Sophie Chapman, Rowena Maguire, Mona Doshi, Caroline Wanjiku Kago, Nelly Kamunde-Aquino, Leah Kiguatha, Elizabeth Dooley, Gretchen Engbring

Carbon & Climate Law Review, Volume 9 (2015), Issue 4, Page 283 - 297

Benefit-sharing is one of the most current and controversial topics within REDD+ policy debates at the national level. It encompasses a range of different issues, and the practical design of benefit-sharing mechanisms within both REDD+ projects and wider jurisdictional programmes is a complex task. A legal perspective of benefit-sharing offers an organising framework comprised of different “elements” which can be used to understand how existing laws apply to benefit-sharing and also to inform the structure of future benefit-sharing mechanisms. Kenya is currently reviewing its governance arrangements for REDD+, including how to manage existing project-level activities within a national programme. With a view to contributing to ongoing discussions regarding the governance of benefit-sharing under REDD+, this article considers how current Kenyan laws inform benefit-sharing arrangements for REDD+ and discusses issues that will require further attention moving forward.

Sophie Chapman, Martijn Wilder, Ilona Millar, Arjuna Dibley, Donal Yeang, Joe Heffernan, Kirtiman Sherchan, Rowena Maguire, Caroline Wanjiku Kago, Nelly Kamunde-Aquino, Leah Kiguatha, Yvonne Nana Afua Idun, Mona Doshi, Gretchen Engbring, Elizabeth Dooley

Carbon & Climate Law Review, Volume 9 (2015), Issue 2, Page 143 - 155

This article discusses two key issues in REDD+ design and implementation at the national level – carbon rights, and benefit sharing. Both carbon rights and benefit sharing can be understood as new legal concepts (although they build on existing law), and as legal concepts they offer a framework for addressing related areas of REDD+ policy. Many countries are currently considering how to manage carbon rights and benefit sharing issues, including Cambodia and Kenya. Both of these countries host existing forest carbon projects and are also in the process of designing national REDD+ programmes. This article uses a conceptual framework for carbon rights and benefit sharing derived from legal analysis to consider the cases of both Cambodia and Kenya, and also includes a general discussion of the challenges countries might encounter when considering how to manage carbon rights and benefit sharing in the context of REDD+ implementation.

Rowena Maguire

Carbon & Climate Law Review, Volume 7 (2013), Issue 4, Page 260 - 269

Evolving a New Understanding of Differential Commitments

Rowena Maguire

Carbon & Climate Law Review, Volume 6 (2012), Issue 2, Page 101 - 113

This article explores the role of international environmental legal principles and their role in future climate change instruments. The five international environmental legal principles explored in this context are: inter and intergenerational equity, the precautionary principle, common but differentiated responsibility, the polluter pays and principle and the principles of responsibility and prevention. Principles are used within regulatory frameworks to guide the interpretation and implementation of the obligations specified within the instrument. It is found that these principles provide a useful basis for the development of international adaptation and mitigation measures that are equitable and ethical in nature. This article argues that these principles must be drafted more strategically into international climate change instruments allowing them to serve as a foundational basis upon which more stringent and equitable binding duties and rights can be derived from. This article makes some recommendations as to the type of obligations that these principles could be used to inform in future climate instruments.

Rowena Maguire

Carbon & Climate Law Review, Volume 5 (2011), Issue 1, Page 100 - 112

The implementation of funded afforestation, reforestation, sustainable forest management and avoided deforestation projects in developing countries needs to be increased. Implementation of such projects has the potential to deliver ecological benefits, social benefits and a means for reducing global green house gas emissions. International and national carbon markets have led to an increase in funding opportunities available for forest carbon related projects. There are two types of markets creating carbon credits: compliance and voluntary markets. This article seeks to explore two issues – firstly why do voluntary markets have more investment in forest projects then compliance markets, and secondly, what are the barriers preventing increased investment in forest projects under compliance and voluntary markets?