Trends in Climate Change Legislation edited by Alina Averchenkova Sam Fankhauser and Michal Nachmany Published by Edward Elgar, 2017, 232 pp., £85.00, hardback.

• Author: Prue Taylor
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/reel.12262
• Date: 01 November 2018
• Published date: 01 November 2018

TRENDS IN CLIMATE CHANGE LEGISLATION

edited by Alina Averchenkova, Sam Fankhauser and

Michal Nachmany

Published by Edward Elgar, 2017, 232 pp., £85.00, hardback.

The hard work on climate change law and governance has just begun. The

ParisAgreementisinplaceandover174nationshavecommittedtoemis-

sion reduction and adaptation measures.

1

But will this create a robust

basis for urgent climate change responses? The answer largely depends on

the evolving body of national policies and laws. Trends in Climate Change

Legislation addresses this vital issue in a proactive and practical manner. It

presents research and analysis critical to ensuring that post‐Paris national

legislation develops by good design. If you are looking for a succinct guide

to the task of creating and enhancing climate change law that will deliver

on the Paris Agreement, then begin with a thorough read of this book.

The Paris Agreement entered into force in November 2016 and

specified a warming limit to contain global temperatures well below

the dangerous 2°C threshold and pursue efforts to limit the tempera-

ture increase to 1.5°C. These global goals went hand in hand with a

plethora of nationally determined contributions (NDCs) setting out

mitigation and adaptation commitments, largely based on pre‐

existing policy and laws. Behind the positive headlines evoked by the

‘spirit of Paris’is a very serious and urgent reality reminding us that

we have now entered an absolutely critical phase. The United Nations

Environment Programme recently reported that the emissions gap

(the difference between reductions pledged and reductions needed) is

‘alarmingly high’. Assuming full implementation, NDCs cover only one-

third of what is needed and the time frames are very short.

2

Recent

research concludes that ‘[t]he 1.5 and 2°C warming targets are

reached in 17–18 years and in 35–41 years, respectively, if the carbon

emission rate is assumed to remain at its present‐day value’.

3

Behind

the emissions gap is a yawning governance and policy deficit in the

current absence of domestic measures that can achieve the Paris

Agreement aims. While this challenge will not be met overnight, sig-

nificant progress is needed to maintain trust in the architecture of the

Paris Agreement, including its mechanisms for progressive increase in

collective ambition and scrutiny. This is the background against which

Trends in Climate Change Legislation maps out practical ways forward,

firmly grounded in the experience of the last 20 years. The focus is

primarily on emission reduction measures rather than adaptation.

The research in this book (see especially Chapter 2) demon-

strates that some nations are currently better placed than others

to enhance their legislative frameworks (defined broadly as includ-

ing acts of parliament, executive decrees, presidential instructions

and influential policies) because they already have existing policies

and laws in place. However, the book's topicality is clearly illus-

trated by the example of my own jurisdiction (somewhat of a cli-

mate change laggard), New Zealand. Climate change policy and law

stalled for 15 years during the successive terms of both left‐and

right‐wing governments. A change of government in late 2017 led

to a new and urgent agenda, prioritizing the creation of zero‐car-

bon legislation modelled on the United Kingdom's 2008 Climate

Change Act. This requires the adoption of a long‐term target (e.g.,

carbon neutrality by 2050) and a pathway of five‐yearly budgets to

achieve this target. My own involvement in the first round of pub-

lic consultation (as a legal academic), enabled me to test the merits

of this book from a first‐hand perspective of its intended audience:

‘parliamentarians, policy‐makers, students and analysts’(at 13). To

this I would add (on the basis of my recent experience): academics

and civil society.

Trends in Climate Change Legislation adopts three clearly articu-

lated objectives, which are a reflection of the extensive databases

and research/policy analysis expertise available at the Grantham

Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment (GRI) at

the London School of Economics and Political Science, where the

editorial team is based. The first objective is to consider the key fac-

tors (economic, political and institutional) that lead to the develop-

ment of national legislation. The second objective explores what

climate change legislation needs to contain (e.g., normative, eco-

nomic and institutional elements) to be consistent with the Paris

Agreement. The third and final objective considers the wider govern-

ance context within which national legislation must operate: namely

subnational action, the role of litigation and international cooper-

ation. The introduction and structure of the book (divided into three

parts with three chapters in each) ensure that the content remains

focused on these respective objectives. This enables easy navigation

for the reader but also ensures that chapter content remains on

point. The editors have thus delivered on the book's defined aims,

creating a lean volume that is accessible to its audience and avoids

extraneous material.

Before exploring each of these objectives in more detail, it is

important to consider the databases used in many chapters. The

first is the ‘Climate Change Laws of the World’data set, comprising

over 1,300 policies and laws from 164 countries (as of 2017).

4

Data collected is regularly updated and includes legislation on miti-

gation, adaptation and transition to low carbon economies. Two

key limitations are identified, however, it does not include: (i) sub-

national action; and (ii) qualitative analysis of merit (e.g., stringency,

scope and ambition), implementation or enforcement. Nevertheless,

it provides a rich description of worldwide legislative action. In

expert hands, this data tells us much about the past, which is

highly relevant to forging the future. For example, Chapter 10 (‘Cli-

mate Legislation and International Commitments’, by Alina Averch-

enkova and Sini Matikainen) uses the database, together with

Climate Action Tracker (2016), to research the consistency of

DOI: 10.1111/reel.12262

1

<http://www4.unfccc.int/ndcregistry/Pages/Home.aspx>.

2

P Goodwin et al, ‘Pathways to 1.5°C and 2°C Warming Based on Observational and Geo-

logical Constraints’(2018) 11 Nature Geoscience 102.

3

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), ‘The Emissions Gap Report 2017’(UNEP

2017).

4

<http://www.lse.ac.uk/GranthamInstitute/climate-change-laws-of-the-world/>.

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