Investigating The UNFCCC Framework

1/16/20230 min read

The 1994 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (“UNFCCC”), which is the umbrella treaty of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol and the 2015 Paris Agreement, is responsible for promoting worldwide climate action (UNFCCC).

Collectively, the purpose of the three agreements is to decelerate, maintain, and reduce atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations, so as to permit ecosystems to adapt as a matter of course and to promote sustainable development (UNFCCC).

The UNFCCC specifically works toward its objectives by, amongst others, supporting intergovernmental climate change dialogue sessions, studying climate change information submitted by Parties, and managing the Nationally Determined Contributions registry (UNFCCC).

Given that the climate emergency still remains a pressing problem almost 30 years after the UNFCCC’s inception, one may argue that the UNFCCC has lacked problem-solving effectiveness (Obergassel et al 2021:279).

There have also been a number of critiques of UNFCCC climate finance initiatives. The collective pledge of financial flows under Article 2(1) of the Paris Agreement has been observed to lack a prescribed system for apportionment of funders’ responsibility and as well as recourse for enforcement (Roberts & Weikmans 2017:130). Additionally, the 2009 promise by developed countries to contribute USD100 billion in climate finance, while involving the deployment of both public and private funds, did not specify the percentages to be derived from each sector (Roberts & Weikmans 2017:130). The ‘fast-start finance’ fund of USD30billion was to be distributed between adaptive and mitigatory strategies based on a “balanced allocation”; however, that term was never defined clearly (Roberts & Weikmans 2017:131). Finally, the general prioritisation of least developed countries, African nations, and small island developing states was found to be deficient in terms of the imprecision behind prioritization such countries and the uncertainty behind the potential inclusion of other vulnerable developing countries (Roberts & Weikmans 2017:131).

In terms of outcome, however, there has been progress from pre-2015 pathways of 3.5-4°C of global warming versus present estimations of 2.1-2.7°C (Obergassel et al 2021:280). Rising participation by megastate emitters India and China has enhanced the legitimacy of the UNFCCC framework and also secured continued engagement, within global climate policy, with the topic of developed states’ financial responsibility (Thakur 2021:378). At COP21, as compared to COP15, issues of procedural and distributive justice were deemed to have been handled in a more balanced manner, and a forward-looking approach to justice was reinforced (Tritschoks 2018:466).

The UNFCCC Secretariat has also been praised for having discovered new avenues of influence by facilitatively orchestrating non-state organizations – such as civil society, the private sector, and sub-national governments – in climate dialogues and exchanges (Hickmann et al 2021), resulting in more pronounced coaction between governmental and non-governmental stakeholders (Thakur 2021:374).

References:

  • Hickmann, T., O. Widerberg, M. Lederer, and P. Pattberg. (2021). ‘The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Secretariat as an orchestrator in global climate policymaking’. International Review of Administrative Sciences 2021, Vol. 87(1) 21–38. DOI: 10.1177/0020852319840425

  • Obergassel, W., C. Arens, C. Beuermann, V. Brandemann, L. Hermwille, N. Kreibich, H.E. Ott, and M. Spitzner. (2021). ‘Turning Point Glasgow? An Assessment of the Climate Conference COP26’. Carbon & Climate Law Review, Volume 15 (2021), Issue 4. Pages 271-281. DOI https://doi.org/10.21552/cclr/2021/4/4

  • Roberts, J.T, and R. Weikmans. ‘Postface: fragmentation, failing trust and enduring tensions over what counts as climate finance’. Int Environ Agreements (2017) 17:129–137. DOI 10.1007/s10784-016-9347-4

  • Thakur, S. (2021). ‘From Kyoto to Paris and Beyond: The Emerging Politics of Climate Change’. India Quarterly 77(3) 366–383, 2021. DOI: 10.1177/09749284211027252

  • Tritschoks, A. (2018). ‘Rethinking Justice in International Environmental Negotiations: Toward a More Comprehensive Framework’. International Negotiation 23 (2018) 446-477. DOI:10.1163/15718069-23031159

  • UNFCCC. ‘About the secretariat’. https://unfccc.int/about-us/about-the-secretariat. Accessed on 16 January 2023.