What would ecological climate change law look like? Developing a method for analysing the international climate change regime from an ecological perspective

• Published date: 01 April 2020
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/reel.12310
• Author: Olivia Woolley
• Date: 01 April 2020

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  RECIEL. 2020;29:76–85.

wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/reel

1 | INTRODUCTION

Statements ma de in documents precedi ng the adoption of the 1992

United Nations Fra mework Conventio n on Climate Change

(UNFCCC)1 and in the UN FCCC and the 2015 Paris Agreem ent2 rec‐

ognize that the st abilization of atmospher ic greenhouse gases is not

an end in and of its elf. Rather, it is pursued with a vie w to preventing

outcomes such as t he deteriorati on of the Earth’s eco systems and

therefore of the ir capacity to suppor t life, including by af fording ser‐

vices on which hum ans and all other specie s depend. United Natio ns

General As sembly Resolu tion 44/228, which i nitiated effor ts lead‐

ing to the UNFCCC’s negoti ation, prioritizes a ction against thr eats to

ecosystems po sed by trends such as global war ming that ‘if allowed

to continue, could disrupt the global ecological balance, jeopardize

the life‐sust aining qualitie s of the Earth a nd lead to an ecolog ical

catastrop he’, and recognizes that ‘decisive, urgent a nd global action

is vital to protec ting the ecolog ical balance of th e Earth’.3 The

UNFCCC notes in its pr eamble that ‘addi tional warming of t he

Earth’s surf ace and atmosphere’ due to inc reasing atmospheric con‐

centrations of greenhouse gases ‘may adversely affect natural eco‐

systems and humankind’.4 It describes the ‘[a]dverse ef fects of

climate change’, a term def ined in the treaty as meanin g ‘changes in

the physical env ironment or biot a resulting from c limate change

which have signifi cant deleterio us effect s on the composit ion,

1 United Natio ns Framework Con vention on Clima te Change (adopte d 29 May 1992,

entered into fo rce 21 March 1994) 1771 UNTS 107 (U NFCCC). The UNFCCC i s a treaty

that creates a l egal framewor k for action by St ates to address a nthropogenic g reenhouse

gas growth an d combat climate c hange. It has bee n ratified by 197 par ties, includ ing all

193 member State s of the United Nat ions, and is ther efore of signifi cant import ance for

determinin g how climate chan ge is addressed . Detailed acco unts of the trea ty can be

found in D Boda nsky, J Brunnée a nd L Rajamani, International Climate Change Law

(Oxford Uni versity Pres s 2017) 118–159; and P Sands et al, Principles of International

Environmental Law (4th edn, Cambrid ge University P ress 2018) 299–307.

2 Paris Agre ement (adopted 1 2 December 2015, e ntered into forc e 4 November 2016) 55

ILM 743 (2016). The Par is Agreemen t is the second ins trument adop ted by States unde r

the UNFCCC to fur ther develop a nd detail thei r responsibil ities and right s when tackli ng

climate chan ge. Out of 197 partie s to the Conventio n, 185 had ratifie d the Paris

Agreemen t by the end of June 2019. The ne ar unanimity o f ratificati on and the rate of

uptake indic ate that the Par is Agreement h as a high degree of in ternational su pport,

although th e United States g ave notice of its int ention to withd raw at the earlie st

possible dat e in law (4 November 20 20) in 2017. Detailed acc ounts of the tre aty can be

found in Boda nsky et al (n 1) 209–257; and Sa nds et al (n 1) 318–330.

3 UNGA ‘Unite d Nations Confe rence on Environ ment and Develo pment’ UN Doc A /

RES/44/228 (22 De cember 1989).

4 UNFCCC (n 1) pream ble.

Received: 30 A pril 2019 

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  Revised: 1 August 2 019 

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  Accepted: 6 Augus t 2019

DOI: 10 .1111/reel .12310

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

What would ecological climate change law look like?

Developing a method for analysing the international climate

change regime from an ecological perspective

Olivia Woolley

© 2019 John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 9600 Garsi ngton Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Stre et, Malden, MA 02148, USA.

Correspondence

Email: olivia.woolley@abdn.ac.uk Statements and com mitments made in t he climate change treatie s record the desire

of their parties to p reserve ecosys tem functional ity and situations t hat depend on

this as an outcome of their col lective respons e to global warming. De spite this, lit‐

tle attention has be en given in climate law literat ure to the appropriate ness of the

legal framework t hey establish for ac hieving their state d ecological goals. T his may

be due in part to the l ack of a method for analysing the climate change t reaties from

an ecological per spective. This ar ticle seeks to develop such a method by conside r‐

ing the key questions th at States would need to ans wer when formulating a t reaty

for combating global wa rming in ways that advan ce goals associated with mai ntain‐

ing current struc tures and func tions of ecosystems . It also identifies ways in w hich

detailing of the Par is Agreement’s prov isions could be used to prom ote ecosystem

preservatio n as an outcome of international climate action .