Tuldanes, Maya Angela P.

2018400172

Environmental Law 2D (Mon. 6:30-9:30)

GLOBAL CLIMATE POLICIES: CHANGING PEOPLE’S BEHAVIOR ON CLIMATE CHANGE

For centuries, humans relied on fossil fuels for almost everything on a day to day basis,
from the use of cars, to how they do their work. A quick recap of our history could help us
understand the timeline of how climate change is rapidly affecting everyone globally. Millions
of years ago, the Earth was covered with ancient plants which converts the Carbon Dioxide
(CO2) in the air into Oxygen (O2) and Carbohydrates. When these plants die, they create
massive mass of organic materials which gets buried through the Earth’s surface, these
materials heat up under the Earth forming energy-dense hydrocarbons, also called “fossil
fuels”. In the 1800’s, humans began to develop coal powerplants and in the following years,
fossil fuels brought tremendous growth and increases in quality of life, specifically in Europe
and America. The benefits of fossil fuels continued to spread, with the continued growth on
global consumption.

Although undeniably, there are benefits that it provides, it creates more risks that lasts
for generations. All the Carbon Dioxide (CO2) that was locked up in fossil fuels for billions of
years are now being released, the infrared radiation that gets bounced back up by the Earth
does not pass right through it and gets trapped in the Earth’s atmosphere and oceans start
having more energy in them that begins to change the climate. In 1985, scientists announced
the discovery of the depletion of the ozone above the Antarctic, a phenomenon referred to as
the “Ozone Hole”. The ozone depletion had generated worldwide concern over the increase of
cancer risks as well as harms caused to plants and animals. Scientists also discovered that
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) were actually destroying the ozone. This issue led to the adoption
of the Montreal Protocol in 1987.
 The Montreal Protocol was originally aimed to half the use of CFCs the year 1999.
Further review of the protocol led to the imposition of stringent controls to cease the
production of CFCs by the year 2000 as well as to stop the production of other ozone depleting
gases in the early years of the 21st century. Sales of aerosol products, hairsprays, and other
CFCs drastically dropped as people listened to scientist. Many countries even agreed to stop
using CFCs before the deadline. In December 2018, media reports suggested that the ozone
layer is showing signs of continuing recovery and new evidence shows that it is likely to heal
fully by 2060. The ozone layer over the northern hemisphere and mid-latitudes should also heal
completely by the 2030s if the current rates are sustained.

In 1997, an agreement, known as the Kyoto Protocol, mandating that industrialized

nations cut their greenhouse gas emissions was adopted in Kyoto, Japan. 192 countries have
ratified the protocol and more than 100 developing countries were exempted from the treaty.
Prior to this agreement, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC)
was adopted during the 1992 Earth Summit with the objective of stabilizing greenhouse gas
concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic
interference with the climate system. The Kyoto Protocol separated countries into two groups.
Annex I, which included developed nations, while Non-Annex I referred to developing countries.
Under the protocol, industrialized nations were to reduce greenhouse gasses by 5.2% on
average by 2012, but each country had its own target.

In 2015, 196 parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC)

adopted the Paris Agreement, effectively replacing the Kyoto Protocol, as a global effort to
combat climate change and to strengthen and accelerate a global response effort in combating
the threat of climate change. The parties agree to keep global temperatures “well below” 2.0
degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels by 2100, and below 1.5 degrees if feasible. The
agreement aims to increase the ability of countries to deal with the impacts of climate change.
The agreement also mandates that developed countries provide financial resources to
developing countries to help them meet their commitments and to help them grow with less
reliance on fossil fuels. To achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement, parties aimed to reach
global peaking of greenhouse gas emissions ‘as soon as possible’ while recognizing that it will
take longer for developing countries. A review should also be conducted on each country’s
contribution to cutting emissions every five years.

In 2018, ending a three-year round of negotiations, COP24, also known as the Katowice
Conference, was adopted in order to implement the guidelines of the Paris Agreement. The
COP also completed the Talanoa Dialogue, which is a year-long assessment of progress toward
the Paris Agreement’s long-term goals meant to inform parties as they prepare to inform a new
round of nationally determined contributions (NDCs) in 2020. The Talanoa Dialogue was
originally agreed at the Paris Conference (COP21) to review the progress of the climate action in
2018. The first session of the Talanoa Dialogue took place in Bonn in May 2018. This conference
focused on the Paris Agreement Work Programme. Months after the Bonn intersessional
climate conference, on 6 October 2018, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(ICPCC) approved a special report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5 degree Celsius above
pre-industrial levels and related greenhouse gas emissions pathways, in the context of
strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, sustainable development,
and efforts to eradicate property. In a press release by the IPCC, it noted that the 1.5 degree
limit would require “rapid and far-reaching” transitions across multiple sectors.

The COP24 negotiations highlights the challenge in combating climate change. Some
difficult questions were postponed to the next conference such as the ways to scale up existing
commitments on cutting emissions, ways to provide financial help for poor countries, wording
that does not allow double counting and whether countries are doing enough to cut their
emissions. The conference agreed on the implementation of the rules of the Paris Agreement,
which will come into force in 2020.

What implications would the end of the Katowice conference bring to the world?
Scientists believe the possibility of limiting the effects of climate change, however, this may be
done only through drastic and immediate action in changing the ways we use fossil fuels and
other resources.

Although no one can precisely predict how much the limitation of temperature can
benefit us or exactly how much greenhouse gas emissions are needed to be reduced to hit that
target, the one thing that everyone is sure of is the need to start making drastic changes
immediately. There are over 600 million people in areas threatened by the rise of sea levels,
climate change can result in lost of crops and infrastructure and affect the entire world
economy. States cannot escape the effects of climate change, it is a global issue that needs to
be addressed through the cooperation of the international. Society has been so slow to realize
the relation as to how human activities affect the increase in greenhouse gas emissions
contributing to climate change that further principles needs to be adopted. This is where the
Polluter Pays Principle (PPP) may be applied.

The Polluter Pays Principle is the commonly accepted practice that those who produce
pollution should bear the costs of managing it to prevent damage to human health or the
environment. The PPP may be applied to greenhouse gas emissions. Greenhouse gas emissions
cause potential harm and damage though impacts on the climates and are therefore considered
as pollutants. Such application can be done though a so-called ‘carbon price’. Carbon pricing
imposes a charge on the emission of greenhouse gases equivalent to the corresponding
potential caused by future climate change. The Paris Agreement obliges states to incur a cost
for greenhouse gas emissions. Applying carbon pricing helps limit the acts of polluter-states to
create ‘pollution havens’ or countries whose lack of environmental regulation enables them to
pollute absent any restrictions.

In the end, every country has a goal. Every country had agreed to their own path with
the responsibility to meet their goals in whatever ways. It may be though energy efficiency, by
subsidizing renewables, regulating of business, changing of people’s behavior though
education, or ending fossil fuel subsidies. There needs to be a change in the mindset of the
people towards climate change. Climate change is not just about polar bears or developing
countries, it is not a distant problem to be passed on to the next generations. The rise on
climate disasters are destroying people’s livelihood and economies around the world.