This week LRI lawyer and executive director Christoph Schwarte is in Thailand to support government and civil society in analysing the content and implications of the new Paris Agreement on climate change. On Tuesday, he gave a presentation at a workshop hosted by the German Federal Enterprise for International Cooperation, GIZ and the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning of the Thai Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment.

The workshop concluded a one-year project to provide legal and technical analysis and support to the delegation of the government of Thailand in the international climate negotiations. During the course of 2015, in the lead-up to the Paris conference, LRI prepared various briefing papers and met regularly with delegates from Thailand during UNFCCC sessions. The workshop in Bangkok focused on the Paris outcomes and the resulting next steps in the climate negotiations.

In addition, Christoph also took part in the first ever climate justice expert meeting for Asia, in Khao Yai on Thursday and Friday. The meeting was organized by the Climate Justice Programme and the Heinrich Böll Foundation to develop legal strategies, particularly in light of research that quantifies the cumulative historic greenhouse gas emissions and the proportionate responsibility of large fossil industry, at the national, regional and global level. Participants discussed ongoing cases and developed new initiatives to strengthen coalitions of lawyers and advocacy organizations in Asia and the Pacific.