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Climate Change and Environmental Law Guide: International Agreements

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On this page, you will find links to the texts (readable PDFs and official Bluebook compliant versions), overviews, and Bluebook citations to the following international agreements: 

  • The Paris Agreement 
  • UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
  • Kyoto Protocol 
  • The Ozone Treaties: Vienna Convention and Montreal Protocol
  • Convention on Biological Diversity (includes the Nagoya and Cartagena Protocols)
  • Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal
  • Aarhus Convention
  • Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)
  • Convention on the Law of the Sea

 

Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty: There is also a proposed Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty which would complement Paris Agreement by creating a roadmap to halting the expansion of fossil fuels and managing an equitable phase-out of coal, oil, and gas. Though so far only 12 nation-states have supported the Fossil Fuel Treaty proposal, over 100 cities and subnational governments have endorsed the treaty. 

Global Plastics Treaty: On March 2, 2022, the  United Nations Environment Assembly of the United Nations Environment Programme adopted a resolution, UNEP/EA.5/Res.14, to negotiate an international legally binding agreement by 2024 to address plastic pollution. Some estimates predict that global emissions from plastic production could triple to account for one-fifth of the Earth’s remaining carbon budget by the middle of the century. The negotiations for the Plastics Treaty involves nation-states, indigenous communities, and record numbers of fossil fuel and petrochemical lobbyists.

The Paris Agreement (2015)

Bluebook Citation:  Paris Agreement to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Dec. 12, 2015, T.I.A.S. No. 16-1104

Text of the Paris Agreement

Overview of the Paris Agreement

The Katowice Climate Package

Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)

The UNFCCC

Bluebook Citation: United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, May 9, 1992, S. Treaty Doc. No. 102-38

Basel Convention - Hazardous Waste

Bluebook Citation:  Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal, Mar. 22, 1989, 1673 U.N.T.S. 57

CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora)

Bluebook Citation: Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, Mar. 3, 1973, 27 U.S.T. 1087. 

United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea

Bluebook Citation: Convention on the Law of the Sea, Dec. 10, 1982, 1833 U.N.T.S. 397.

The International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) issued an advisory opinion on May 21, 2024 which interpreted several articles of the CLOS relating to the protection of the marine environment as encompassing the obligation to reduce anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions from State Parties. 

The Kyoto Protocol

Convention on Biological Diversity

Bluebook Citation: Convention on Biological Diversity, Jun. 5, 1992, 31 I.L.M. 818

 

Multilateral and Bilateral Agreement Collections

The Inside Story of the Paris Agreement

The Ozone Treaties: Montreal Protocol & Vienna Convention

Bluebook Citation: Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, Preamble, Sept. 16, 1987, S. Treaty Doc. 100-10 

Bluebook Citation: Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer, Mar. 22, 1985, T.I.A.S. No. 11,097

Aarhus Convention

The Aarhus Convention provides for:

Access to environmental information:

  •  The right of the citizens to receive environmental information that is held by public authorities

Public participation in environmental decision making:

  • The right of the citizens to participate in preparing plans, programmes, policies, and legislation that may affect the environment.

Access to justice:

  • The right of the citizens to have access to review procedures when their rights with respect to access to information or public participation have been violated.

Bluebook Citation: Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters, Jun. 25, 1998, 2161 U.N.T.S. 447

Overviews of the Aarhus Convention