ABSTRACT
A broad consensus exists in the scientific community about the reality of climate change. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has concluded that the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere has significantly increased globally as a result of human activities in the last 150 years. The more recent appraisal by scientists in several countries is that we may be reaching the “tipping point” and experts warn that climate change could lead to “ecological catastrophes.” And the adverse impact will be felt mostly by developing countries without the wherewithal to mitigate these impacts and take the necessary adaptation measures. The international law response has been the 1992 Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC) and the subsequent Kyoto Protocol. The Parties to the FCCC failed to reach an accord on a successor treaty at the Copenhagen conference in December 2009. A market-based, flexible approach devised under the Kyoto Protocol to assist the developing countries is the Clean Development Mechanism, which is aimed at reducing carbon emissions and assisting developing countries in achieving sustainable development while allowing advanced industrialized countries flexibility in complying with their emission reduction targets. Several international efforts are underway to link human rights and climate change and to explore legal bases for accountability and state responsibility for global warming.
