Call for Papers: IDLO-CISDL Legal Working Paper Series on Sustainable Development Law on Climate Change

Climate change poses a serious threat to the development strategies of in transition economies and developing countries as they will be the first to suffer the adverse environmental effects of climate change while also lacking the socio-economic capacity to adapt. Nevertheless, international responses to climate change also provide opportunities for developing countries to access new finance and capacity building support for low-carbon and climate resilient pathways that have co-benefits for socio-economic growth. For instance, renewable energy projects can mitigate greenhouse gases, provide a new source of energy that is accessible and reliable, and also foster resilience to the effects of climate change. Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) have committed to assist developing countries by establishing mechanisms for mitigation, adaptation and finance. In 2010, developed country Parties pledged USD100 billion per year by 2020 to be equally distributed between mitigation and adaptation. In addition, the Parties agreed to new mechanisms including: a preparatory framework for a future carbon market for Reducing Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+); a Cancun Adaptation Framework; a Technology Mechanism and a registry for developing countries’ voluntary Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs) to facilitate matching finance. Beyond the UNFCCC, there are many other prospects for developing countries to pursue climate policy in green economy instruments, including the voluntary carbon offset market, eco-labeling, and trade and investment agreements. However, developing countries are often inhibited from accessing opportunities created by the international regime due to barriers in their domestic legal and institutional frameworks, which may not have evolved with climate change in mind or do not adequately respond to the exigencies of specific mechanisms.

IDLO Legal Preparedness for Climate Change offers a range of services to support in transition economies and developing countries overcome legal and institutional barriers to address climate change and to access the opportunities created by the international regime. Those services include:

• Comprehensive legal and institutional reform services that are tailored to country needs and promote country ownership;
• Public dialogues, legal education and international conferences at the UNFCCC, UN Commission on Sustainable Development, UN Conference on Biological Diversity, leading Law Faculties, and on government and stakeholder invitation;
• E-learning courses that are open to a global audience from all government ministries and agencies, international organizations and other climate policy institutes;
• Publications on the latest outcomes of international negotiations and developments in climate policy; and
• Awards of Excellence in Legal Scholarship on Sustainable Development.