The 29th Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP29), which kicked off on November 11th 2024 in Baku, Azerbaijan with 60,000+ registrants, must succeed in taking poignant strides to address climate change at scale and at pace. With critical climate hazards threatening the lives of 1.2 billion people and the summer of 2024 being the hottest on record, we are reaching irreversible tipping points.[1][2] Now, more than ever, rapid and effective action is needed for the implementation of and compliance with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement.
The Climate Law and Governance Initiative (CLGI), as a consortium of over 200 partners from international organisations, universities, law and governance institutes, governments, bar associations, judiciaries, civil society and practice, came together during COP29 to collectively contribute to implementing the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement by strengthening climate law and governance on several levels.
CLIMATE LAW AND GOVERNANCE DAY 2024
On Friday, 15 November, more than 3,400 registrants from around the globe joined online for Climate Law and Governance Day (CLGD) 2024, which was co-hosted by the University of Cambridge and ADA University, together with the International Law Association, the International Bar Association, and the Centre for International Sustainable Development Law. CLGD 2024 focused on the following four key themes:
- Operationalising the Paris Agreement
- Scaling up National Climate Ambition and Action through Law and Governance
- Advancing Climate Justice
- Deploying the Law and Legal Instruments for Investing in Transition
CLGD 2024 featured a grand opening, three high-level plenaries, and thirteen substantive experts sessions addressing a wide range of pressing climate law and governance challenges and solutions. To see the Full Programme for CLGD 2024, please click here.
OUTCOMES FROM CLGD 2024
During this remarkable programme of climate law and governance events bringing together more than 110 legal leaders and experts, and over 3,400 registrants, CLGI Partners shared progress from the last year towards Paris Agreement implementation, highlighting new tools and commitments for global cooperation such as:
- To improve the integration of Indigenous law within governments, economic cooperation arrangements, and customary law systems in order to strengthen the global response to climate change, cooperation was forged between the International Inter-Tribal Trade and Investment Organisation and the International Fund for Agricultural Development. The presence of Indigenous leaders like Adv Alana Kennedy (Founder & CEO, Ochre Sun), Adv Daphne Shih (Taiwan Indigenous Expert, IITIO), Principal Rosilene Guajajara de Sousa (Principal, Macaranduda School / Vice-President, Wirasu Community Association), and Dr Hanieh Moghani (Indigenous Advocate & Representative, Iran) in the experts panel ‘Advancing Climate Justice through Indigenous Treaties and Indigenous and Rural Customary Law’, furthered the cooperation’s commitment to featuring and centring Indigenous voices in legal discourse.
- In the ‘Connecting Trade, Investment and Climate Through NDC Updates and Future Trade Foresight’ experts panel, a trade and investment treaty cooperation was discussed between the Centre for International Sustainable Development Law, the European Climate Foundation, and a network of partners for finding legal provisions that enable different foresight scenarios across varied sectors and geographies, to understand the future of trade in a Net Zero world.
- General Counsels (GCs) of five multilateral development banks (MDBs) – European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Asian Development Bank (ADB), International Finance Corporation, Green Climate Fund and IDB Invest – came together for a high-level plenary session co-hosted by EBRD and ADB. The GCs shared each institution’s achievements on Paris Alignment, mobilising climate finance and supporting the green transition, while reaffirming their commitment to deepen MDB collaboration to increase the impact and scale of their work to tackle climate change.
- The International Bar Association together with the Brazilian Bar Association, American Bar Association, Law Society of England and Wales, and the United Kingdom Environmental Law Association, will host a roundtable in January 2025 for bar associations and law societies across the globe to share challenges, opportunities, and good practices from their experiences of formulating and implementing climate initiatives in their jurisdictions.
- The Environmental Law Commission of the Brazilian Bar Rio Grande do Sul State Chapter (OAB/RS), a co-host of the CLGI UNFCCC COP29 official side event, is working on policy recommendations to enhance disaster resilience and preparedness, in the lead-up to COP30 and following the unprecedented floods that devastated the State in 2024.
- The views expressed by Adv. Toby Landau KC, Adv. Andrew Loewenstein, and Prof Sornarajah together with discussants Justice Janak deSilva of the Sri Lankan Supreme Court, Dr Avanti Perera, and Adv Milinda Gunetilleke in the expert panel “Reforming investment Arbitration Practice to Advance Climate Action” hosted by Adv Anusha Jayatilake of ETeCAL Instincts continued the discussion towards finding a solution to the fundamental misalignment of the ISDS framework with public policy issues, given the ISDS’s structural flaws that render it inadequate for addressing complex challenges facing the world today, especially climate change.
The CLGI community also celebrated two moments of increased legal climate capacity:
- Continuing efforts to democratise education for global sustainability and justice by strengthening legal capacity through online courses and engagement, partners from the University of Cambridge agreed to offer 150 full scholarships for online courses to 150 current and future law and policy leaders in Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Sierra Leone, respectively. The scholarships, of an approximate market value of 1,800 GBP each, will permit 150 individuals from each aforementioned country to complete two of the program’s most popular substantive courses, focusing on key topics in sustainable development law and policy:
- Key Essentials: The Sustainable Development Goals and the Law
- Key Essentials: The Paris Agreement, Sustainable Development and the Law
- Fulfilling a pledge from Glasgow COP26 to grow the climate law and governance community worldwide tenfold from 600 to 6,000 legal and governance specialists by 2024, the Climate Law and Governance Capacity Registry celebrated 6600+ registrants during COP29. The Registry is open and continues to grow, engaging qualified leaders in every legal system and converting ambition to obligation worldwide.
OFFICIAL SIDE-EVENT AT UNFCCC COP29
On November 16, CLGI partners shared the outcomes of CLGD 2024 at the Initiative’s official side-event ‘Legally Bold: Law and Governance for Ambitious Finance & NDCs’, during UNFCCC COP29 in the Blue Zone. The side event’s interactive legal roundtables brought together leading experts from the Centre for Human Rights and Climate Change, Rio Grande do Sul State Chapter of the Brazilian Bar, University of Cambridge, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Hassan II International Center for Environmental Training, Centre for Climate Justice- Bangladesh, Green Mobilisation Initiative, Centre for Human Rights and Climate Change Research, Bayelsa State Ministry of Marine & Blue Economy, and National Council on Climate Change Nigeria.
CLIMATE LAW AND GOVERNANCE SPECIALISATION COURSE
To train a new generation of climate specialists capable of advancing climate law and governance and advocating for implementation, CLGI hosted a Climate Law and Governance Specialisation Course. More than 1100 learners registered for this year’s course, which was held on 17th November both online and in-person at ADA University.
The specialisation course, chaired by Prof Marie-Claire Cordonier Segger WIJA (CLGI Exec Sec & Senior Director, CISDL / Sustainable Development Law & Policy Chair, Univ Cambridge) & Prof Rashad Ibadov (Dean, School of Law, ADA Univ), focused on strengthening capacity for climate law and governance. It provided a foundational understanding of the Paris Agreement under the UNFCCC and included sessions on Law, Governance & Climate Mitigation; Climate Law & Governance on Adaptation, Loss and Damage; and Climate Law & Governance on Finance, Compliance & Transparency. The course featured keynotes and lectures by leading global professors and experts, including: Adv Tom Clark (General Counsel, Asian Development Bank ADB); Dr Döne Yalçın (Senior Partner, CMS); Adv Ayman Cherkaoui (Lead Counsel, CISDL / Director, Hassan II Intl Centre for Enviro Training / Deputy Chair, IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law); Prof Markus Gehring (Lead Counsel, CISDL / Assoc Prof, Univ Cambridge); Prof Ian Fry (UN Rapporteur on Human Rights & Climate Change, United Nations); Adv Vesselina Haralampieva (Sustainable Finance Governance & Regulation Head, European Bank for Reconstruction & Development EBRD); Adv Ilona Millar (Laureate, CLG Global Leadership Award / Partner, Gilbert & Tobin); Prof Michael Mehling (Dep Director, MIT Centre Energy & Enviro Research / Prof, University of Strathclyde); Adv M. Hafijul Islam Khan (Director, Centre for Climate Justice Bangladesh); Adv Christina Pak (Principal Counsel, ADB); Prof Alessandra Lehmen (President, Enviro Law Commission, OAB/RS / Member, Brazilian Bar Federal Climate Change Commission); Dr Elkin Nurmammadov (Vice Rector, Academic Affairs, ADA Univ); Dr Anar Baghirov (Chair, Bar Association of the Republic of Azerbaijan); Adv Yasmin Batliwala MBE (Chief Executive, A4ID); Dr Fabiano de Andrade Correa (Senior Counsel, World Bank / Co-Chair, IUCN WCEL Climate Change Law Specialist Group / Lead Counsel, CISDL); Hon Jiwoh Emmanuel Abdulai (Minister, Environment & Climate Change, Sierra Leone); and Adv Michael Strauss (General Counsel, EBRD)
Three breakout sessions, led by experts, allowed participants to share country experiences and analyse climate law and policy approaches with colleagues from around the world. The participants who attended in-person and online participants who successfully passed the post-course assessment were awarded a Climate Law and Governance Certification and were invited to join the Climate Law and Governance Capacity Registry.
REFLECTIONS ON CLGI:
Prof. Marie-Claire Cordonier Segger WIJA (CLGI Exec Sec & Senior Director, CISDL / Sustainable Development Law & Policy Chair, Univ Cambridge): “We are facing the justice challenge of our century, and efforts are not yet on track for mitigation, for adaptation and resilience, and for the finance necessary to prevent disaster. We must all scale up our contributions exponentially. The law can be a sword or a powerful shield for climate justice if we bridge the current capacity chasm. With over 6,600 law and policy specialists answering our call, smashing the Glasgow COP26 Climate Law Capacity Registry Pledge, and over 3,400 registrants for CLGD 2024, we are inspired to triple our efforts. It is a special honour to announce more bursaries for highly climate-vulnerable countries during the Baku COP29, opening access to online education for global sustainability and justice.”
Prof Rashad Ibadov (Dean, School of Law, ADA Univ): “ADA University was delighted to partner with the University of Cambridge to host Climate Law and Governance Day 2024 and the Climate and Law Specialisation Course. Educating a new generation of climate lawyers is crucial to the implementation of the Paris Agreement and tackling climate change at large.”
The Climate Law and Governance Initiative would like to thank all the session chairs, speakers, and volunteers whose extraordinary efforts and expertise made CLGI’s COP29 such a success. CLGI would like to especially extend its deepest gratitude to ADA University for co-hosting this year’s Climate Law and Governance Day and the Climate Law and Governance Specialisation Course.
For further details, please contact:
- Adv Tejas Rao (Senior Manager, CISDL) at tejas.rao@cisdl.org
[1] World Bank Group, ‘1.2 Billion People at High Risk from Climate Change Worldwide’ (World Bank Group, 31 October 2024) https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2024/10/31/1-2-billion-people-at-high-risk-from-climate-change-worldwide Accessed on 19 November 2024
[2] Sally Younger, ‘NASA Finds Summer 2024 Hottest to Date’ (NASA, 11 September 2024) https://www.nasa.gov/earth/nasa-finds-summer-2024-hottest-to-date/ Accessed 20 November 2024