Climate Change A Burning Issue for Australia? Shrishti Shah
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s fires devastate Australia, we are seeing an increase in climate change risk to people, animals and the economy. It reinforces the need for Australia to take a stand and substantially increase its efforts to reduce climate change risks. In the recent 25th United Nations Climate Change Conference (‘COP 25’) and the 2nd meeting of the Paris Agreement, Australia promised to reduce emissions by 25% of 2005 levels by 2030. This article will examine Australia’s current efforts to deal with climate change risks and engage with recommendations to prevent the rising of global temperatures. Nationally determined contributions (‘NDCs’) under the Paris Agreement embody the nationally led efforts taken up by all parties to the agreement to deal with climate change effects. Under the agreement, NDCs do not require states to meet specific greenhouse gas emission targets. Furthermore, the agreement encourages developed
18 | The Brief
countries that have the resources at hand to take the lead in reducing national emissions and adapting to the impacts of climate change. As NDCs are not legally binding, three different review processes are required to enforce the compliance of state parties. The first review is the ‘enhanced transparency framework’ where a review by a technical expert is conducted followed by a multilateral consideration review. The second review takes the form of a global stocktake process every 5 years to assess the parties’ progress in achieving the long-term goals of the Paris Agreement. State parties are then lastly reviewed by an expert committee that can neither be adversarial nor punitive to facilitate implementation and promote compliance. However, ‘Urgenda Foundation v State of the Netherlands’- a landmark litigation, is giving emergence to the recognition of climate change risks in state obligations through international environmental law. The Urgenda Foundation and
Ed.1 2020
