Reference no: EM133758301
Question
On July 28, 2022, the General Assembly of the United Nations declared the human right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment. Drawing from course readings andcontent, especially Chapters 2 and 3 in Conca (2015), please discuss one reason why this development is a cause for optimism and one way that implementation (e.g., through international law and/or multi-lateral environmental agreement) will be challenging (450-500 words).
Many multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) have been negotiated in response to large-scale environmental challenges. You have already learned a bit about one, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC), in the Climate Blueprint documentary last week! But there are many more; the features, numbers of signatories, and the types of successes and challenges across different MEAs are diverse and important to think about.
Global environmental governance can and does work! Just watch this TEDx Boulder talk by Climate Scientist Dr. Sean Davis, given in 2017. He talks about ‘The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer.' Finalized in 1987, it is a global agreement negotiated through the UN that phases out the production and consumption of over 100 human-made ozone-depleting substances (ODS), including chlorofluorocarbons.
The Montreal Protocol is held up as an example of an effective MEA and demonstrates that global environmental governance and negotiation can work. Nation states heeded scientific evidence about the negative impacts of ODS and worked together to negotiate an agreement. The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) discusses how the principle of common but differentiated responsibility was integrated into the protocol:
"The Montreal Protocol phases down the consumption and production of the different ODS in a step-wise manner, with different timetables for developed and developing countries (referred to as "Article 5 countries"). Under this treaty, all parties have specific responsibilities related to the phase out of the different groups of ODS, control of ODS trade, annual reporting of data, national licensing systems to control ODS imports and exports, and other matters. Developing and developed countries have equal but differentiated responsibilities, but most importantly, both groups of countries have binding, time-targeted and measurable commitments."