Climate Negotiations Debrief - What Do the Lima Results Mean for the World, a Future Agreement & Business?
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Climate Negotiations Debrief - What Do the Lima Results Mean for the World, a Future Agreement & Business?
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This in-person panel will address the current status of international climate negotiations. Panelists will recap the developments at the Conference of the Parties (COP 20) in Lima, discuss prospects for a future treaty in Paris in 2015, and what it all means for businesses and governments. Our speakers will provide a balanced perspective from different countries (i.e., the US and China/developing nations), governments, NGOs, and the private sector. Time will be allotted for a Q&A session.
At international climate negotiations in Lima, countries around the world agreed on the substance and procedure to submit their proposed measures to combat climate change for inclusion in a future agreement applicable to all countries. The Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) also commenced work on a draft text to form the basis for the future agreement to be decided in Paris in December 2015 and implemented by 2020.
Lima marks a turning point in many respects, steadily shifting international climate obligations under the UNFCCC away from bright-line differences between developed and developing countries. The Lima decisions still recognize the Parties’ common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities “in light of different national circumstances,” yet make no reference to Annex I and non-Annex I countries. Hence, it is becoming increasingly evident that a future agreement will leave it to each country to determine its appropriate and most ambitious level of climate action. Although such a strategy may lack the imprimatur of an internationally legally binding agreement, it serves to broaden participation amongst all Parties, hoping that collective action and pressure can spur ambitious action by each country.
Speakers:
§Sue Biniaz – US Department of State, former Deputy Legal Adviser. Sue has been the State Department's lead climate change lawyer for more than 20 years.
§Xueman Wang – Senior Carbon Finance Specialist, The World Bank, Sustainable Development Network. Xueman is a former Chinese climate negotiator and former UNFCCC Secretariat lawyer. She is the team leader for the World Bank’s Partnership for Market Readiness (PMR).
§Annie Petsonk – International Counsel – Climate & Air, Environmental Defense Fund. Annie has been actively engaged in international climate negotiations since before the 1997 Kyoto Protocol and also teaches international environmental law at GW Law School.
§Norine Kennedy – Vice President of Energy and Environmental Affairs, US Council for International Business. Norine has represented business interests at UN environmental conferences since the UN’s 1992 Earth Summit in Rio.
Moderator:
Andrew Schatz – Associate, DLA Piper LLP; member of Georgian national delegation at UNFCCC negotiations
Co-sponsored by ABA SEER IERL and CCSDE Committees
There is no charge to attend.
RSVP: This event is open to the public, but you must register with ABA SEER: https://americanbar.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_3kpJhUgoKtSt6EB&Q_JFE=0
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