Exploring the geographical scope of EU Climate responsibilities

• Department of Law
• Florence School of Transnational Governance
• EUI Climate Workshop
• STG Climate

This joint-event as part of the EUI Climate workshop will feature a presentation by Damien Meadows, Advisor in DG CLIMA at the European Commission.

In 1994, the UNFCCC left transnational aviation and shipping emissions aside for "for the time being… recognizing that a procedure for allocating these emissions will be agreed upon in the future". 30 years on, while significant progress has been made, it has often been strongly resisted. This workshop will look at the legal issues relating to States’ climate responsibility for impacts from aviation and shipping, taking Professor Joanne’s Scott’s 2015 analysis as a starting point. It will explore what has happened in practice, the legal and political claims that have been made, and alternative models of governance to bring the necessary emission reductions. Europe is always in favour of effective global action, as the strongest supporter of multilateralism in the world, but there is a strong expectation in society that this brings results. By taking responsibility for (some of) these emissions, in particular when we are now in a world of ‘bottom up’ action through the Paris Agreement, the EU’s economy-wide action for tackling climate change makes a difference and can lead to other countries and regions taking action. The workshop will conclude by looking at the prospects for progress in the coming years.

Speakers:

• Damien Meadows, Advisor, DG CLIMA, European Commission (speaking in a personal capacity)
•  Joanne Scott (Discussant), Full-time Professor and Co-Director of the Academy of European Law, Department of Law, EUI
• Jos Delbeke (Chair), EIB Climate Chair, Florence School of Transnational Governance, EUI

Relevant background material:

SCOTT, J. (2015) The Geographical Scope of the EU’s Climate Responsibilities. Cambridge Yearbook of European Legal Studies, 17, 92–120. doi:10.1017/cel.2015.4

Delbeke, J. and Vis, P. (2019) Towards a climate-neutral Europe: curbing the trend, Abingdon; New York: Routledge; Brussels. https://hdl.handle.net/1814/65859 Pages 149-164 and pages 210-11 (i.e. sections 7.3, 7.4 and 10.6)