Lexxion Verlagsgesellschaft mbH

Strengthening National Legal Frameworks to Implement the Paris Agreement

Author(s): Maria Socorro Manguiat and Andy Raine
Source: Carbon & Climate Law Review , 2018, Vol. 12, No. 1, SPECIAL ISSUE: LEGAL
ASPECTS OF THE 1.5°C TARGET (2018), pp. 15-22
Published by: Lexxion Verlagsgesellschaft mbH

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CCLR 1|2018 Strengthening National Legal Frameworks to Implement the Paris Agreement 15

Strengthening National Legal Frameworks to

Implement the Paris Agreement
Maria Socorro Manguiat and Andy Raine*

Good climate laws are essential for the successful implementation of the Paris Agreement
and its goal of limiting the global temperature increase to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels.
Such laws are essential because they 'lock-in' policy commitments and help achieve nation-
al climate goals. Climate laws can also attract and appropriately regulate domestic and in-
ternational private investments into low-carbon development. While there has been a posi-
tive trend in adopting climate laws worldwide, legal frameworks need to be strengthened at
the national level to facilitate and implement more ambitious nationally determined contri-
butions to reach the 1.5°C target. This paper first outlines what amounts to ‘good’ climate
laws and why they are important. It then provides an overview of global trends and relevant
examples of climate laws in different jurisdictions, and concludes with an introduction to a
new tool being developed by the United Nations Environment Programme (UN Environment),
the Secretariat of the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the
Commonwealth Secretariat to support countries to strengthen national legal frameworks to
implement the Paris Agreement.

I. Introduction
The latest Emissions Gap Report1 published by UN
Environment in October 2017 makes for alarming
reading. It states that the nationally determined con-
tributions (NDCs) that form the foundation of the
Paris Agreement2 cover only approximately one third
of the emissions reductions needed to be on a least
DOI: 10.21552/cclr/2018/1/5
* Maria Socorro Manguiat is the Head of the National Environmen-
tal Law Unit in the Law Division of UN Environment. Andy Raine
is the Regional Coordinator for Environmental Law and Gover-
nance in the Asia and Pacific Office of UN Environment. The
authors wish to acknowledge and thank the substantial contribu-
tions of Luan Harford and Colm Hastings, interns in the Law
Division at UN Environment. The content and views expressed in
this article are solely those of the authors and do not represent
those of UN Environment. For Correspondence: <Maria
.Manguiat@un.org> <rainea@un.org>
1 UN Environment (UNEP), ‘The Emissions Gap Report 2017: A UN
Environment Synthesis Report’ (UNEP 2017) <http://wedocs.unep
.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/22070/EGR_2017.pdf
?sequence=1&isAllo wed=y> accessed 15 October 2017.
2 Paris Agreement (Paris) (adopted 12 December 2015, entered
into force 4 November 2016), United Nations Treaty Collection-
XXVII-7d.
3 ibid 1.
4 ibid 16.
cost pathway for the goal of staying well below 2°C.3
The picture is even starker when the 1.5°C target is
the reference point. The report assesses the available
global carbon budget for 1.5°C will already be well de-
pleted by 2030 and it declares that more ambitious
NDCs will be needed by 2020.4 This paper submits
that if the world has any chance of implementing ND-
Cs to reach the 1.5°C target, good climate laws at the
national and sub-national level will be critical. While
there has been a strong trend in adopting climate
laws worldwide - particularly in developing countries
- there is much room to strengthen legal frameworks
to facilitate and implement more ambitious NDCs to
reach the 1.5°C target. The best way to do this will de-
pend on specific national contexts and needs, and
there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ model or blueprint for
undertaking such an exercise. There are, however,
positive examples to draw from as well as increasing-
ly established principles of what makes ‘good’ laws,
including emerging principles of environmental rule
of law.
UN Environment, the UNFCCC secretariat and the
Commonwealth Secretariat are jointly developing a
web-based tool that will bring to law and policy mak-
ers across the globe the information on such exam-
ples and the know-how in legislating on climate

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16 Strengthening National Legal Frameworks to Implement the Paris Agreement
change and implementing the Paris Agreement at na-
tional level.
The objective of this paper is to outline why good
climate laws are essential in implementing the Paris
Agreement and its goal of limiting the global tem-
perature increase to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial lev-
els. The authors will do so by outlining what criteria
make for ‘good’ climate laws, followed by examples
and trends in national climate laws that are key to
implementing national climate change strategies
and other policy commitments. The authors then in-
troduce the Law and Climate Change Toolkit that
will support countries’ efforts to put in place the le-
gal frameworks necessary for effective national im-
plementation of the Paris Agreement and their ND-
Cs.
II. What Are Good Climate Laws And
Why Are They Important?
The term 'climate law' is used throughout the paper
to refer to any primary legislation (eg acts or statutes
adopted by national or sub-national parlia-
ments/legislatures) and secondary legislation (eg
regulations, statutory orders, by-laws made under
legislation) that directly or indirectly relate to efforts
to address climate change. The term ‘climate law’
may include, for example, ‘overarching’ climate
change laws as well as climate change provisions in
framework environmental laws. Given the multi-
sectoral and multi-dimensional nature of climate
change, it also includes ‘sectoral’ laws that directly
address or indirectly incorporate climate change el-
ements, such as those in the fields of energy, trans-
port, agriculture, land use and forestry, waste, wa-
ter, industrial processes, product use, and health.
The focus of this paper is on laws to reach the 1.5°C
target, and therefore the paper is primarily con-
cerned with legal frameworks relevant to climate
change mitigation, and not legal frameworks for
adaptation to climate change. Notwithstanding this,
adaptation to climate change will most certainly re-
quire countries to review and strengthen legal
frameworks to facilitate carbon-resilient develop-
ment.
Both overarching and sectoral laws serve multiple
functions. In all cases, they can provide the legal
framework necessary to achieve and implement na-
tional policy goals and commitments contained in
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CCLR 1|2018
NDCs. Overarching climate laws can: create legally
binding obligations to set national greenhouse gas
emissions reduction targets and define the process
for setting these targets; create coordination mecha-
nisms or oversight bodies to bring together and clar-
ify accountabilities across government; lay down
obligations to ‘mainstream’ climate change into na-
tional and sub-national policies and plans; commit a
national government to develop time-sensitive na-
tional climate change policies; create specialised
funds and budgets; help coordinate and facilitate
monitoring and reporting obligations; and integrate
important environmental democracy elements, such
as rights of public participation, access to informa-
tion, and access to justice provisions as outlined in
Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration.5
At the sectoral level, integration of climate change
considerations into relevant laws and regulations
helps ensure that climate change is appropriately
mainstreamed into legal frameworks. The nature
and scope of these legal instruments will depend on
national needs, climate objectives, relevant domes-
tic legal systems, and political economies. For exam-
ple, they could take the form of legislation passed by
a national parliament, statutory instruments, by-
laws, or guidelines passed by the executive under
such legislation. Sectoral laws and regulatory instru-
ments provide critical enabling environments to fa-
cilitate action and investments towards low-carbon
development. For example, environmental impact
assessment legislation around the world is increas-
ingly incorporating climate change, ensuring that
greenhouse gas emissions are appropriately consid-
ered and mitigated.6 Private sector project propo-
nents and their financiers also need clear environ-
mental permitting laws transparently enforced to
safeguard their investments in renewable energy
and other low-carbon projects.7 Corporate laws that
require public disclosure and reporting on green-
5 Rio Declaration on Environment and Development (Rio de
Janeiro) (adopted 14 June 1992) UN Doc A/CONF.151/26/Rev 1
(vol 1); 31 ILM 874 (1992).
6 UN Environment (UNEP), ‘Environmental Assessment Legislation
– A Global Overview’ (UNEP 2017).
7 Ingrid Barnsley, Amanda Blank and Adam Brown, ‘Enabling
Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Technologies: Opportu-
nities in Eastern Europe, Caucasus, Central Asia, Southern and
Eastern Mediterranean’ (OECD/IEA 2015) 7, identified unclear
and non-transparent permitting procedures as a barrier to renew-
able energy and energy efficiency technologies deployment.
CCLR 1|2018 Strengthening National Legal Frameworks to Implement the Paris Agreement
house gas emissions can play a key role in helping a
country mitigate climate change. Similarly, integrat-
ing climate change as a relevant factor to be consid-
ered under company directors’ duties can provide
clarity and transparency on roles and accountabili-
ties for key stakeholders in climate change mitiga-
tion.
Progressive provisions of climate laws can incor-
porate considerations and protections around gen-
der and vulnerable peoples. These can be set out in
stand-alone climate-change laws or contained with-
in other framework environmental or natural re-
source laws.
The term ‘law’ is used in contrast to ‘policy’, which
can be adopted, often by the executive branch of gov-
ernment, without being embodied in legislation (al-
though it may also be included therein). The distinc-
tion is important, as policies (or ‘strategies’, ‘plans’ or
other similar instruments) run the risk of not being
fully implemented if they are not backed by law. Un-
less there is a constitutional or other legal right un-
derpinning the need for the executive branch to im-
plement a particular ‘policy’, courts cannot enforce
‘policies’ on their own merit. Climate laws, however,
can be enforced. They bind all legal persons and
branches of government within any relevant jurisdic-
tional limits.
In all cases, climate laws need to be ‘good’ laws
and they need to be implemented. There is no gen-
erally agreed definition on what amounts as ‘good’
laws, but some notable initiatives and sources of
guidance are worth highlighting. For example, in
2013, the UK Government introduced a good law ini-
tiative8 by taking into account, among others, the
Review by the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel
(OPC) on causes of complexity in legislation.9 OPC
reported that good law is: ‘necessary, clear, coher-
8 Cabinet Office of the Parliamentary Counsel, ‘Guidance on Good
law’ (2013) <https://www.gov.uk/guidance/good-law> accessed
on 27 November 2017.
9 Office of the Parliamentary Counsel ‘Research and Analysis:
When Laws Become Too Complex’(2013) <https://www.gov.uk/
government/publications/when-laws-become-too-complex> ac-
cessed on 1 December 2017.
10 See, (n 9).
11 IUCN World Declaration on the Environmental Rule of Law (Rio
de Janeiro) (26-29 April 2016) <http://iucnael2016.no/wp
-content/uploads/2016/06/WORLD-DECLARATION-ON-THE
-ENVIRONMENTAL-RULE-OF-LAW-Near-Final-Draft-.pdf> ac-
cessed 15 November 2017.
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17
ent, effective, [and] accessible.’10 It has issued guid-
ance and findings on these elements, as well as sup-
porting materials, which present a useful frame-
work for countries to consider and draft climate
laws.
Another important - and related - reference point
is the emerging ‘environmental rule of law’. As out-
lined in the IUCN World Declaration on the Environ-
mental Rule of Law adopted in May 2016, ‘environ-
mental rule of law’ is understood as the legal frame-
work of procedural and substantive rights and oblig-
ations that incorporates the principles of ecological-
ly sustainable development.11 The ‘environmental
rule of law’ is premised on key governance elements
including, but not limited to:
– Development, enactment and implementation of
clear, strict, enforceable and effective laws, regu-
lations and policies that are efficiently adminis-
tered through fair and inclusive processes to
achieve the highest standards of environmental
quality;
– Respect for human rights, including the right to
a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environ-
ment;
– Measures to ensure effective compliance with
laws, regulations and policies, including adequate
criminal, civil and administrative enforcement, li-
ability for environmental damage, and mecha-
nisms for timely, impartial and independent dis-
pute resolution;
– Effective rules on equal access to information, pub-
lic participation in decision-making and access to
justice;
– Environmental auditing and reporting, together
with other effective accountability, transparency,
ethics, integrity and anti-corruption mecha-
nisms;
– Use of best-available scientific knowledge.
The section below takes these elements into ac-
count in outlining the key trends in national climate
laws, including the trend for countries to develop
framework climate change law. As outlined above,
there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach for developing
or strengthening climate laws. Each jurisdiction will
need tailor made solutions. Compliance with and en-
forcement of climate laws will also be centrally im-
portant in crafting these solutions, and remains a sig-
nificant challenge for most jurisdictions. Detailed
18 Strengthening National Legal Frameworks to Implement the Paris Agreement
consideration of implementation issues is, however,
outside the scope of this article.
III. Examples And Trends In National
Climate Laws
According to research published in May 2017 by the
Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and
the Environment and its partners, there are now over
1,200 climate change or climate change-relevant laws
worldwide, representing a twentyfold increase over
20 years.12 Notably, however, this number includes
climate change ‘policies’ adopted by the executive13
that are not found within legislation. The number of
‘laws’ strictly speaking (ie adopted by the legislative
branch) is only 530 worldwide, according to the re-
search. The 2016 Synthesis report prepared by the
UNFCCC secretariat on the aggregate effect of the 161
intended nationally determined contributions (IND-
Cs) that had been communicated by 189 Parties by 4
April 2016 notes that ‘many’ of the INDCs are ‘already
backed by existing national laws’ and that ‘some Par-
ties noted that the implementation phase of their
INDCs will involve strengthening laws and regula-
tions on climate change.’14 For example, both Kiri-
bati15 and Nauru16 identified institutional strength-
ening, which will require legislative reform, as a pri-
ority of their climate change adaptation programs.
The challenge, according to the above-mentioned
research, lies in strengthening existing laws and fill-
ing gaps, rather than devising new frameworks.17
While this is undoubtedly true, especially with re-
spect to existing policy frameworks already in place,
in some cases new legal frameworks, such as overar-
ching climate change laws, can be beneficial where
nationally appropriate. Such laws can lock-in and
help coordinate policy commitments for more ambi-
tious NDCs, amongst other benefits as outlined
above.
According to internal UN Environment analysis,
at least 23 countries around the world have devel-
oped climate change framework legislation so far,
while there are several other countries currently in
the process of developing such laws. Furthermore, in
their relevant regional forums countries have identi-
fied that gaps and challenges remain in national le-
gal frameworks regarding climate change.18 At the
very least, detailed assessments are needed for key
sectors on a country-by-country basis to review exist-
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CCLR 1|2018
ing legal and institutional frameworks. This will, in
turn, determine where strengthening is needed to en-
sure climate change is properly integrated into rele-
vant laws and regulations. Such assessments are cur-
rently being performed by countries in different re-
gions, supported by development partners, such as
the Asian Development Bank, the United Nations De-
velopment Programme, and others. Also, to support
such assessments a Law and Climate Change Toolk-
it is being developed through a partnership led by
UN Environment, the UNFCCC secretariat, and the
Commonwealth Secretariat and is planned for
launch by the second half of 2018.
Some notable examples and trends with respect
to overarching climate laws are as follows:
– Creation Of A Coordination Mechanism Or Over-
sight Body/Entity
More than a dozen of the existing framework cli-
mate change laws create provisions for the establish-
ment of a body/entity in charge of coordinating or
advising on climate change policy objectives and de-
cisions. The functions of these entities range from
overseeing the implementation of the legislation or
the Government’s climate change policies19 to acting
12 Michal Nachmany, Sam Fankhauser, Joana Setzer and Alina
Averchenkova, ‘Global Trends in Climate Change Legislation and
Litigation: 2017 Update’ (2017) Grantham Research Institute on
Climate Change and the Environment, 5 <http://www.lse.ac.uk/
GranthamInstitute/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Global-trends-in
-climate-change-legislation-and-litigation-WEB.pdf> accessed 16
November 2017.
13 ibid 8.
14 UNFCC, ‘Aggregate Effect Of The Intended Nationally Deter-
mined Contributions: An Update’ (2 May 2016) FCCC/CP/2016/2,
para 21 <http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/2016/cop22/eng/02.pdf>
accessed 16 November 2017.
15 The Kiribati Adaptation Program-Phase III (KAP III), para 25.
16 Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) under the
United Nations Convention on Climate Change of the Republic of
Nauru.
17 Michal Nachmany, Sam Fankhauser, Joana Setzer and Alina
Averchenkova, ‘Global Trends in Climate Change Legislation and
Litigation: 2017 Update’ (2017) Grantham Research Institute on
Climate Change and the Environment 2017, 4.
18 UNEP, ‘Discussion Document for Agenda Item 10: Adoption Of
The Draft Outcomes Of The Second Forum of Ministers and
Environment Authorities of Asia Pacific (member States primarily
served by the United Nations Environment Programme Regional
Office for Asia and the Pacific), UNEP/APEnvForum (2)/6 (8
September 2017) 6 <http://apministerialenv.org/document/UNEP
_6E.pdf> accessed 16 November 2017.
19 Climate Change Act of Iceland, No 70 of 2012, art 5 and the
Climate Change Action Act, 2015 of Malta, No XVII of 2015, art
10.
CCLR 1|2018 Strengthening National Legal Frameworks to Implement the Paris Agreement
as an independent advisory body.20 Most overarch-
ing climate change laws also provide for participa-
tion by external stakeholders in their coordina-
tion/oversight bodies. For instance, the Advisory
Board established under the National Climate Protec-
tion Act of Austria includes representatives from
labour and industry, as well as the scientific commu-
nity and environmental protection organisations.21
– Mainstreaming Climate Change Into Development
Strategies
The Grantham Research Institute on Climate
Change and the Environment estimates that only
four in ten countries have explicitly factored cli-
mate change into their development plans.22 Sev-
eral framework climate laws facilitate this with ex-
plicit obligations on mainstreaming climate
change into national and sub-national develop-
ment plans, policies, and projects. For example,
Kenya’s Climate Change Act 2016 is to be applied
in all sectors of the economy by the national and
county governments to mainstream climate
change responses into development planning, de-
cision-making, and implementation, as well as to
incorporate climate change disaster risk reduction
into strategies and actions of public and private
entities.23 Similarly, Section 2 of the Philippine Cli-
mate Change Act of 200924 provides that it shall
be the policy of the State to systematically inte-
grate the concept of climate change in various
phases of policy formulation, development plans,
poverty reduction strategies and other develop-
20 Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act of Ireland, No
46 of 2015, s 8 and Climate Change Mitigation Act 2014 of
Denmark. Austria’s Federal Act on the Compliance of Maximum
Quantities of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and the Development
of Effective Measures for Climate Protection (Climate Protection
Act 2011) creates both a coordination mechanism, as well as an
advisory body. § 4 creates a National Climate Protection Com-
mittee, the function of which is to discuss the fundamental
questions about long-term Austrian climate policy, while the
Federal Minister for Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and
Water Management establishes under § 5 (1), the National
Climate Protection Advisory Board to advise the National Cli-
mate Protection Committee in its tasks pursuant to § 4 (2). So too
does Honduras’ Law on Climate Change, Decree No 297 of
2013.
21 Federal Act on the Compliance of Maximum Quantities of
Greenhouse Gas Emissions and the Development of Effective
Measures for Climate Protection (Climate Protection Act 2011)
art 5 (3).
22 Michal Nachmany, Sam Fankhauser, Joana Setzer and Alina
Averchenkova, ‘Global Trends in Climate Change Legislation and
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19
ment tools used by the government.25
– Provisions For Public Access To Information And
Participation
Consistent participation by the public ‘help[s] cre-
ate action plans focused on strengthening opera-
tions and implementation, with less emphasis on
control and enforcement methodologies.’26 Such
provisions help ‘make national climate targets
more specific, feasible and diffuse, and accelerates
the effective local implementation of nationally
determined priorities.’27 In Mexico, ‘every person’
has the right to request and have such information
be made available to them by the climate change
authorities, as well as the Inter-Ministerial Com-
mission on Climate Change, the Climate Change
Council, and the Climate Change Information Sys-
tem.28
– Access to Justice
Some framework climate laws incorporate non-
compliance mechanisms or rights of redress/ac-
cess to justice in their provisions. For instance, in
Kenya, Section 23 of its Climate Change Act 201629
empowers any person, pursuant to Article 70 of
the Constitution, to apply to the Environment and
Land Court alleging an act that has or is likely to
adversely affect efforts of climate change mitiga-
tion and/or adaptation.
Litigation: 2017 Update’ (2017) Grantham Research Institute on
Climate Change and the Environment 2017, 5.
23 Republic Act 9729. S 6 states that the National Climate Change
Council is in charge of ensuring the mainstreaming of the climate
change function by the national and county governments.
24 The Philippine Climate Change Act of 2009 (Republic Act No.
9729) (as amended by Act No 10174 of 2012).
25 S 9 empowers the Climate Change Commission to ensure the
mainstreaming of climate change, in synergy with disaster risk
reduction, into the national, sectoral and local development plans
and programs.
26 Scott A Muller, ‘The Coordination and Vertical Integration of
Climate Actions: Working Paper’ (2015) LEDS Global Partnership
2015, 4.
27 ibid 4.
28 Mexico’s General Law on Climate Change 2009, art 106.
29 The Climate Change Act No 11 of 2016.
20 Strengthening National Legal Frameworks to Implement the Paris Agreement
– Gender Considerations
The incorporation of gender considerations is a
relatively new trend as seen in the more recent cli-
mate change laws. Article 7(2) of Malta’s Climate
Action Act 2011 provides that, the Maltese Govern-
ment, in fulfilling its duties and obligations under
this Act, ensures that climate action promotes ‘gen-
der equality’. A similar provision can be found un-
der Article 72 of Mexico’s General Law on Climate
Change 2009, which states that climate change
programmes should include ‘equidad de genero’.
Kenya’s Climate Change Act goes a bit further in
this respect. Section 3(2)(e) provides that the Act
shall be applied by the national and county gov-
ernments across all sectors of the economy, so as
to mainstream intergenerational and gender equi-
ty in all aspects of climate change responses. To
do so, Section 6(d) provides that Kenya’s National
Climate Change Council is to approve a national
gender and intergenerational responsive public
education awareness strategy and implementa-
tion programme, which is to be formulated by the
Cabinet Secretary.30 The Act also provides that the
National Climate Change Council, in administer-
ing and providing access to the Climate Change
Fund, is to set out procedures to ensure gender
and intergenerational equity.31
– Integration With The Sustainable Development
Goals
Pakistan’s Climate Change Act 2017 explicitly
refers to the Sustainable Development Goals. Sec-
tion 4(d) provides that Pakistan Climate Change
Council shall approve and monitor implementa-
tion of comprehensive adaptation and mitigation
policies formulated by the Pakistan Climate
Change Authority. This ensures Pakistan meets its
obligations under international conventions and
agreements relating to climate change, including
in particular the Sustainable Development Goals.
– Monitoring And Reviewing Targets
To help scale up ambition in NDCs, robust moni-
toring and reporting provisions on resulting emis-
sions reductions is important. Several framework
climate laws provide monitoring and reviewing
mechanisms for this purpose. For example, Sec-
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CCLR 1|2018
tion 12(1) of Finland’s Climate Change Act 2015
mandates the Government to monitor the imple-
mentation of the climate change policy plans in or-
der to determine whether the policy measures tak-
en in accordance with these plans achieve the goals
on mitigation and adaptation to climate change. It
further provides that if necessary, based on this
monitoring, the Government shall decide on addi-
tional measures required to achieve these goals.
Some notable examples and trends with respect
to direct and indirect sectoral climate laws regarding
climate change mitigation objectives are as follows:
– Energy Laws
Several countries have integrated and/or revised
their energy laws to form part of their national cli-
mate change policy. For example, Austria’s Green
Electricity Act (Ökostromgesetz) 2012 aims to pro-
mote the generation of green electricity in Aus-
tria’s plants in line with the principles of European
Union law and the climate and environmental pro-
tection interests.32 The Act provides feed-in tariffs
and investment subsidies to green power plants
in order to promote the renewable energy produc-
tion. Feed-in tariffs have facilitated rapid energy-
market transition to renewables.33 Another exam-
ple is the United Kingdom’s Energy Act 2008,
which provides for a scheme of financial incen-
tives to encourage small-scale low-carbon genera-
tion of electricity.34
 
– Environmental Impact Assessment Laws
According to UN Environment, countries are in-
creasingly integrating climate change into their
environmental impact assessment (EIA) laws, of-
ten complemented by non-binding guidelines.35
30 ibid s 8 (2) (c).
31 ibid s 25 (5) (e).
32 ibid § 4 (1).
33 UNEP (2012), ‘Feed-in Tariffs as a Policy Instrument for Promoting
Renewable Energies and Green Economies in Developing Coun-
tries’ (2014) United Nations Environment Programme p vi.
34 Energy Act 2008, s 41.
35 UN Environment (UNEP), ‘Environmental Assessment Legislation
– A Global Overview’ (UNEP 2017).
CCLR 1|2018 Strengthening National Legal Frameworks to Implement the Paris Agreement
Integrating climate change considerations into
EIA laws is relevant to both mitigation and adap-
tation to climate change. In the area of climate
change mitigation, the European Union, for in-
stance, has issued guidance on integrating climate
change and biodiversity into EIAs.36 As part of
this guidance, EIA practitioners and authorities
are asked to identify alternatives and mitigation
measures to reduce the direct and indirect green-
house gas emissions arising from a project.37
Recognising the need for more detailed guidance,
complementary non-binding guidelines on specif-
ic issues are being adopted, such as on integrat-
ing climate change in EIA laws, without sacrific-
ing the flexibility in undertaking each individual
EIA.
– Tax Laws
Several countries have introduced carbon taxes or
tax deductions for low-emission investments. In
Mexico, the 2014 amendments to the Law on Spe-
cial Tax on Production and Services38 introduced
a carbon tax, which covers several types of fossil
fuel sale and importation, averaging US $ 3.00 per
tonne of Co₂ equivalent.39 Chile’s Law No. 20.365
36 European Commission, ‘Guidance on Integrating Climate Change
and Biodiversity into Environmental Impact Assessment’ (Euro-
pean Commission 2013) <http://ec.europa.eu/environment/eia/
pdf/EIA%20Guidance.pdf> accessed 16 November 2017.
37 ibid 27, 29, 36.
38 Law on Special Tax on Production and Services (DOF: December
30, 1980) as amended.
39 World Bank and Ecofys, ‘Carbon Pricing Watch 2017’ (World
Bank 2017) <https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/
10986/26565> accessed 1 December 2017.
40 Art 3.
41 Income Tax Law of Chile No 824 of 1974.
42 Heather Auld et al, ‘The Changing Climate and National Building
Codes and Standards’ (2010) Environment Canada 2010.
43 The Federal Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable
Development, ‘2016 Spring Reports of the Commissioner of the
Environment and Sustainable Development’ (2016) recognised, in
its list of recommendations, the need for the National Research
Council Canada to ‘incorporate climate change trends into the
National Building Code’s structural design provisions, to take
into account the expected increase in frequency and severity of
weather events that can directly affect buildings.’
44 Regulation on the CO₂ Emission for New Passenger Vehicles
2012.
45 Ley Nº 1.811 - Incentivos para promover el uso de la bicicleta en
el territorio nacional como medio principal de transporte para
avanzar en la mitigación del impacto ambiental.
46 UN Environment (UNEP), ‘The Emissions Gap Report 2017: A UN
Environment Synthesis Report’ (UNEP 2017) 33.
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21
on Tax Exemption for Solar Thermal Systems es-
tablishes tax deductions for thermal solar systems
that contribute at least 30 per cent of the average
annual demand for domestic hot water estimated
for a given dwelling.40 Under Article 1 of the Law,
construction companies have the right to deduct,
from the amount of their obligatory provisional
payments under the Income Tax Law,41 a credit
equivalent to all or part of the solar thermal sys-
tems value, of its installation or minimum obliga-
tory maintenance.
– Building Codes
Managing the increased risks to infrastructure, en-
gendered by the reality of climate change, requires
a variety of both mitigation and adaptation actions
such as revising and improving national building
codes and infrastructure standards.42 In order to
take into account climate change trends, a new ini-
tiative by Canada’s National Research Council sets
into motion revisions of its national model codes
for building, energy, plumbing, and fire.43 In In-
donesia, the Governor Regulation of DKI Jakarta
No. 38/2012 on Green Building was introduced to
regulate the planning, construction, utilisation,
maintenance and deconstruction of buildings in
Jakarta focusing on energy and water efficiency,
indoor air quality, land and waste management,
and construction activities.
– Emissions From Vehicles
Recently, several countries, including China, India,
France, Norway and the UK, have made high-pro-
file political commitments to ban or phase out
petrol - and diesel - powered cars in favour of clean-
er vehicles. These commitments will need to be
supported by good climate laws. For example,
Switzerland has put in place regulations or statu-
tory CO2 emissions standards for new passenger
vehicles.44 Moreover, Colombia has created incen-
tives to promote the use of bicycles in the coun-
try.45 According to the UN Environment Emis-
sions Gap Report 2017, the total emissions reduc-
tion potential for the transport sector is 4.7 GtCO₂
per year by 2030,46 which makes it one of the
promising options for bridging the greenhouse gas
emissions gap.
22 Strengthening National Legal Frameworks to Implement the Paris Agreement
IV. Law and Climate Change Toolkit
Noting the need to support countries’ efforts to put
in place the legal frameworks necessary for effective
national implementation of the Paris Agreement and
their NDCs, UN Environment, the UNFCCC secretari-
at, and the Commonwealth Secretariat have been de-
veloping a Law and Climate Change Toolkit in close
collaboration with partner countries, other interna-
tional organisations, and research institutions. The
toolkit, which will be launched by the second half of
2018, will be an online and open database.
The toolkit is designed for use by national govern-
ments, international organisations and experts en-
gaged in assisting countries to implement their ND-
Cs, as well as by academia and research institutions
that are analysing the growing body of climate
change-related legislation throughout the world. The
toolkit allows the user to search existing climate
change-related legislation and to undertake an assess-
ment of a selected country’s legislation. As the devel-
opment progresses, and with more experience with
NDCs and existing climate laws, the toolkit will in-
creasingly collect documentation of successes and
challenges and make available information on good
practices and lessons learned across the different
fields of climate law-making.
The toolkit is complemented by underlying hori-
zontal tags and a legal taxonomy that categorises le-
gal areas and elements relevant to climate change.
These legal areas include overarching climate change
laws as well as sectoral laws in fields such as energy,
transport, agriculture, land use and forestry, waste,
water, industrial processes and product use, and
health.
In the legislation search function, users will be
able to search for laws and relevant individual pro-
visions by way of free text search and/or a guided
search relying on the legal taxonomy and horizontal
tags. Users can also filter results by country, the year
of the legislation or provision, and other parameters.
A separate but linked legal assessment function
provides users the opportunity to undertake a review
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CCLR 1|2018
of a country’s legislation to identify potential gaps
and areas for improvement. Following assessment
questions covering a broad range of legal measures
related to climate change, users will be pointed to
possible areas for reform or enactment of laws, as
well as relevant legislative examples from other coun-
tries. Results can further be tailored according to con-
textual factors relevant for the assessed country, such
as population, GDP, Human Development Index and
GHG emissions. The assessment is not intended to
be prescriptive, but instead to present options and
examples for the user to draw on.
V. Conclusion
Ensuring that nationally determined contributions
to the global response to climate change lead to ef-
forts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above
pre-industrial levels will require the strengthening of
legal frameworks. Subject to specific national con-
texts and needs, such strengthening may require the
enactment of new overarching or sectoral legislation.
At the very least, Parties to the Paris Agreement
should assess existing legal and institutional frame-
works to ascertain if they are fit for purpose, not just
in relation to the 1.5°C goal, but also in relation to a
country’s adaptation needs. The review and strength-
ening of these frameworks presents an opportunity
not only to ensure the proper implementation of the
Paris Agreement, but also to incorporate progressive
provisions into climate laws, thereby ensuring the
consideration of gender and vulnerable peoples.
Examples on what makes for good climate law ex-
ist, as do increasingly established principles that help
to further define this concept. Key to supporting the
scaling up of efforts to enact such laws is the ex-
change of information among countries and assis-
tance in ascertaining which options may be suitable
to a country’s needs. Initiatives towards this end are
underway, and will be scaled up through the devel-
opment of resources such as the Law and Climate
Change Toolkit.