Climate Law and Governance Day 2021 at COP26

Invitation to Register: Climate Law and Governance Day 2021

Click here for the Full Programme for Climate Law and Governance Day 2021 featuring 16 world-class hybrid sessions.

Click here to register for Climate Law and Governance Day 2021, which will be held for the first time online this year, as well as in person, on Friday 05 November at the University of Glasgow during the UNFCCC CoP26.

 

Are you interested in emerging issues and innovations in climate law and governance? Could your climate law and governance work benefit from sharing knowledge, research, innovations and experiences either in-person or remotely during the UNFCCC CoP26 in Glasgow this November 2021? Are you willing to network and open opportunities for new collaborations on legal and institutional aspects of global response to climate change? Would you like to learn from leading research and initiatives in the field, or disseminate your work to a broad audience of COP26 delegates, observers, specialists and brilliant student leaders Are you seeking to connect with specialist law and governance support to address key issues for your country or community related to climate change? Would your efforts benefit from access to innovative legal and institutional tools to advance ambitious climate action?

If yes, click here to register for Climate Law and Governance Day 2021, which will be held for the first time online this year, as well as in person, on Friday 05 November at the University of Glasgow during the UNFCCC CoP26 in partnership with the University of Cambridge and Strathclyde University as co-hosts. Places may be limited, and registrants will receive updates and further opportunities, so please do register early. Please click here for more information.

Climate Law & Governance Day 2021 will take place during UNFCCC COP26 on Friday 05 November 2021, featuring world-class leading experts including Adv Douglas Leys (General Counsel, Green Climate Fund), Prof David Boyd (UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights and the Environment), Prof Christina Voigt (Chair, IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law / Co-Chair, Paris Agreement Implementation and Compliance Committee / University of Oslo), Adv Wendy Miles QC (Chair, CLGI Commercial Law / Barrister, Twenty Essex / Representative, Net Zero Lawyers Alliance), Dr Jan Beagle (Director-General, International Development Law Organization), and Adv Michael Strauss (General Counsel, European Bank for Reconstruction & Development) invited among other keynote speakers. 

Climate Law and Governance Day 2021 will feature 16 in-person and online sessions hosted by international organizations, country delegations, foundations, law associations and firms, law faculties and many other leading climate law and governance actors, provides an important point for the global climate law and governance community to meet, share ideas and build new innovative collaborations to tackle climate change and implement the Paris Agreement across international and domestic regulation, climate litigation, legal scholarship, and commercial practice circles (see below for list of sessions). Over 160 session co-hosts and partners including the International Law Association, the University of Cambridge Centre for European Legal Studies (CELS), the LSE Grantham Research Institute (GRI), the University of Oslo PluriCourts, the Climate Policy Journal, the Carbon and Climate Law Review, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Secretariat, the Commonwealth Secretariat, UN-Habitat and MayerBrown, among many others who will be featured anon, are engaged this year in making the Day a success!  

The event also features the Climate Law and Governance Global Leadership Awards 2021 and International Climate Law and Governance Student Essay Contest 2021 Prizes on 05 November 2021, recognizing negotiators, general counsel, and distinguished practitioners, academics and civil society leaders, also outstanding students, for their contributions to the global legal response to climate change.

Photos from Climate Law & Governance Day 2021 

CLGD Outcomes and Conclusions Plenary in the Kelvin Gallery.

Is the International Court of Justice ready for an Advisory Opinion on the nexus between climate change & human rights? Experts at Panel XII on  Advancing Climate Justice through the World’s Highest Court weigh in.

“Negative emissions policies are now more constrained by political dynamics than legal dynamics,” says Dr Jesse Reynolds in Panel Discussion XI on Law & Policy Dimensions of Climate Repair

CLGD 2021 is proud to feature leading women jurists and scholars as chairs, co-hosts and discussants across our 16 parallel panels

CLGD co-hosts, Prof Markus Gehring (Cambridge) with Prof Christian Tams (Glasgow)

Preparing for the University of Strathclyde-led Experts Panel VII on Exploring Law & Policy Strategies & Frameworks to Address Climate Related Ocean Change

Adv Wendy Miles, QC and Adv Michael Strauss co-chair  Experts Panel V on Reallocating International Capital and the Role of Law

COP24 President Dr Michał Kurtyka explains that the legacy of Katowice Rulebook and Declaration on just transition are alive and well during Experts Panel VI on Advancing the Just Transition through Law & Science Three Years from COP24

Dr. Alexandra Harrington chairs a hybrid roundtable on Climate Migration Challenges for Governance

U-Cambridge VC Stephen Toope emphasizes “universities must embrace our decisive role in accelerating the development of law and policy innovations.”

Panel Discussion IV on Employing Artificial Intelligence to Analyse Climate Laws & the Future of Evidence-Based Policy & Investment

Experts Panel I on Rising Temperatures, Expanding Human Rights and the Obligations of States and Private Actors for Global Climate Justice

Experts Panel II on Scaling-up Paris Agreement Implementation through Climate Legislation

Law and legal frameworks translate climate goals into action, says Professor Christina Voigt

Welcoming remarks, Adv Douglas Leys QC,  Prof Marie-Claire Cordonier Segger, Hon Justice Antonio Benjamin & Rt Hon Lord Robert Carnwath

Grand Opening of CLGD 2021

Standing room only at the Kelvin Gallery, University of Glasgow

Climate Law & Governance Day 2021 Themes

Four key themes have been identified in consultation with the CLGD Programme Committee from the vision set by the United Kingdom as UNFCCC COP26 President, as informed by the UNFCCC Climate Dialogues – Climate Law and Governance Roundtable on 04 December 2020. Each theme is led by a CLGI Chair:

1. Operationalising the Paris Agreement: Exploring the challenges and opportunities of market and non-market mechanisms, transparency frameworks, compliance mechanisms, loss and damage, the Global Stocktake and other elements of operationalizing the Paris Agreement and other relevant international legal instruments.
2. Testing Legal and Governance Tools for High Ambition Implementation: Innovating legal and governance instruments for climate mitigation, adaptation and finance, creating synergies within and across sectors, and strengthening capacity amongst legislators, policymakers and institutions, in the context of pandemic recovery measures to help or hinder high ambition implementation of NDCs and LTSs under the Paris Agreement.
3. Advancing Climate Resilience and Climate Justice: Engaging civil society and the legal community, including courts and professionals, in accelerating climate action, enhancing transparency and ensuring accountability, integrating rights based approaches into climate actions, advancing the Warsaw International Mechanism (WIM) for loss and damage with effective structures including for financing actions to address loss and damage, and climate migration.
4. Net Zero Legal Frameworks to Enable Climate Neutral Investment and Finance: Exploring the legal tools and obstacles in promoting sustainable climate finance, investment flows and global supply chains to implement the Paris Agreement, including reductions in fossil fuel subsidies, considering contributions of private international law, international trade and investment law. 

Climate Law & Governance Day Objectives 

1. To inspire and optimize legal and institutional reform for achieving current Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement, supporting the 2023 Global Stocktake efforts and increasing the ambition of the next round of NDCs.
2. To profile and share innovative international, national, and local law and governance challenges, mechanisms and good practices relating to global efforts to address climate change.
3. To catalyse knowledge exchange and co-generate new climate law and governance scholarship, insights and approaches, facilitating new dialogue and partnerships.
4. To strengthen capacity, collaboration among the climate law and governance community of practice to implement the Doha Amendment, Paris Agreement and COP outcomes, supporting achievement of the world’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Venues

Climate Law and Governance Day 2021 takes place in the grand Kelvin Gallery of the University of Glasgow on 05 November 2021 and the Climate Law and Governance Specialization Course 2021 on 07 November 2021 in the beautifully modern learning centre of Strathclyde University, online and in person if COVID-19 restrictions allow. Preparatory and ex-post events at the University of Cambridge include an international academic conference ‘Climate Change, the SDGs and the Law’ on law and policy innovation related to climate change on 29-30 October 2021, and the global online Leverhulme Lecture and Distinguished Experts Dialogue on 01 December 2021.

Other CLGI Activities During COP26

CLGI supports an international programme of special side events and other sessions hosted by collaborating partners, co-hosts and session hosts, including the Research and Independent NGOs (RINGOs) constituency and others at the COP. These events often take place in official UNFCCC Blue or Green side event zones of the COP26 Climate Change Conference, as well further associated venues, in collaboration with leading climate law and governance organisations.  A CLGI Booth at COP also often offers a meeting point and dedicated space to share knowledge and materials, including about climate law and governance issues and activities, opening opportunities for exchanges among delegates and observers. CLGI will publish blog contributions during COP26, as well as legal working papers and books with world-leading presses based on COP26 collaborations.

Key Elements of Climate Law & Governance Initiative 2021

1. Preparatory events, an international academic conference on advancing climate law and policy innovation at the University of Cambridge Faculty of Law on 29-30 October 2021, with plenary sessions scoping the future legal and governance research agenda and identifying needs for new scholarship needs, capacity building, technical cooperation and future educational offerings.
2. Climate Law and Governance Day 2021 during UNFCCC CoP26 on 05 November online and in person co-hosted by the University of Glasgow with the University of Cambridge and the University of Strathclyde, featuring sessions on trends and progress in climate law and governance worldwide, regionally and locally, sharing dialogue, practices and tools to support implementation of the Paris Agreement NDCs and Long-term Strategies (LTS), the Doha Amendment, and the SDGs, with roundtables featuring climate law and governance topics and instruments, advancing international law, and building synergies for future collaboration.
3. Climate Law and Governance Global Leadership Awards 2021 and International Climate Law and Governance Student Essay Contest 2021 Prizes on 05 November 2021, recognizing negotiators, general counsel, and distinguished practitioners, academics and civil society leaders, also outstanding students.
4. Climate Law and Governance Specialization Course 2021 on 07 November 2021, to strengthen legal and institutional knowledge and capacity of UNFCCC delegates, observers, scholars and others for implementation and compliance with the Paris Agreement. In this one-day course, a certification is granted.
5. A programme of climate law and governance sessions and side-events at the UNFCCC COP26 from 01 – 12 November, featuring insights, instruments and practices gained through CLGI partnerships and projects, and to analyse outcomes, a public online Leverhulme Lecture on ‘Accelerating Climate Law and Governance Courage, Contributions and Compliance for Sustainability’ on 01 December hosted by the University of Cambridge and partners.

Proposed List of Sessions at Climate Law and Governance Day 2021

1.Experts Panel: Rising Temperatures, Expanding Human Rights and the Obligations of States and Private Actors for Global Climate Justice Hosted by Univ of Glasgow Centre for International Law & Security & Univ of Stirling

2.Experts Panel: Scaling-up Paris Agreement Implementation through Climate Legislation Hosted by LSE Grantham Research Institute GRI, Climate Policy Journal & Climate Change Leadership, Uppsala Univ

3. Roundtable: Inspiring a Collaborative Regulatory Philosophy through the Glasgow Forum on Rule of Law & Climate Finance Hosted by Glasgow Univ School of Law; Kansas Univ School of Law; Copenhagen Univ Faculty of Law; Oslo Univ Faculty of Law; Hong Kong Univ Faculty of Law; Nankai Univ School of Finance; Univ of Intl Business & Economics School of Law; Adekunle Ajasin Univ School of Law

4. Roundtable: Sustainable Urban Planning through Regulatory Frameworks for & Investment in Rapid Decarbonisation of Cities Hosted by Institute for Climate Protection, Energy & Mobility (IKEM), Germany

5. Experts Panel: Following the Deal for International Financial Institutions Leadership through Net Zero Contracts Hosted by European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Net Zero Lawyers Alliance (NZLA) and the Centre for International Sustainable Development Law (CISDL)

6. Experts Panel: Advancing the Just Transition through Law & Science Three Years from COP24 Hosted by the Silesia Univ Faculty of Law and Administration

7. Experts Panel: Exploring Law & Policy Strategies & Frameworks to Address Climate Related Ocean Change Hosted by One Ocean Hub, The Ocean Foundation & the International Alliance to Combat Ocean Acidification

8. Experts & Practitioners Roundtable: Climate Migration Challenges for Governance Hosted by Albany Law School Center for Global Governance & Emerging Law CGGEL, International Federation of Red Cross & Red Crescent Societies, Yale MacMillan Center & Yale Center for Ecosystems

9. Experts Panel: Providing the Law & Climate Change Toolkit towards High Ambition Implementation of the Paris Agreement Hosted by the Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Secretariat, Commonwealth Secretariat, UN-Habitat & MayerBrown

10. Experts Panel: Trade & Investment Rules & Standards for Decarbonization of the Global Economy Hosted by Centre for International Sustainable Development Law (CISDL); Cambridge Univ Bennett Institute for Public Policy & Centre for European Legal Studies (CELS); European Climate Foundation ECF; Sidley Austin LLP

11. Panel Discussion: Law & Policy Dimensions of Climate Repair Hosted by the Cambridge Centre for Climate Repair (CCRC)

12. Panel Discussion: Mapping Climate Laws & Policies Using Machine Learning Hosted by Climate Policy Radar

13. Experts Panel: Mitigating Climate Change through Low Carbon & Energy Efficient Procurement with the 2021 Sustainable Public Procurement Global Review & UNEP’s Field Projects Hosted by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

14. Experts Panel: Courage, Contributions & Compliance by Advancing Paris Agreement Implementation & Climate Justice Hosted by CISDL, Waterloo Univ School of Environment, Enterprise & Development SEED, Oslo Univ, ILA Colombia, ILA Canada, ILA Hellenic branch, ILA Poland, ILA Switzerland &  Universidad Autónoma de Madrid

15. Roundtable Workshop: Ensuring Compliance with Climate Regimes Hosted by Environment Law Institute (ELI)

16. Roundtable Workshop: Climate Adaptation from the Youth Movement Hosted by Univ Student Chamber International UNISC, Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change, the World’s Youth for Climate Justice & Worldwide Sustainability Warriors of Barbados WSWB

Warmest thanks are due to the past and present partners and co-hosts of Climate Law and Governance Day, and all collaborators and advisors of the global Climate Law and Governance Initiative, from the CLGI Executive Secretary, Professor Marie-Claire Cordonier Segger (Leverhulme Trust Visiting Professor at the University of Cambridge, CISDL Senior Director and Full Professor of Law at the University of Waterloo) and Chairs, Prof Christina Voigt (Professor of International Law at the University of Oslo and Co-Chair, Paris Agreement Implementation and Compliance Committee), Adv Wendy Miles QC (Barrister, Twenty Essex Street and founder, Net Zero Lawyers Alliance), Adv Ayman Cherkaoui (CISDL Lead Counsel for Climate Change and CoP22 Presidency Senior Advisor) and Adv Hafij Khan (Executive Director of the Climate Justice Centre Bangladesh and Co-Chair of the Paris Agreement Least Developed Countries Group).