Significant International Environmental Law Developments: 2022–2023

Extract

1. Introduction

The seriousness of the environmental crises we face are becoming increasingly clear as each year passes. Temperatures are rising, with predictions that the global average temperature is likely to exceed 1.5°C in the next five years.¹ Climate change also compounds existing pressures that we place on the natural environment, leading to additional threats to biodiversity. The situation will only get worse unless transformational change takes place. In this context, a critical question is whether international law is sufficiently nimble to affect such change in time.

This is one of the questions that has been recently considered by the High-Level Advisory Board on Effective Multilateralism (HLABEM), established by the UN Secretary-General to develop concrete proposals to advance the themes addressed in the Our Common Agenda Report published in 2021.² The outcome of this process is a report titled ‘A Breakthrough for People and Planet’ which calls for ‘a less hierarchical, more networked system wherein decision-making is distributed, and where the efforts of a large number of different actors are harnessed towards a collective mission’.³ There is an emphasis on inclusiveness and particularly gender equality, which is mirrored in other developments discussed below.⁴ The report identifies six necessary ‘shifts’ that must take place, including ‘deliver[ing] for people and planet by regaining balance with nature and providing clean energy for all’.⁵ The specific proposals under this title include the conclusion of a pact for people and planet, reform of the global trade, investment and intellectual property system, and a stronger role for the United Nations Environment Programme in the intergovernmental system.⁶ The report also emphasises the need for appropriate accountability mechanisms ‘that [hold] all actors responsible and generates behavioural change at the global level’.⁷ These proposals should be read alongside the more general recommendations for strengthening the multilateral system with an emphasis on greater participation, particularly of women, youth and indigenous groups, and more effective decision-making through a movement towards ‘qualified majority, double majority or non-unanimous definitions of consensus voting systems’.⁸