Assignment Task: The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, its protocols and subsequent agreements are based on different legal framework including international law principles that continue to be debated during climate change negotiations.
Consider that you are advocating for a climate change justice organization and that during the negotiation process your organization is asked to make its views known during the plenary session of COP26. Your task is to reconcile the position of developed countries on the historic climate debt or reparation and that of least developed countries that recently discovered huge quantities of oil needed for its development.
Critically assess to what extent the principles of common but differentiated responsibilities that entails the notion of historical climate debt or reparations and that of the State's sovereign right to follow its own development path contribute to or hinder the progress of climate change negotiations.
Your essay should cover and clarify your position on the following:
- Principles of state sovereignty, common Concern of Humankind, the right to sustainable development, common but differentiated responsibilities, equity and the precautionary principle.
- Developed countries including the United States of America, the European Union and other developed countries
Sustainable development
- Safeguarding interest of small Islands and countries bellow the sea level
- How climate justice should be served applying Paris agreement mechanisms
It is not expected that you should cover all the above in depth, however, your analysis should demonstrate your understanding of the relationship between the principles and provide a clear position as to how climate change justice should be served in those circumstances.