The IPCC has predicted that the Amazon rainforest will suffer strong consequences from a changing climate in the near future. The Amazon countries still have limited national policies on how to adapt and have failed to cooperate to promote adaptation plans at the regional level. Most studies have focused on adaptation policies at a local or national level, but overlook how these interact with the necessary regional cooperation required in transboundary ecosystems. This article assesses regional and national plans for climate adaptation in Amazonia, asking whether these provide a basis for regional adaptation policies. Have countries addressed climate adaptation in their NDCs and are there any synergies between countries? Are the Amazon countries currently implementing adaptation policies through the regional framework Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization, and if so how? The analysis is then contrasted with the regional adaptation policies promoted in Central America, a region that faces similar challenges. The analysis finds that regional adaptation governance in the Amazon region is still incipient, and requires a holistic view that integrates a multi-stakeholder approach to climate adaptation. This article makes a vital contribution to the impact and contribution of Amazonia to climate governance, which is still poorly understood.
Since their inception, climate change negotiations have stalled because of the scope of parties’ mitigation responsibilities under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The concept of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities (CBDR-RC) became a core principle of the framework to ensure consensus on a global climate policy in 1992 and to promote differentiation. By letting each country assess its current responsibilities and capacities for climate mitigation through their nationally determined contributions (NDCs), the Paris Agreement has built on the principle of CBDR-RC and promoted self-differentiation. As the concept evolved, the role of emerging economies has been a particular focus of discussions. Academia is still grappling with the revised meaning of CBDR-RC and the newly introduced NDCs. This article contributes to the discussion by analyzing the role of emerging economies in climate governance through the lens of regional responsibility. In particular, it discusses how cooperation can be a more effective way to ensure differentiation, especially by distinguishing emerging economies from other developing countries with fewer capacities. The article uses the Amazon rainforest as a case study, discussing Brazil’s role within the region. Building on lessons from regional schemes that have successfully promoted climate mitigation, the article looks at the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) as an avenue for enhanced cooperation at the regional level.
The state of our environment is continuously deteriorating, and the frame of the ‘Anthropocene’ calls for transformative laws that respond to the current socio-ecological crisis. Since environmental diplomacy has signally failed to respond to current challenges, courts are being confronted with crucial questions that fundamentally address whether existing legal tools are sufficient to ensure human survival. In 2017, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights issued a landmark Advisory Opinion that goes some way towards answering this question. The Advisory Opinion recognized extraterritorial jurisdiction for transboundary environmental harm; the autonomous right to a healthy environment; and State responsibility for environmental damage within and beyond the State's borders. This article analyzes the legal arguments constructed by the Court, assessing whether, and how, the Opinion changes paradigms of international environmental law.
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