Spurred by a sense of
urgency and increasing global recognition that environmental deterioration is a
pressing issue, several key developments took place in international
environmental law in 2016. In addition to the Paris Agreement, 2016 was the
year of the first-ever global agreement cutting pollution from commercial
airlines, the Marrakech Summit, and environmental lawsuits on behalf of future
generations.
First Meeting of the Prep Com: The
UN General Assembly established a Preparatory Committee (Prep Com) to receive recommendations
for an internationally binding legal agreement on the conservation and
sustainable use of marine biological diversity in areas beyond national
jurisdiction. The Prep Com held its first meeting from March 28 to April 8,
2016 and discussed the relationship between the proposed instrument and other
existing agreements, as well as marine genetic resources, benefit-sharing, environmental
impact assessments, capacity building, and marine technology transfer. The
sustainable but efficient use of ocean resources is a hot topic in
environmental law, and the Prep Com’s first meeting only preceded the third
edition of the Hamburg
International Environmental Law Conference by a
few days. The Conference debated ways to conserve the oceans’ ecosystems, as
well as the role International Environmental Law should play in regulating
activities such as deep sea mining, marine energy generation, seabed pipeline
and cable systems.
Carbon Offsetting and
Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA): The Carbon Offsetting and
Reduction Scheme for International Aviation is the first-ever global agreement to cut
greenhouse gas emissions from commercial airlines. Announced on October 6,
2016, this sweeping deal aims to curb carbon dioxide emissions from the
international aviation sector, as well as aviation pollution’s effect on
climate. The deal will be implemented in phases (participation in the
early years being entirely voluntary) and aims to put the industry on a path
toward more sustainability. 191 nations have expressed
intent to voluntarily participate.
Kigali
Amendment to the Montreal Protocol: On October 15, 2016, 197 countries
endorsed the Kigali
Amendment to the Montreal Protocol. The
amendment aims to curb the production and consumption of hydrofluorocarbons
(HFCs), powerful greenhouse gases, by more than 80 percent over the next 30
years in the hope to prevent up
to 0.5 degrees Celsius (0.9 F) of global warming by
the end of this century. Manufacturers have used HFCs to replace
chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)—phased out under the Montreal Protocol—as
refrigerants in a variety of products. The amendment calls for developed
countries to start reducing their consumption of HFCs by 2019 and for most developing
countries to freeze consumption by 2024 or 2028. The new amendment pledges to
provide funding for climate-friendly alternatives in developing countries.
The Paris Agreement: The Paris Agreement is an agreement within the UN framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCC) meant to strengthen the global response to climate change. The agreement aims to curb greenhouse
gases emissions in order to prevent a global temperature rise of more than 2
degrees Celsius (3.6 F). After 195 countries negotiated the agreement, final
language was adopted on December 12, 2015, and the agreement was opened for
signature on April 2, 2016. As of December 2016, 194 UNFCC members had signed
the treaty, 132 of which had ratified it. In October 2016, enough countries had
ratified the agreement for it to enter into force. As a result, the agreement went into effect on
November 4, 2016.
The Marrakech Summit: The twenty-second session of the
Conference of the Parties (COP 22), the twelfth session of the
Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto
Protocol (CMP 12), and the first session of the
Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris
Agreement (CMA 1) were held in Bab Ighli, at the Marrakech Summit, Morocco from November 7-18, 2016. The Conference
successfully demonstrated to the world that the implementation of the Paris
Agreement is underway and that cooperation on climate change continues.
Global Lawsuits on Behalf of Young and Future
Generations: In 2016, a global trend of
lawsuits filed on behalf of future generations continued in the United States
with a case filed in an Oregon District Court. The
plaintiffs argued that by failing to protect public trust resources like water
and air, the federal government is violating their constitutional rights to
life, liberty, and property. Similarly, in June 2016, the Pakistan Supreme
Court ruled in favor of seven-year-old petitioner Rabab Ali, allowing her constitutional
climate change lawsuit to proceed. Yet another similar case is currently
underway in the Philippines. In 2015, the Hague District
Court in the Netherlands had ruled in favor of the
Urgenda Foundation (representing multi-generations of citizens), compelling the
government to reduce Dutch greenhouse gas emissions by 25% by 2020 (making current
Dutch climate policies, which aim only for a 16% reduction, unlawful).
CETA: The EU-Canada Comprehensive Trade Agreement (CETA) is
a new trade agreement between the EU and Canada. The European Parliament voted to adopt CETA on February 15, 2017, though EU national parliaments must approve the agreement before it can take full
effect. However, throughout 2016, member of the European Parliament, such as Bart
States, and public interest organizations had called for the rejection of
CETA. States
had warned that CETA risked undermining
regulatory measures with regard to endocrine disruptors, which are estimated to cost Europe well over 150 billion Euros
each year in additional health expenses. The European Commission has already acknowledged that mounting pressure from
EU trade partners has led it to propose to lower standards of protection
against endocrine disruptors. With CETA, Canada and Canadian businesses will be
given increased leverage to pressure the EU not to introduce precautionary
laws.
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