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The search returned 4 results.

Last Call for 1.5 Degrees: journal article

COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh Schedules Fund for Loss and Damage for Departure While Mitigation Stays Grounded

Wolfgang Obergassel, Christof Arens, Christiane Beuermann, Carsten Elsner, Lukas Hermwille, Nicolas Kreibich, Hermann E. Ott, Juliane Schell, Max Schulze-Steinen, Meike Spitzner

Carbon & Climate Law Review, Volume 16 (2022), Issue 4, Page 225 - 242

The twenty-seventh Conference of the Parties (COP27) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Sharm el-Sheikh made history by for the first time ever discussing and ultimately even agreeing to establish a fund to address loss and damage caused by climate change. However, the conference did little to limit the occurrence of loss and damage in the first place by containing the extent of climate change. This article discusses the conference's outcomes in the areas of mitigation and adaptation, loss and damage, the Global Stocktake, cooperation under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, climate finance, and gender-responsiveness. While modest progress can be observed, it is too slow to actually achieve the objectives of the Paris Agreement. This pace is leading many, not least the most vulnerable countries, to search for parallel arenas of cooperation.



Turning Point Glasgow? An Assessment of the Climate Conference COP26 journal article

Wolfgang Obergassel, Christof Arens, Christiane Beuermann, Victoria Brandemann, Lukas Hermwille, Nicolas Kreibich, Hermann E. Ott, Meike Spitzner

Carbon & Climate Law Review, Volume 15 (2021), Issue 4, Page 271 - 281

The Glasgow climate conference marked a symbolic juncture, lying half-way between the adoption of the UNFCCC in 1992 and the year 2050 in which according to the IPCC special report on the 1.5°C limit net zero CO2 emissions need to be reached, globally, in order to maintain a good chance of achieving the 1.5°C limit. This article undertakes an assessment of what the UNFCCC and in particular the Paris Agreement and its implementation process have actually achieved so far up to and including the results of the Glasgow conference. The article discusses efforts at ambition raising both within and outside the formal diplomatic process, the finalization of the implementation rules of the Paris Agreement, as well as progress on gender responsiveness, climate finance, adaptation and loss and damage. In summary, the Paris Agreement and its implementation can be considered a success as it is having a discernible impact on the behavior of parties as well as on non-party actors. However, significant further efforts will be required to actually achieve the objectives of the Agreement.


COP25 in Search of Lost Time for Action: An Assessment of the Madrid Climate Conference journal article

Wolfgang Obergassel, Christof Arens, Christiane Beuermann, Lukas Hermwille, Nicolas Kreibich, Hermann E Ott, Meike Spitzner

Carbon & Climate Law Review, Volume 14 (2020), Issue 1, Page 3 - 17

Last year's conference of the global climate change regime took place from 2 until 15 December 2019 in Madrid, Spain. Despite marking a new record for overtime in the history of the UNFCCC, the conference did not only fail to meet the increasing public demand for swift and strong climate action, it also failed on its formal mandate to finalise the Paris rulebook. A record number of issues were left unresolved and shelved for the next session. COP25 thereby highlighted how much work still lies ahead both domestically and internationally if 2020 is to see a step-up in climate action that is consistent with the long-term goal of the Paris Agreement.

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