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List of contents: A wave of policy mixes in advance of COP26; Unequal assignment of responsibility depending on perspective; UNFCCC synthesis report on NDCs says pledges ‘fall far short of what is required’; Nigerian Farmers v Shell: parent company can be sued for environmental pollution in Nigeria before UK court; Follow-up on UK’s major gas plant permission: Drax scraps gas mega plant after court approval
- A wave of policy mixes in advance of COP26 -
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10784-021-09531-w
The bottom-up aspects of the Paris Agreement focused attention on climate policy developments ‘on the ground’ to be impactful drivers of change. Many comparative studies and reports have been published, and the recent wave of national net zero CO2 and greenhouse gas emission targets, are broadly assessed as capable of bringing achievement of the Paris Agreement goals within reach (Höhne et al. 2021). However, the implementation and operationalization of these national pledges into actual policies will require careful examination. Recent comparative work by Skjærseth et al. (2021) provides important context for the very different national policy mixes and their interlinkages with the multilateral climate change regime. Social science work that aims to identify “policies and transition functions” can contribute more context-specific insights and help in the assessment of the variable credibility and plausibility of updated national pledges and transformations that are necessary to achieve the Paris Agreement’s stated goals.
- Unequal assignment of responsibility depending on perspective -
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10584-019-02368-y
In their analysis of national media discussions on climate change in India, Nigeria, Australia and the USA, Murali et al (2021) raise the important issue of how the responsibility for climate change is attributed and discussed differently across countries. In Australia, for example, the narrative that China and India are responsible for the majority of emissions is prevalent. In India, by contrast, primary responsibility is assigned broadly to the Global North. The study is based on a relatively limited set of news articles and a more comprehensive analysis is needed. But the authors raise an important question, which is directly linked to currently ongoing political negotiations on climate justice, effort sharing and climate targets in the UNFCCC context, as well as at the national level. For example, the timing of net zero greenhouse gas emissions targets and emission pathways for certain countries is highly dependent on assumptions regarding effort sharing (see e.g. Van den Berg et al (2020) and the whole Climatic Change special issue).
- UNFCCC synthesis report on NDCs says pledges ‘fall far short of what is required’ -
https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/resource/cma2021_02_adv_0.pdf
On February 28, the Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) issued an initial version of the synthesis report on NDCs submitted by Parties. A final version is expected before COP26, which takes place in Glasgow this November. The current version of the report synthesizes information from 48 new or updated NDCs, and represents 75 Parties’ submissions. The NDCs considered in the report account for about 40% of the Parties to the Paris Agreement and about 30% of the global GHG emissions in 2017. The report found that new commitments would decrease greenhouse gas emissions by 2.8% by 2030 compared with previous pledges. The projected impact of these new plans is an emissions reduction of 0.7% by 2030 compared with 1990 levels and 0.5% from 2010 levels. In the shorter term, this represents a rise in emissions of 2% between 1990 and 2025. According to the IPCC, to be consistent with a 1.5°C goal, global net anthropogenic CO2 emissions need to decline by about 45% from 2010 levels by 2030, reaching net zero around 2050. And for 2°C goal, CO2 emissions need to decrease by about 25% from 2010 levels by 2030 and reach net zero around 2070. Thus, the estimated reductions referred to above fall far short of what is required. The report does give additional insights into the compiled NDCs, including o NDC preparation and implementation; NDC integration into legislation and policy; policy coherence and synergies between mitigation measures and development priorities; reference to formal arrangements in place for stakeholder consultation; and reference to gender in the NDCs. In his reaction to the content of this report, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said the report ‘is a red alert for our planet. It shows governments are nowhere close to the level of ambition needed to limit climate change to 1.5 degrees and meet the goals of the Paris Agreement.’ Climate activist Greta Thunberg also echoed Guterres’ sentiment by saying that ‘our leaders are failing mankind completely. And media is letting them get away with it.’ The final report will include the remaining NDCs missing from the current version, and a comparison of the projected total emission levels resulting from implementation of all NDCs with different mitigation scenarios and indicators assessed by the IPCC.
- Nigerian Farmers v Shell: parent company can be sued for environmental pollution in Nigeria before UK court -
https://www.fairplanet.org/dossier/eco-crimes-shell-and-the-niger-delta/
Nigerian farmers and fishermen can sue Royal Dutch Shell PLC in English courts over pollution, the UK Supreme Court ruled on the 12th of February this year, thus overturning a 2017 appeals court decision. Shell may owe a “duty of care” to the claimants over the actions of its Nigerian subsidiary. This is a significant success for the local communities, who have been fighting for five years to have their case heard in the English courts and a big step forward to hold the company to account for pollution from decades of oil spills in the Niger Delta.
Shell started exploiting Nigeria’s vast oil reserves in the late 1950s and has long been subject to heavy criticism for widespread contamination of soil and groundwater in the region, along with alleged involvement in human rights abuses. A report published last year by Friends of the Earth and other NGO’s found that only 11% of the total area contaminated by oil extraction was being cleaned up and that it could take 30 years for environmental remediation. This case, where members of Nigeria’s Ogale and Bille communities filed claims for cleanup and compensation, is just one of several legal battles over major western oil companies’ responsibility for environmental damage in Nigeria. Earlier this year a Dutch appeals court held Shell responsible for multiple oil pipeline leaks in the Niger Delta and ordered it to pay damages to the farmers. Daniel Leader, lawyer at Leigh Day, the law firm representing the claimants, said: ‘(The ruling) also represents a watershed moment in the accountability of multinational companies.’
- Follow-up on UK’s major gas plant permission: Drax scraps gas mega plant after court approval -
https://www.clientearth.org/latest/latest-updates/news/climate-win-as-drax-scraps-gas-mega-plant-in-uk/
A quick follow up on the North Yorkshire gas-plant covered in last month’s newsletter: After the UK Court of Appeal ruling, which upheld the government’s approval of what would have been Europe’s largest gas-fired power plant, Drax has confirmed its decision to abandon the project. More information can be found on Client Earth’s website, the organization which mounted the legal challenge: https://www.clientearth.org/latest/latest-updates/news/climate-win-as-drax-scraps-gas-mega-plant-in-uk/
Kind Regards,
Anne, Juan, and Felix
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