Climate change, long disputed, is now scientifically
proven. The consequences it has on our environment, including our quality of
life, are only just beginning to be understood. Scientific knowledge is being
organized, but the entire fields of investigation remain unexplored. This topic
has raised so many controversies for the implementation of solutions.
Public policies are emerging at the level of States
and the international community, but they are not up to the challenges raised.
The question is how to stop them, or at least to
reduce them. Will the measures that have been taken at various international
summits, notably Kyoto, Copenhagen and, recently, Paris, be enough to stop the
machine? This is not certain, because these measures are timid and remain
subject to the goodwill of States. In other words, it would be enough for a
single powerful nation, such as the United States, to denounce them for
everything to start again. But what if technology could heal the planet?
Geoengineering (deliberate manipulation of the climate) is among the solutions
being explored to deal with this problem.
Anthropogenic climate change is a major issue in
science and geopolitics, affecting a growing number of research communities,
partners and political actors. In the same sense, a unique intergovernmental
body of expertise - the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (now IPCC) -
has played a decisive role in the reconfiguration of the field and tends today
to become an example of international expertise. Today, this discipline is
increasingly discussed in scientific circles.
The UN estimates that the latest scientific assessment
of ozone depletion, conducted in 2018, shows that parts of the ozone layer have
been recovering at a rate of 1 to 3 percent per decade since 2000. At the
projected rate, Northern Hemisphere ozone will fully recover by the 2030s. The
Southern Hemisphere will follow in the 2050s and the polar regions by 2060.
However, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is calling for
"continued vigilance" on the ozone layer, as climate change could
slow its recovery.
The current pandemic of COVID-19 has highlighted the
close spatial relationships between ecosystems, human activities and health in
many ways. In this regard, the effects of climate change on health have been
widely discussed; climate change must be seen primarily as a factor amplifying
already existing health problems.
From the first signs of climate change, states have
been faced with two strategies: Mitigation or Adaptation. In
other words, they must address the anthropogenic sources that promote climate change
to minimize its magnitude or adapt to climate change. Indeed, the last decades
have been particularly devoted to the mitigation strategy by establishing an
international system of control of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. It is clear
that the results obtained by opting for the first strategy now oblige States to
seriously consider the adaptation strategy, which also consists of adapting to
climate change.
The Paris Climate Agreement, signed on December 12,
2015 at the end of COP 21, sets the goal of limiting global warming to well
below 2°C, targeting the 1.5°C mark. It also provides for an increase in the
budget of the Green Climate Fund adopted in 2010 at the Cancún Conference, with
the aim of reaching $100 billion per year in 2020; a new floor will be set in
2025.
Encouraging green investments and limiting CO2
emissions from traditional economic activity will require significant changes
in the regulatory environment for all sectors of the economy, including energy
production, agriculture, transportation, industrial production and services. In
a similar vein, the European Union, through its New Green Deal initiative, and
U.S. President Joe Biden have committed to achieving carbon neutrality for the
European and U.S. economies by 2050. These commitments will require a reduction
in CO2 emissions and a transition to a global green economy. At the same time,
drastic measures will have to be taken to make CO2 emissions more expensive and
to phase out or significantly reduce the use of traditional energy sources,
namely oil and gas.
However, the international legal regime on climate
change is hampered by its non-coercive nature, and the lack of compliance with
commitments. As an illustration, with regard to the Paris Agreement, in 2019,
of the 197 states that have ratified the treaty, only 58 have adopted measures
to reduce their GHG emissions by 2030 and 16 of these have taken appropriate
action with their climate commitments.
The
COP 26 to be held in November 2021 in Glasgow, UK, will present a crucial opportunity
to discuss and finalize the remaining issues of the implementation of the Paris
Agreement.
Moreover, because of the legal nature of the
Agreement, there are a multitude of more permissive secondary legislation
decisions that "recommend", "invite",
"encourage", etc.. The
norms are even often interpreted by the States as simple indications or general
directives.
The humanities and social sciences will have to enter
an era of profound transformation if they are to continue to play a useful role
in environmental protection. It may be easy to integrate the general concept of
climate change into public policies or regulations. However, a paradigm shift
seems inevitable to make adaptation measures effective and capable of
increasing people's resilience.
Adaptation to climate change will require the
contribution of several fields of the humanities and social sciences,
including: political science, international relations, public security,
economics, and immigration, land use planning, environment, new information and
communication technologies (ICT), etc.
Global climate change is causing seasonal and
permanent internal and international migration. Although the distinction
between political refugees, economic migrants and environmental migrants is
difficult to make, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts that
150 million people will be forced to move by 2050 due to global warming and
climate change.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM), for its part, suggests that
200 million environmental migrants will be
displaced. However, today, there is no legal instrument, even indirect, to
ensure the protection of these migrants.
Climate change has had severe and irreversible effects
on the natural systems that underpin the sustainability of human well-being.
Not only will climate change destroy human and physical capital, but it will
also cause dramatic changes in ecosystems and economic activities.
The responsibility of companies in the increase of
greenhouse gas emissions is important, especially in the energy, industry, real
estate and transportation sectors. The real estate sector, mainly through its
energy consumption, is responsible for about 40% of the world's greenhouse gas
emissions.
According to experts, the energy sector is also responsible for two thirds of
total greenhouse gas emissions today. The
increase in energy needs will therefore have irreversible impacts on the
climate if we do not move towards carbon neutral energy sources. International
air transport is particularly affected by CO2 emissions, which are currently
responsible for about 2% of global emissions. According to the International
Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) trend scenario projections, GHG emissions
from the sector are expected to increase by 300% by 2050. How
can companies be encouraged to reduce their emissions? What are the most
appropriate tools (incentives or constraints, legal or economic tools,
regulation or self-regulation)? How can multinational companies be better
understood from a legal point of view? What are the specific challenges of the
African continent?
This collective edition will be an opportunity to
conduct a multidisciplinary reflection, to cross the views and maintain a
collaborative dynamic between different stakeholders. The proposals of
communication must be in line with the following track themes. However, other
proposals for papers may be accepted under certain conditions. Proposals
dealing with developing countries and climate change will be particularly
appreciated. The track themes are:
1.
Humanities, law and climate change;
2.
International environmental protection instruments and climate change;
3.
Climate change and geoengineering;
4.
Climate change, adaptation and mitigation;
5.
Paris Agreement and secondary legislation;
6.
Climate change and migratory flows;
7.
Business and climate change;
8.
Green economies and climate change;
9.
Science, expertise and international law on climate change;
10.
Climate change and state responsibility;
11. Courts, law and climate change.
Important Dates and Submission Details:
- September 10, 2021: Abstract
submission (300 words responding to what, why, and how?) including full name,
affiliation, email, and short bio.
- September 25, 2021: Notification
of the abstracts + writing guidelines.
- December 31, 2021: Final paper
submission.
- 2022, Publication.
Note: The owners of published papers cannot claim any
material privilege for publication.
Initial and final papers shall be sent to the
following e-mail:
arjil.org@gmail.com
