonweaker states.This
politicaldeterminationof the internationalclimate lawregimehassignificantlyhin-
deredeffortsofvulnerablenationstobringupthequestionofL&Dbecause,often,the
mostpowerful states, responsible for the largest shareofgreenhousegasemissions,
arealso themost influential in internationalnegotiationsonclimatechange.
In the following, afirst subsection recounts theprogressivemezzovoce recogni-
tion of somethingpossibly akin to “responsibility” in the international climate law
regime.Asecondsubsection thendiscusses the initiationofaworkstreamdedicated
tonegotiationsonL&Dover the lastdecade(seealso introductionbyMechleretal.
2018andchapterbyCalliari et al. 2018).
7.5.1 AnAmbivalentRecognitionofResponsibilities
In adeclaration adopted in theCaracasSummit of theG77 in1989,most develop-
ing states took a commonposition on climate change. Theydeclared that, “[s]ince
developedcountriesaccountfor thebulkof theproductionandconsumptionofenvi-
ronmentally damaging substances, they should bear themain responsibility in the
search for long-term remedies for global environmental protection” (CaracasDec-
laration, paras. II-34). Two years later, Small IslandDeveloping States submitted
a proposal for an instrument to address “loss anddamage” associatedwith climate
changeby“compensat[ing] themost vulnerable small island and low-lying coastal
developing countries for loss and damage resulting from sea level rise” (Vanuatu
1991:2).
Yet, no provision recognising the “main responsibility” of developed states or
their obligation to “compensate” the most vulnerable nations was inserted in the
final draft of the UNFCCC, adopted at the Earth Summit, in Rio de Janeiro, in
June1992.Rather, this treatyfocusedonforward-lookingefforts tomitigateclimate
change inorder to“achieve…stabilizationofgreenhousegasconcentrations in the
atmosphereata level thatwouldpreventdangerousanthropogenic interferencewith
the climate system” (UNFCCC, art. 2). Nevertheless, since negotiations had been
pursuedon thebasisof consensus, thepositionofdeveloping stateshadbeen taken
Loss and Damage from Climate Change
Concepts, Methods and Policy Options
- Title
- Loss and Damage from Climate Change
- Subtitle
- Concepts, Methods and Policy Options
- Authors
- Reinhard Mechler
- Laurens M. Bouwer
- Thomas Schinko
- Swenja Surminski
- JoAnne Linnerooth-Bayer
- Publisher
- Springer Open
- Date
- 2019
- Language
- English
- License
- CC BY 4.0
- ISBN
- 978-3-319-72026-5
- Size
- 16.0 x 24.0 cm
- Pages
- 580
- Keywords
- Environment, Climate change, Environmental law, Environmental policy, Risk management
- Categories
- International
- Naturwissenschaften Umwelt und Klima