421 results found

UNFCCC Secretariat Trust Fund for Participation (04/08/2023)

Query: 1. What is the legal basis for the secretariat’s practice of funding the participation of eligible representatives from developing countries and economies in transition? 2. What are the eligibility criteria? 3. Are there grounds for reviewing the eligibility criteria? Advice: 1. Legal basis for the secretariat’s practice According to a 2017 UNFCCC document entitled […]

Legal status of work that has provisionally commenced based on provisional agendas at SB 58 (21/07/2023)

Queries: 1. At the 58th sessions of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) and the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI) (SB 58) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the agendas for the sessions were not adopted at the opening of the sessions. If the agendas were not adopted […]

UNGA Trust Funds: How are they established and administered? (02/11/2022)

How are UNGA Trust Funds established? How are UNGA Trust Funds administered? Advice: United Nations General Assembly (“UNGA”) Trust Funds have been identified as a possible mechanism for establishing a Loss and Damage Finance Facility (“LDFF”) outside the structure of the UNFCCC negotiations. This research memo will set out how the UNGA Trust Funds are […]

Explicatif de l’Article 6, Accord de Paris – Marchés du carbone (30/05/2022)

Finance for Loss and Damage (13/06/2023)

Query: Advice: Executive summary While the Convention and the Paris Agreement do not contain obligations to provide financial resources to specifically address loss and damage, the language in Article 8 of the Paris Agreement potentially covers the provision of financial resources to developing countries as a means to pursue the implementation of Article 8. While […]

Definition of “emissions avoidance”, “emissions reduction”, and “emissions removal” (12/06/2023)

Query: What do the terms “emissions avoidance”, “emissions reduction”, and “emissions removal” mean in the context of the UNFCCC and Paris Agreement? Executive Summary: These terms are not uniformly defined in the UNFCCC or the Paris Agreement, and there is no single source of truth as to their meaning in the context of these instruments. […]

Ability to consider phasing out fossil fuels (09/06/2023)

Query: Are there any legal obstacles that would prevent the Parties to the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement to consider, under these agreements, the necessity to phase out the extraction and use of fossil fuels? Executive Summary: We have not identified in any of the provisions of the UNFCCC or the Paris Agreement support for […]

Just Transition (12/01/2023)

Query 1. What are the different interpretations of “just transition” and in which context do they arise? 2. What are the possible entry points for this issue to be discussed in the UNFCCC process? Advice 1. Defining a just transition For the International Labour Organisation (ILO) ‘just transition’ means greening the economy in a way […]

Loss and damage explainer (02/06/2023)

Our Loss and Damage Explainer sheds light on the efforts made by the Parties to the UNFCCC and Paris Agreement to address the issue of loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change on vulnerable developing countries. It offers an overview of the key issues related to loss and damage that are […]

Summary of COP 27 outcomes (23/03/2023)

On 6 – 20 November 2022, the annual climate conference under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) took place in Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt. It was originally scheduled to finish on 18 November but ran into overtime as parties struggled to find consensus on key issues. This joint publication with LACLIMA provides a summary of […]

Incorporating Equity into NDCs (07/02/2023)

Background: based on the latest Nationally Determined Contributions (“NDCs”) submitted by parties in 2020/2021 in the context of the first NDC update milestone, it is very likely that the 1.5C temperature goal of the PA will be exceeded by the end of the century. For some parties and independent organisations, this is caused in part […]

Meaning of ‘averting, minimizing and addressing’ loss and damage (07/11/2022)

Query: What is meant by each of these terms in relation to Loss and Damage: ‘address, avert and minimise’? Are these concepts linked to loss and damage and/or adaptation and/or mitigation? Which arguments support the interpretation that these three concepts are part of the L&D provisions? Advice: 1. Background and context The Paris Agreement in […]

Implications of authorized and non-authorized units under Article 6.4 (27/10/2022)

Background The CMA Decision 3/CMA.3 contains the rules, modalities and procedures for the running of the market-based mechanism of Article 6.4. The mechanism replicates many of the features of the Clean Development Mechanism under the Kyoto Protocol, but it also comes with new requirements and possibilities, given the different context of the Paris Agreement. Among […]

Relationship between the Convention and the Paris Agreement (23/08/2022)

How could states collectively indicate that they consider the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change to be the “governing”, “supreme” or otherwise guiding legal instrument in relation to the Paris Agreement? What legal tools would (in principle) be available under public international law to put forward and agree such an interpretation? Executive Summary: The issue […]

Loss and damage finance – Literature review (10/10/2022)

The attached paper is a literature review of publications on climate-related loss and damage (L&D).  In particular, the review aims to: (i)          map out possible options/approaches for financial arrangements on L&D; (ii)        provide a brief explainer of the different approaches that have been proposed; and (iii)       provide reference to information on governance arrangements and finance […]

The status of the UNFCCC and its secretariat under international law (11/10/2022)

1. Can the UNFCCC and/or its secretariat be considered an international organisation under public international law? 2. If not, what could the parties to the UNFCCC do to establish the UNFCCC and/or its secretariat as an independent international organisation? 3. What other options (if any) are there to grant the UNFCCC and/or its secretariat independent […]

Implicit downgrade of an NDC (10/06/2022)

Do Parties to the Paris Agreement comply with their commitments under that Agreement, contained in particular in Arts. 4.3 and 4.11 and Decision 4/CMA.1, if their new or updated nationally determined contribution (“NDC”) does not represent a progression beyond the previous NDC, in so far as it effectively lowers an existing economy-wide absolute emissions reduction […]

Potential outcomes for the Glasgow Dialogue on Loss & Damage (19/05/2022)

1. Based on relevant previous UNFCCC practice and decisions (if any), and your own assessment, can you outline what could be the possible tangible outcomes of the Glasgow Dialogue between Parties, relevant organisations and stakeholders to discuss the arrangements for the funding of activities to avert, minimise and address loss and damage associated with the […]

Operationalisation of Santiago Network on Loss & Damage (30/05/2022)

What scope is there in para.9(b) and (f) of decision 19/CMA.3, setting out the SNLD’s functions, and in the text establishing the SNLD in para.43 of decision 2/CMA.2 to argue for a role for the coordinating body for the SNLD that goes beyond catalysing technical assistance? Is that scope limited and if so, how is […]

Glasgow Dialogue mandate (22/03/2022)

1) Does the mandate of the Glasgow Dialogue resulting from the CMA decision allow for negotiation on Loss & Damage or is it going to be a series of workshops (and talkshops) held on the sidelines, in conjunction with the SBI session, with no inputs to the COPs? 2) How might the process feed into […]