The UN Climate Conference in Poznan, Poland, from 1 to 12 December 2008 was an important stepping stone in the negotiations on the post-2012 international climate regime that are set to conclude in Copenhagen in 2009. The decision on the Adaptation Fund was one of the most notable outcomes of the Poznan conference. The Adaptation Fund is a special fund under the Kyoto Protocol (KP), with an innovative structure to support funding of adaptation needs. However, due to organisational and legal difficulties, the Adaptation Fund had not been fully operational before the Poznan conference. The Poznan decision on the Adaptation Fund is intended to provide a solution to these obstacles.
The decision on the Adaptation Fund was one of the most notable outcomes of the Poznan climate conference in December 2008. The Adaptation Fund is a finance mechanism under the Kyoto Protocol with an innovative structure, funded by a market-based mechanism. The Poznan conference intended to remove remaining obstacles for the Adaptation Fund to become operational. A key problem is facilitating the concept of “direct access” to the fund whilst ensuring financial responsibility for the use of the funds. Besides adopting arrangements for the governance of the Adaptation Fund, a potential change of the legal status of the Adaptation Fund was a controversial issue. The article analyses the background and legal implications of the Poznan decision for the structure and operation of the Adaptation Fund, in particular with regard to legal capacity. It concludes that the wording, context and background of the decision show that the decision refers to functionally limited legal capacity at domestic level. This requires further steps by at least one party in order to confer such legal capacity on the Adaptation Fund Board in its domestic law.
Copyright: | © Lexxion Verlagsgesellschaft mbH | |
Quelle: | Issue 1/2009 (April 2009) | |
Seiten: | 9 | |
Preis inkl. MwSt.: | € 41,65 | |
Autor: | RA Ralph Czarnecki Kaveh Guilanpour | |
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In the REDD: A Conservative Approach to Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation
© Lexxion Verlagsgesellschaft mbH (10/2009)
In December 2009, the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol will meet in Copenhagen to discuss the international regulation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions after the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012. One of the key questions is whether, and if so, how, to include Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD) in developing countries as an internationally regulated activity.
Enhancing the Role of the CDM in Accelerating Low-Carbon Technology Transfers to Developing Countries
© Lexxion Verlagsgesellschaft mbH (4/2009)
At the 3rd Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Kyoto, Japan, in December 1997, the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) was introduced into the Kyoto Protocol as a project-based emissions trading mechanism. Through this mechanism, industrialised countries can comply with their Protocol commitments by investing in greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction projects in developing countries for which they receive Certified Emission Reductions (CERs). As per November 2008, the CDM project pipeline counts 4151 CDM projects (i.e. both officially registered and ongoing projects and projects in the process of validation by a designated operational entity). The CERs can be used, inter alia, by industrialised countries to comply with their Protocol commitments and by European installations to comply with their CO2 emission caps under the EU emissions trading scheme.
Paving the Road to Legitimacy for CDM Institutions and Procedures
© Lexxion Verlagsgesellschaft mbH (4/2009)
Learning from Other Experiences in International Environmental Governance
Transitioning from the CDM to a Clean Development Fund
© Lexxion Verlagsgesellschaft mbH (4/2009)
Parties to the UNFCCC must work at Copenhagen toward establishing sound institutions and instruments that will serve as the foundation of international climate cooperation over the coming decades. One of the major tasks will be to assess the performance to date of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). The CDM is an emissions trading offset system that allows developed countries to meet their Kyoto targets by investing in emissions reduction projects in developing countries, where greenhouse gas (GHG) abatement is expected to be cheaper than it is in developed countries.
An Appellate Body for the Clean Development Mechanism: A Due Process Requirement
© Lexxion Verlagsgesellschaft mbH (4/2009)
Depending on character and stake, it was with great optimism, open dismay or silent resignation that supporters of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) saw climate negotiators convene in Poland in December 2008. They had hoped for representatives of the Kyoto Parties to bring momentum to the discussions of recent years of how to strengthen the CDM, one of the three flexible mechanisms of the Kyoto Protocol (KP). While the continuous growth of the instrument does not exactly point to a mechanism in crisis, the CDM is at a critical stage.