Will national climate change legislation cool down global warming ?

donderdag, 27. oktober 2011 - 9:00

A few months before the UN Climate Conference in Durban, South Africa, the outlook for a legally binding framework to replace or complement the Kyoto Protocol post 2012 remains very challenging. Although the generally endorsed, though not binding Cancún Agreements aim to limit average global warming to a 2° C increase compared to pre-industrial levels, the pledges put forward by industrialised and emerging economies so far, are insufficient to keep this overarching target within reach. As each country faces its own challenges, domestic policy instruments have an important role to play in the battle against climate change.

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Verslag

A few months before the UN Climate Conference in Durban, South Africa, the outlook for a legally binding framework to replace or complement the Kyoto Protocol post 2012 remains very challenging. Although the generally endorsed, though not binding Cancún Agreements aim to limit average global warming to a 2° C increase compared to pre-industrial levels, the pledges put forward by industrialised and emerging economies so far, are insufficient to keep this overarching target within reach. As each country faces its own challenges, domestic policy instruments have an important role to play in the battle against climate change.

The climate conference, jointly organised by the Flemish and Dutch Environmental Law Associations, departs from this international context to explore the (legal) measures to meet these ambitious engagements. It goes without saying that all of these policies and measures have to be seen within the framework of EU laws, regulations and EC policy communications that determine the contours for domestic actions. Another element that cannot be unaddressed is the role of the international carbon market in this respect.

The second part of the conference deals with the diverse national and regional, even local measures at stake aimed at the mitigation and adaptation to climate change. Will national law bring the solution? What are the confinements but also opportunities put forward by EC law? How will the international landscape evolve and are there any alternatives if the multilateral negotiations should fail?