A blog by the Global Governance Centre, Graduate Institute, Geneva
By Jerome Bellion-Jourdan
As the world continues to face the COVID-19 health threat and its economic and social impact, the trend towards mandatory human rights due diligence, possibly coupled with environmental due diligence, could contribute to “level the playing field” and to “build back better”. This blog post offers a bird’s eye view of legal developments at the national, regional and global levels.
By Akshita Tiwary – Sea level rise has grave consequences under international law. The International Law Commission may provide suitable guidelines in this regard.
By Bernhard Reinsberg – Climate governance is said to be in crisis. New mechanisms to get the world to act against climate change are necessary. By facilitating a novel decentralized climate organization, blockchain technology holds promise to foster global cooperation.
By Stephen Browne – Is the UN really capable of finding timely solutions to global problems? The coronavirus pandemic and environmental crises are testing the operations of the UN system, and show there might be alternative (and better) solutions to global cooperation.
By Gor Samvel – In the post-COVID19 world, neither a state-centric Paris Agreement, nor social movements will be sufficient to deal with climate change. The pandemic, most probably to be followed by an economic crisis, presents us with a historic choice about the future diversity and sustainability of our energy sources.
By Urs Luterbacher – Why leading by example sometimes does not pay, and why a return to the principles of the Kyoto Protocol is necessary.
By Defne Gönenç – Why global economic and environmental challenges, and their proposed solutions, should be evaluated together.