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The IUP Journal of Law Review

Rethinking Multilateral Environmental Agreements to Tackle Climate Emergency

Article Details

Pub. Date	: Oct' 2022
Product Name	: The IUP Journal of Law Review
Product Type	: Article
Product Code	: IJLR021022
Author Name	: Emmanuel Mensah Aboagye and Kwaku Obeng Effah
Availability	: YES
Subject/Domain	: Arts & Humanities
Download Format	: PDF Format
No. of Pages	: 24

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Abstract

The stakeholders of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) have been unable to significantly increase their ambitious goal to address climate change. While making impressive progress, it is claimed that the UNFCCC is by no means alone in tackling this issue. Thus, multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) are plausible in a way that supports the climate policy negotiations, considering the ongoing challenges of maintaining the climate system at safe levels. This paper explores how many global agencies beyond the UNFCCC have attempted to address climate change, although the results still do not look convincing. It also suggests how these organizations can improve to benefit climate change mitigation significantly. It further validates potential relations between these agencies and the UNFCCC system and explores the UNFCCC's obligation to ensure that the various mechanisms function in a complementary manner. The paper concludes that for tackling climate change, MEAs must be overseen by international law, rather than by states. At the same time, scientific truths, not political slogans, should drive decision-making.

Introduction

The problem of global climate change has been more like shackles around the neck of our environment. Several governments have pledged support to the fight against climate change over the years, but the results still do not look convincing (Chen and Lo, 2020). It is not surprising to see the severe impacts of climate change in this present era. The world is likely to be hit with more damaging effects of climate change amidst all the growing negotiations on tackling climate change (Chan et al., 2016; and Shen and Xie, 2019). Several scientific papers sought to highlight the threat posed to the environment due to the failure to tackle the excessive emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) which contribute much to climate change. For instance, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has brought to light that the global climate system and its elements will continue to suffer enduring changes as long as there is still a