Gizem Koc
Lawyer, ClientEarth
Establishing clearer legal frameworks will enable governments and policymakers to translate climate change pledges into legally binding rules.
ClientEarth, a leading environmental organisation using law to drive systemic change, aims to close the gap between climate ambition and action. It aimed to strengthen climate action at COP29 by advocating for robust Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to be translated into Framework Climate Laws (FCLs), guided by the latest science.
Urgent climate legislation required
Gizem Koç, lawyer at ClientEarth, says that to keep the increase in global average temperature below 1.5C, countries must submit robust NDCs by February 2025. These plans set out national government intentions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and for taking action on adaptation to address the damaging impacts of climate change. “As the Paris Agreement requires, NDCs should be communicated every five years and each NDC must be more progressive than the previous one in terms of its ambition to reduce emissions,” she explains.
An FCL sets the overarching framework of a country’s climate change response. Typically, they cover things like emissions reduction targets and provide mechanisms to ensure judicial, administrative and political accountability. They are expected to ensure the implementation of NDCs, which are not usually legally binding.
“We want the next generation of FCLs to translate NDCs into domestic law, so they do not remain as wish lists and pledges from governments, but become clear, binding legal rules,” adds Koç.
Recent court judgments set out
that states must act in good time
to address climate change.
Human rights and climate connection
The organisation is also keen to highlight that FCLs and human rights laws are interrelated. Recent court judgments set out that states must act in good time to address climate change. The climate policies of countries must also be consistent with state obligations that stem from domestic and international guarantees of human rights.
Koç cites recent legal action against Switzerland brought by four individuals and an association of 2,000 women claiming climate change was having a detrimental impact on their health and quality of life. The European Court of Human Rights observed that Swiss authorities had failed to introduce and implement an adequate legislative framework to tackle climate change.
She concludes: “A new generation of FCLs presents a chance for different segments of civil society to come together, share knowledge and help formulate laws to guide climate policies. They are also an important opportunity for people to further their demands for climate justice.”
