2 weeks at the Glasgow climate conference

The annual international climate conferences – usually referred to as COPs – appear to follow a common and by now predictable script: First, there is general acknowledgement of the crisis, hope and expectations. Then comes a bit of drama with an outcome that is generally portrayed as a compromise and – because parties do not […]

LRI at the climate conference in Glasgow

There is a team of LRI lawyers in Glasgow that provide hands-on legal support to delegates from poor and climate vulnerable developing countries. While the media focus on big political announcements and the various celebrities that visit the conference, climate negotiators are more concerned with the unresolved technical issues for implementing the …

LRI volunteers share reflections on the SB52 virtual meeting

The 52nd sessions of the UNFCCC subsidiary bodies met over the period 31 May to 17 June 2021. This was the first meeting since COP25 in December 2019 and, in the light of the covid-19 travelling restrictions, it was held in a virtual format. This was unchartered territory for negotiators, even the most seasoned amongst […]

Binding unilateral declarations on mitigation NDCs?

A slightly shorter version of this commentary was initially published on 27 May through the Climate Law Blog of the Sabin Centre for Climate Change Law at http://blogs.law.columbia.edu/climatechange/2021/05/27/should-countries-issue-binding-unilateral-declarations-on-ghg-emission-targets/ In 1978, during a phase of the Cold War when relationships between …