News

UN delegates reach historic agreement on protecting marine biodiversity in international waters (Draft of the agreement)

U.S. Congress votes to block ESG investing, Biden veto expected

Summary of the Congressional Review Act – the legal mechanism for killing the rule

The resolution and description of the rule – this is about fiduciary duties for pension plans.

Assignment

This chart are the relative emissions of GHGs today. Emissions from developing countries, plus China and India, are almost 2/3 of global emissions. They are also the countries whose emissions are projected to rise significantly between now and 2050, based on current projections. The populations of India and the group of developing countries are also increasing. Raising their populations out of poverty will require a lot more energy. If that energy comes from fossil fuels, as it will based on their current paths, global emissions will likely be the same or even rise by 2050. This will push global warming to 3-4 degrees. Significantly reducing GHG emissions by 2050 requires effective international cooperation.

The Montreal Protocol

Carry over the materials from last class. Rather than spend class time going through the provisions of the treaty, we will use a recorded review so that we can use the class time for discussion.

Montreal Protocol Review – Video | Montreal Protocol Review – Narrated PowerPoint

The treaty was possible because it balances the needs of the developing world against those of the developed economies. Developing countries get much longer periods to phase out chemicals.  The Multilateral Fund was established and funded by the developed world to provide money to the developing world to facilitate the transition to safer chemicals. As you remember from our discussion of Mass. v. EPA, the US Senate sent a strong message to President Clinton that they would not accept the Kyoto Treaty on Climate Change because it had different standards for the developing world. Yet the US Senate had approved the Montreal Protocol with the same structure roughly 10 years earlier. Why the different results? It was about the impact on US business. The Senate thought that the Kyoto Protocol would put US businesses at a disadvantage because they would have to meet different standards for carbon emissions than those in developing countries.  Under the Montreal Protocol, US businesses would have to switch to safer refrigerants much more quickly than in developing countries. The difference is that US companies made or controlled the IP for many of the replacement chemicals. The Montreal Protocol would force the rest of the world to buy chemicals from predominately US companies.

While the US did ratify the Montreal Protocol, treaties alone seldom create enforceable rights in the US courts or the basis for federal regulations. The US Congress has enabled the Montreal Protocol with legislation: Stratospheric Ozone Protection Under Title VI of the Clean Air Act.

The Montreal Protocol has been amended through time based on the scientific understanding of the effects of new refrigerants. The first round of approved replacement chemicals did not destroy the ozone but were powerful GHGs. In 2016, the Kigali Amendment was adopted that requires these to be replaced with refrigerants that are not GHGs. While the US has adopted all the previous amendments, the Trump administration did not accept the Kigali Amendment and threatened to leave the Montreal Protocol. The Kigali Amendment has now been ratified.

The Kyoto Protocol

We are next going to briefly review the history of the UN climate negotiations that lead to the Kyoto Protocol.

Review the History of the UN Climate Change Convention.

Read: What is the Kyoto Protocol?

The Kyoto Protocol had binding standards for GHG reductions by developed countries, but relaxed standards for developing countries, which included China. The Kyoto Protocol has effectively been supplanted by the Paris Agreement. It is important because it triggered the Senate to notify the president of what would be unacceptable provisions in a climate treaty.

Read 105th Congress, Senate Resolution 98 – Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the conditions for the United States becoming a signatory to any international agreement on greenhouse gas emissions under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. (Passed 95-0)

The Paris Agreement

The Paris Agreement is the current international treaty on climate change. President Obama joined it as an executive agreement, President Trump withdrew the United States, and President Biden has rejoined as an executive agreement.

Scan the text of the Paris Agreement: The Paris Agreement

Read this summary of the treaty: The Paris Agreement – Written Summary

Watch this recorded review of the provisions so we can spend class time on discussion rather than lecture on the provisions:

Paris Climate Agreement Review – Video | Paris Climate Agreement Review – Narrated PowerPoint

The key question is how does the agreement – it is not a treaty for the US – deal with the developing world vs. developed world problem? How does it compare with the structure of the Montreal Protocol? Does it legally require countries to reduce their GHG emissions? What are the problems with its structure? Be prepared to talk about this in class.