Legalities of climate change

The Declaration of the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate (MEF) signed on 9 July, marks a significant event in the run-up to the United Nations (UN) climate change conference in Copenhagen in December. Launched in March this year, MEF comprises 17 developed and developing economies—Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the European Union, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, the UK and the US. The crux of the MEF declaration is a clear acknowledgement that the increase in global average temperatures above pre-industrial levels should not exceed 2 degrees Celsius and that both developed and developing countries need to work towards this goal. This article seeks to examine the broad contours of the MEF declaration and the legal niceties that a developing country such as India would need to bear in mind during the forthcoming negotiations for a climate deal that would follow the Kyoto Protocol in 2012.

Image: StockXpert

The declaration begins by reiterating the principle of common but differentiated responsibility between developed and developing countries. Its point of departure from existing instruments is its statement that, while developed countries will “take the lead by promptly undertaking robust aggregate and individual reductions”, developing countries also commit to “promptly undertake actions whose projected effects on emissions represent a meaningful deviation from business as usual in the mid-term”. This articulation of a developing country responsibility with regard to emissions is a unique aspect of the declaration. (The current framework under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, or UNFCCC, and the Kyoto Protocol mandates emission reductions only from developed countries). The MEF declaration proceeds to contextualize a developing country’s responsibility with an emphasis on “sustainable development, supported by financing, technology and capacity building”. Where it falls short, however, is in drawing a clear link between the obligation of developed countries to ensure adherence to these critical factors and commensurate responsibilities on developing countries.