Climate Law and Governance Day – CMS Executive Secretary Chairs Climate Consequences Session

Bonn, 11 December 2015- Climate Law and Governance Day, is a new annual event at the UNFCCC COP, and convenes a large community of international and national leaders and actors that are united in their determination to engage law-makers and parliaments, judges, government authorities, legal research and education institutions, firms, law associations, civil society organizations and others, across the justice sector, in global efforts to address climate change. The event took place at the École de droit de la Sorbonne and was organized by the Centre for International Sustainable Development Law, the University of Cambridge, IUCN, UNEP-WCMC and others.  More information can be found here.

Keynote speakers, distinguished experts, leading academics and practitioners in this new forum debated the most pressing needs and opportunities facing the world in relation to law, policy and governance of a carbon-constrained future, planning ways that the justice community can support implementation of the outcomes of COP21.

The event opened with two keynote speeches; one by former Chief of the UN Human Rights Council and former Irish President Mary Robinson and another by Dr Ibrahim Thiaw, Deputy Director-General of the United Nations Environment Programme; both emphasized the role of law and of human rights in the COP 21 negotiations.

Further discussions revolved around break-out and plenary sessions on key topics under negotiation at COP 21 including the role of human rights in a climate agreement, liability and redress and REDD+/sustainable landscapes.

 The CMS Executive Secretary, Dr. Bradnee Chambers, participated in the meeting chairing the session on Climate Consequences which included a keynote speech on human rights and climate justice by Bianca Jagger, former wife of the Rolling Stones’ lead singer;  she now heads the influential Bianca Centre for Human rights).

The Executive Secretary also participated in final High-Level panel which included Lord Nick Bourne, UK Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Energy and Climate Change), Dr Peter Holmgren, Director-General, Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Senator Prof Nico Schrijver, University of Leiden Faculty of Law / Vice-President, International Law Association (ILA), Dr Rutger de Witt Wijnen, General Counsel, Green Climate Fund, and Dr Alexis Mourre, President, International Chamber of Commerce International Court of Arbitration. Dr Chambers focused his presentation on the impacts of climate change on migratory species and the need to make renewable energy a win-win for both climate mitigation and conserving wildlife.

Last updated on 14 December 2015