Side event: Focus on legal responses to the climate crisis

Event date: 08 June 2022, 8:00 - 9:15

Effective implementation of the Paris Agreement and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) will require countries to develop and strengthen their enabling legal frameworks at the national level.

Co-organizers: United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Commonwealth Secretariat, Grantham Research Institute - London School of Economics, Sabin Center for Climate Change Research

Time: 10:00 a.m. to 11:15 a.m. (Nairobi time).

Summary

To date, nearly a thousand pieces of national level climate change legislation and more than 1500 policy documents have been documented and collected from nearly every country around the world. However, many countries require support to develop and strengthen their national legislation to mainstream climate change considerations and effectively integrate key governance functions that adequately reflect and respond to specific and evolving domestic contexts.

This event seeks to showcase the research and tools that are being developed to respond to these needs. It will showcase the Law and Climate Change Toolkit, an online and open database designed to provide a global resource to support the domestic implementation of the Paris Agreement and countries’ NDCs. It will also examine how oversight and accountability mechanisms can be designed into legislation from the outset, helping to ensure the effective implementation of legislation and policy over time. Finally, the event will consider the role of climate litigation in strengthening laws on climate change and improving accountability in their implementation.

Register here

Confirmed Speakers

  • Renée Gift, UNEP Law Division (Chair)
  • Niklas Hagelberg, UNEP Policy and Programme Division
  • Francisca Pretorius, Adviser and Head, Office of Civil and Criminal Justice Reform, Commonwealth Secretariat
  • Anne Amin, Legal Specialist, UN-HABITAT
  • Joana Setzer, Assistant Professor, Grantham Research Institute, London School of Economics
  • Maria Antonia Tigre, Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, Columbia Law School