1. V O S I T H A W I J E N A Y A K E O U T R E A C H A N D A D V O C A C Y C O O R D I N A T O R C L I M A T E A C T I O N N E T W O R K S O U T H A S I A Understanding UNFCCC Legal Principles

2. Key Highlights of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) - Acknowledging that change in the Earths climate and its adverse effects are a common concern of humankind, - Noting that the largest share of historical and current global emissions of greenhouse gases has originated in developed countries, that per capita emissions in developing countries are still relatively low and that the share of global emissions originating in developing countries will grow to meet their social and development needs,

3. Key Highlights of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) - Acknowledging that the global nature of climate change calls for the widest possible cooperation by all countries and their participation in an effective and appropriate international response, in accordance with their common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities and their social and economic conditions, - Recalling also that States have, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and the principles of international law, the sovereign right to exploit their own resources pursuant to their own environmental and developmental policies, and the responsibility to ensure that activities within their jurisdiction or control do not cause damage to the environment of other States or of areas beyond the limits of national jurisdiction,

4. Key Highlights of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) - Reaffirming the principle of sovereignty of States in international cooperation to address climate change, - Recognizing that States should enact effective environmental legislation, that environmental standards, management objectives and priorities should reflect the environmental and developmental context to which they apply, and that standards applied by some countries may be inappropriate and of unwarranted economic and social cost to other countries, in particular developing countries,

5. Key Highlights of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) - Affirming that responses to climate change should be coordinated with social and economic development in an integrated manner with a view to avoiding adverse impacts on the latter, taking into full account the legitimate priority needs of developing countries for the achievement of sustained economic growth and the eradication of poverty, - Recognizing that all countries, especially developing countries, need access to resources required to achieve sustainable social and economic development and that, in order for developing countries to progress towards that goal, their energy consumption will need to grow taking into account the possibilities for achieving greater energy efficiency and for controlling greenhouse gas emissions in general, including through the application of new technologies on terms which make such an application economically and socially beneficial,

6. Principles of the UNFCCC Article 3 1. The Parties should protect the climate system for the benefit of present and future generations of humankind, on the basis of equity and in accordance with their common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities. Accordingly, the developed country Parties should take the lead in combating climate change and the adverse effects thereof.

7. Principles of the UNFCCC Article 3 2. The specific needs and special circumstances of developing country Parties, especially those that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change, and of those Parties, especially developing country Parties, that would have to bear a disproportionate or abnormal burden under the Convention, should be given full consideration.

8. Principles of the UNFCCC Article 3 3. The Parties should take precautionary measures to anticipate, prevent or minimize the causes of climate change and mitigate its adverse effects. Where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty should not be used as a reason for postponing such measures, taking into account that policies and measures to deal with climate change should be cost-effective so as to ensure global benefits at the lowest possible cost. To achieve this, such policies and measures should take into account different socio-economic contexts, be comprehensive, cover all relevant sources, sinks and reservoirs of greenhouse gases and adaptation, and comprise all economic sectors. Efforts to address climate change may be carried out cooperatively by interested Parties.

9. Principles of the UNFCCC Article 3 4. The Parties have a right to, and should, promote sustainable development. Policies and measures to protect the climate system against human-induced change should be appropriate for the specific conditions of each Party and should be integrated with national development programmes, taking into account that economic development is essential for adopting measures to address climate change.

10. Principles of the UNFCCC Article 3 5. The Parties should cooperate to promote a supportive and open international economic system that would lead to sustainable economic growth and development in all Parties, particularly developing country Parties, thus enabling them better to address the problems of climate change. Measures taken to combat climate change, including unilateral ones, should not constitute a means of arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination or a disguised restriction on international trade.

11. Sustainable Development - Recognition of the climate system as a common natural resource is an emerging concept of international (environmental) law. It builds on the preambular designation in the FCCC of change in the Earths climate and its adverse effects as a common concern of humankind. - Conceptualising the global climate as a common natural resource may be seen to run counter to established principles on the treatment of natural resources in contemporary international law, starting with the principle of permanent sovereignty of natural resources, enshrined in UN General International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

12. Sustainable Development - Sustainable development requires States to balance economic and social development and the protection of the climate system, which in turn requires that policies and measures taken in response to climate change must integrate environmental, economic and social matters. This balancing takes place in a broader context, acknowledged in indirect terms in Principle 1 of the Rio Declaration. - International Law cases highlight the need to incorporate the concept of sustainable development -

13. Equity - Article 3, paragraph 1 identifies equity as a basis, in addition to CBDRRC, for sharing the burden of protecting the climate system. FCCC Article 3, paragraph 1 does not define the notion of equity, either generally or in its application to climate change. -The language (accordingly) however suggests that an application of the notion of equity would require developed countries to take the lead in combating climate change and the adverse effects thereof. -

14. Equity - Parties frequently invoke the notion of equity in their submissions and it features in several Conference of Parties (COP) decisions, as for instance in the Berlin Mandate that launched the process that led to the Kyoto Protocol, the Copenhagen Accord, 2009, where those who associate with the Accord agree on the basis of equity and in the context of sustainable development. - Equity is a broader concept in that it arguably encompasses a range of visions of justice, whereas the notion of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities relates principally to burden sharing between the Parties to the FCCC

15. Common But Differentiated Responsibility and Respective Capabilities - The CBDRRC principle is referred to in the Rio Declaration,56 the FCCC,57 numerous FCCC COP decisions,58 the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation 2002,59 and the outcome of the Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development - Differential treatment with respect to implementation and assistance are integral to the Vienna Convention,62 Montreal Protocol,63 CBD, FCCC and Convention to Combat Desertification; five environmental treaties with near-universal participation.

16. Common But Differentiated Responsibility and Respective Capabilities - In the climate change regime CBDRRC is an overarching principle guiding the development of the regime.65 It is found in two operational provisions, in addition to preambular, paragraphs of the UNFCCC and reiterated in the preamble of the Kyoto Protocol.66 It is also routinely referred to in FCCC COP decisions and Ministerial Declarations - Even though this principle does not contain a defined legal obligation, it forms the basis for the interpretation of existing obligations and the elaboration of future obligations within the regime in question

17. Common But Differentiated Responsibility and Respective Capabilities - There is general understanding that such differentiated responsibilities stem from real differences between Parties. However much less common ground exists on the relevant criteria for differentiation.81 The principle of CBDRRC explicitly indicates only one basis for such differentiation - respective capabilities.

18. Common But Differentiated Responsibility and Respective Capabilities - Rio Principle 7 by its terms assigns a leadership role to industrial countries based on their enhanced contribution to environmental degradation. - The terms of UNFCCC Article 3 are, however, less clear. Article 3, unlike Rio Principle 7, contains no reference to the enhanced contributions of industrial countries to global environmental degradation, and it places both common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities on the same plane.

19. - End- Thank You