Harro van Asselt, Kati Kulovesi, Michael Mehling

Carbon & Climate Law Review, Volume 12 (2018), Issue 3, Page 173 - 183

At COP24 in Katowice in December 2018, Parties to the Paris Agreement on climate change are due to adopt the ‘Paris Rulebook’, with a view to providing detailed guidance to Parties in the implementation of the Agreement. Negotiations on the Paris Rulebook cover a variety of issues that were left unresolved in Paris, including further guidance for the contents and features of Parties’ five-yearly nationally determined contributions (NDCs), accounting rules, modalities for the Agreement’s review mechanisms (transparency framework, global stocktake and implementation and compliance mechanism), and rules for the operation of the new cooperative mechanisms established by the Agreement. With COP24 fast approaching, this special issue offers an overview of the negotiations on the Rulebook. In this introductory overview, we summarise the various contributions, place them in the broader context of international climate cooperation, and highlight interlinkages between the various issues under negotiation. We conclude with a brief discussion of the possible outcomes of the negotiations process, and the likely implications of the Paris Rulebook going forward.

Antto Vihma, Kati Kulovesi

Carbon & Climate Law Review, Volume 7 (2013), Issue 4, Page 242 - 251

While many are hopeful that the mandate under the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action to negotiate a new legal instrument applicable to all Parties from 2020 marks a new era in international climate policy, the beginning of the journey has not been an easy one. Indeed, with political stakes higher than before, it seems that the UN climate change negotiations will face considerable procedural hurdles also in the future. The UNFCCC regime has also gone through significant evolution on the institutional front in recent years. Notably, several limited membership bodies have been created, arguably increasing continuity in the process by ensuring more frequent and detailed consideration of issues such as adaptation, finance and technology. In light of these developments, this paper focuses on the efficiency of the UNFCCC negotiations, discussing proposals to streamline the negotiating process under the Conference of the Parties and its subsidiary bodies, the role of the Presidency and ministerial involvement, and the potential of the Limited Membership Bodies to expedite work under the UNFCCC.

Kati Kulovesi

Carbon & Climate Law Review, Volume 6 (2012), Issue 4, Page 373 - 383

This article reviews on-going negotiations under the UNFCCC on the New Market Mechanism (NMM) and Framework for Various Approaches (FVA), which covers both market-based and non-market-based approaches. It argues that limited progress has been achieved in the past five years under the UNFCCC concerning the future international legal framework for carbon trading. A number of important design elements remain outstanding in the negotiations concerning the NMM and its modalities and procedures. The general objective and scope of the FVA also remain undefined. The article concludes that to successfully complete these negotiations, UNFCCC Parties must find convergence on principled questions concerning multilateralism and the future role of the UNFCCC in developing and overseeing market mechanisms.

Kati Kulovesi

Carbon & Climate Law Review, Volume 3 (2009), Issue 3, Page 10

a crucial phase. They are scheduled to be completed at COP 15 in Copenhagen in December 2009. The outcome will have important consequences for the carbon market. The scope and ambitiousness of the agreement on mitigation IN THE post-2012 PERIOD will be crucial for the international demand and supply of credits, and the post-2012 legal framework will determine the general conditions for transactions under the UNFCCC REGIME. However, less than six months before Copenhagen, even the broad outline of the post-2012 legal framework remains