On the road to Glasgow

Climate Change

On the road to Glasgow

The 26th UN climate change Conference of the Parties (COP26) at Glasgow will mark the latest round of negotiations, that go back to 1992, when countries signed the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change as a framework for international cooperation to combat climate change. The negotiations have continued ever since, with some significant steps along the way, the latest being the adoption of the Paris Agreement in 2015.

Our organisation, Legal Response International (LRI), will be present at the talks to provide legal support to delegates from low income and climate vulnerable developing countries and civil society observer organisations.

Why does legal support matter?

The UN climate negotiations are amongst the most complex multilateral law and policy-making processes ever. Delegations of industrialized countries typically include specialized experts, lawyers and support staff. By contrast, negotiators from developing countries who represent countries most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change can rarely rely on a similar backing. As a result, they will often struggle to understand the legal implications of negotiations, let alone be in a position to influence them.

LRI’s objective is therefore to try and redress this imbalance and level the playing field between actors in the negotiations. We do this by providing free legal assistance through a global network of law firms, barrister chambers and universities. Our volunteers have expertise in public international law, international environmental law and other legal areas that are relevant to the negotiations. This also includes human rights, trade law, carbon trading, finance, insurance or intellectual property law.

The queries we receive vary considerably. They are to some extent always a function of the negotiations themselves at a particular time and also vary depending on the person who has raised it and whether they are a seasoned negotiator or more of a novice. Legal provisions can be ambiguous, sometimes deliberately so, and we may be asked to clarify their meaning, e.g. to what extent the Paris Agreement creates new financial obligations for developed countries. We may also suggest legal language that will ensure the policy positions and interests of developing countries are adequately promoted. Alternatively, we might advise on how to use some of the principles contained in the PA, such as equity, to put pressure on countries to increase their climate pledges.

Empowering women

Climate change impacts all, regardless of gender, but women are often disproportionately impacted. Yet they are often not involved in the decision-making process at local level. At the UN climate negotiations, although there has been an increase in the participation of women delegates in the last decade, they are still less well represented than men. Therefore, ensuring equitable representation and participation at all levels of the climate change decision making process is key to making sure climate solutions are more effective. We contribute to improving women’s participation in the process by involving them at all levels of our service. As volunteers joining our team at the negotiations, they often play a key role in building relationships with women delegates. When we run legal training courses, women participants are often in the majority.

Paris Agreement and domestic legislation

The Paris Agreement only provides a broad framework with limited guidance on national implementation. The agreement left it to parties to develop further rules on its future operation, national implementation and administrative framework at a later stage. As a result, the majority of requests for assistance still concern the international dimension of the climate negotiations, in particular around the development of these guidelines.

Increasingly however our work also relates to the domestic sphere. To implement commitments made under the Paris Agreement and fully benefit from its provisions, many states are having to review and develop policies, legislation and institutions. We might participate in national roundtables involving law and policymakers and other stakeholders, who may not be familiar with the international framework.

In this process there is no ‘one size fits all’ and local dynamics will dictate the approach taken by a particular country. Gaps in local expertise, in for example the elaboration of framework climate legislation, means that some of our experts who have drafting and regulatory experience can provide support in this process.

Strengthening national legal capacity

Building the legal capacity of negotiators, law and policymakers is an essential aspect of our work. We do this in several ways. We have junior lawyers from less developed or other lowincome countries join our team at the negotiations. We also organize or contribute to training workshops for negotiators, other government officials, lawyers, parliamentarians and civil society representatives in many countries. This has included Bangladesh, Burundi, Cameroon, Kenya, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tanzania and Zambia as well as in the UK. So, to help prepare lawyers on developing country delegations for COP26, we organised a four-day legal training course in London. It will combine sessions on the UN climate regime, domestic implementation and practical exercises such as mock negotiation scenarios. It will be delivered by a mixture of senior negotiators, academics and commercial lawyers.

We also prepare briefing papers on issues arising out of the negotiations and other publications. Our most recent one, published under the European Capacity building Initiative umbrella, is a pocket ‘Guide to the Paris Agreement’. This includes the Agreement and accompanying decisions text with explanations intended for negotiators and domestic practitioners alike.

Legal apps may not be an obvious tool in the traditional lawyer’s arsenal, but we decided to test the ground and earlier this year we launched a Paris Agreement A to Z app to make the guidebook more accessible for negotiators. It is free of charge and publicly available to download from Google Play and the App Store.

How to get involved

Whether you are an experienced lawyer with expertise in one of the areas relevant to the UN climate regime and interested in providing pro bono legal advice to poor and climate developing countries or a junior lawyer wanting to engage with new and emerging areas of law, we are keen to hear from you. To join our network or find out more about our work, please contact enquiries@legalresponse.org. ■

Pascale Bird

Pascale Bird

Legal Officer and Advice Co-ordinator Legal Response International

https://legalresponse.org