054 - Climate crisis legal toolkit

054 - Climate crisis legal toolkit

Latest version in this language: Version for electronic vote | Published on: 01 Sep 2020

ACKNOWLEDGING the risks posed by the climate crisis for present and future generations and terrestrial and marine biodiversity;

RECALLING IUCN’s commitment to mitigating and adapting to the impacts of climate change through the creation of a Climate Change Taskforce;

NOTING the serious consequences of the climate crisis on natural diversity, ecosystems, biodiversity, geodiversity, natural heritage, natural processes and also on economies, societies and world peace;

ACKNOWLEDGING the difficulty of unified and coordinated action to effectively mitigate the impact of climate change;

NOTING the existing bodies of treaty and customary international law that call for governments to adequately reduce carbon emissions;

RECALLING the IUCN World Declaration on the Environmental Rule of Law, which states that it should serve as the legal foundation for promoting a sustainable future for all; and

RECALLING IUCN’s goal to reduce climate change risks and impacts through climate change mitigation and adaptation methods in the IUCN Programme 2021-2024;

The IUCN World Conservation Congress, at its session in Marseille, France:

1. REQUESTS the Director General and World Commission on Environmental Law (WCEL) to create a climate action toolkit to assist interested national, sub-national and local actors, as appropriate, to implement relevant climate mitigation and adaptation actions, from which State Members can identify those most appropriate for their governance structure, judicial system and ecosystem, to inform relevant policies and legislation;

2. RECOMMENDS strengthening synergies and interlinkages between environmental law databases, such as ECOLEX and InforMEA, and increasing resources on climate change; and

3. ENCOURAGES IUCN State Members to utilise the climate crisis toolkit, when available, as a basis for drafting their own legislation.

The climate crisis threatens the survival of future generations and nature. The planet already feels its impacts. Disastrous weather effects wreak havoc on communities globally. Small island States face forced migration as sea level rises. If States do not take immediate action, mitigation and adaptation will become impossible.

The international community has discussed the climate crisis for over three decades, yet there is a gap between policy and action. International agreements, such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement, call on States to mitigate the crisis through actions, like emissions reductions. But these agreements have no enforcement mechanism. Unless States are bound to enforceable emissions reductions, the climate crisis will destroy the planet.

National legislation and litigation are the path to enforcing emissions reductions. Activists in their respective countries must do this work. IUCN has a major role to play as a source of high-level intellectual research. IUCN has paved the way to further its work on the climate crisis through its previous resolutions and work on the subject. Activists often have limited access to resources and information to legislate or litigate for climate action. IUCN may provide guidance and access to resources for activists.

The toolkit will develop legislation that is easily adapted to individual jurisdictions. This will require creating multiple pieces of legislation to accommodate different legal systems, particularly common and civil law jurisdictions. Additionally, the IUCN must draft legislation adaptable to different ecosystems when addressing adaptation and nature-based solutions. In using the pieces of legislation, activists would first select their appropriate jurisdiction and form of central government, then select dominant ecosystems. For example, an activist in Gabon would need legislation for a unitary civil law system with rainforest as its dominant ecosystem. This type of variation within the model legislation allows for activists to compile legislation for their respective States.

The litigation portion of the toolkit will provide access to climate crisis cases, organized by jurisdiction (common law or civil law) and legal theory taken. Because legal research is expensive and difficult, this compilation and organization of cases will aid litigation on behalf of climate action.

In creating the toolkit, the IUCN should work with relevant existing research databases, such as InforMEA and ECOLEX. The IUCN should also partner with the Global Judicial Institute on Environmental (GJIE) to work on the Judicial Portal, which is developing an open database on global environmental case law. IUCN may compile climate litigation cases through the Judicial Platform once GJIE has established it.
  • Center for Environmental Legal Studies [United States of America]
  • Center for Large Landscape Conservation [United States of America]
  • Centre international de droit comparé de l`environnement [France]
  • Environmental Law Program at the William S. Richardson School of Law [United States of America]
  • SYLVIA EARLE ALLIANCE (DBA MISSION BLUE) [United States of America]

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