Global governance : Human Rights and Environmental

3.1 Human Rights 3.2 Environmental 3.3 The ways and extent to which these institutions address and resolve contemporary global issues

Define Human Rights

Human rights are norms or moral principles describing certain standards of human behaviour and thus protected as legal rights in national and international law.

Role of HR in Global Politics

\- human rights invest governments with powerful obligations , affecting their foreign as well as domestic policies

\- they imply that the boundaries of moral concern extent beyond national borders

Define International Law

Growing and evolving body of rules , norms and conventions that define what is acceptable interaction between sovereign states.

Role/purpose of international law

The role of international law has shifted from solely determining the relations between and among states to ‘supranational law’ which treats individuals , groups and private organisations as subjects of international law.

International Court of Justice

Principal judicial organ of the United Nations. It was established in June 1945 by the Charter of the UN.

Role of the ICJ

The role of the ICJ is to settle, in accordance with international law, legal disputes submitted to it by states and to give advisory opinions on legal questions.

Structure of the ICJ

The ICJ is composed of 15 judges elected to nine year terms of office by the UN General Assembly

1/3 of the court is elected every 3 years.

International Criminal Court

The International Criminal Court (ICC) investigates and tries individuals with crimes of concern to the international community : genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression.

Origins of the ICC ; ROME STATUTE

**17 July 1998**, **120 states adopted the Rome Statute , the legal basis for establishing the permanent International Criminal Court.**

The Rome Statute entered into force on **1 July 2002** after ratification by **60 countries.**

Criticism of the ICC

HINT : western hypocrisy

Congolese warlord Thomas Lubanga was found guilty of recruiting child soldiers in 2012

Germain Katanga was found guilt of committing a massacre in 2014

Significance - the only two convictions to that date which have not been thrown out of overturned on appeal

Courtenay Griffiths (British QC acting as defence lawyer for Africans charged with war crimes ) quote on the ICC:

‘The ICC was set up to try those lesser breeds without the law - the Africans’'

The Guardian criticism of the ICC :

The Guardian reported that the ICC had only begun 12 official investigation plus 9 preliminary investigations since its establishment in 2002.

European Court of Human Rights

The ECHR is the court of law of the Council of Europe. It is based in Strasbourg , France

Origins of the ECHR

Proposed by Churchill and drafted by British lawyers , the convention was based on the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Drafted in the aftermath of WWII and holocaust to safeguard fundamental rights

Role of the ECHR

Set up in 1959 , the Court ensures that Member States of the Council of Europe respect the rights and guarantees set out in the ECHR

When the Court finds that a Member State has violated one or more of the conventions rights and guarantees , it explains why in a written statement. The judgements are binding , the countries concerned must comply

UN Tribunals

UNSC authorised the established of four UN war crimes tribunals .

Represented a major advance in the development of international law

Role of the UN tribunals

Held the authority to try heads of states for crimes against humanity and set a precedent for the establishment of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in 2022

Aims of the UN tribunals

\- punish and bring to justice those guilty of human rights abuses

\- develop the liberal principle that the international community can try heads of government for crimes committed within their country

\- make public the extent and horror of crimes of genocide , war and crimes against humanity so that they are not repeated

International document which promotes and protects human rights globally

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)

Evaluate the view that the enforcement of human rights has been ineffective on a global stage

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United Nations Framework Convention on Climate change

An environmental treaty which states that it works to address the ‘dangerous human interference with the climate system’.

Origins of the UNFCCC

The Earth Conference in 1992 , established the UNFCCC , which then came into force on the 21st March 1994 and has been ratified by 197 countries

Role of the UNFCCC

Treaty was established to call for ongoing research , meetings and negotiations between different states to maintain the average temperature of the earth

Significance of the UNFCCC

• Have developed international frameworks for action

• Elevated the climate crisis triggered international action

• Made agreements to stabilise greeenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere

4 Main Aims of the UNFCCC

• mitigation and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions

• adapting to climate change

• reporting of national emissions

• financing of climate action in developing countries

What is a COP conference?

COP - stands for Conference of the Parties

COP conferences are summits attended by the countries that signed the United Nations Framework Convention on climate change.

Purpose of COP conferences

The goal of conferences is to review progress made by members of the UNFCCC to limit climate change.

COP3, Kyoto (1997)

The Kyoto Protocol was the first major international climate agreement to call for country level reductions in greenhouse - gas emissions in industrialised nations

Success of COP3, Kyoto (1997)

39 developed nations committed to targets for cutting or slowing their emissions

• averaged a 4.2% reduction by 2012 below 1990 levels

• introduction of low carbon policies and mechanisms across Europe - by 2012 the EU had reduce its C02 emissions by 24% on 1990 levels

COP15, Copenhagen (2009)

US and BASIC countries (Brazil, South Africa, India and China ) brokered the Copenhagen Accord

• a non binding agreement containing important elements such as :

• 2 degrees celsius warning limit and reference to 1.5 degrees celsius goal

COP21, Paris (2015)

COP21 in 2015 led to the Paris Agreement - a legally binding international treaty to limit global temperatures to below 2 degrees

• adopted by 196 parties on 12 December 2015 and entered into force on 4 November 2016

• agreement recognised the obligation to act on climate changes

Requires all countries to communicate efforts on climate change through Nationally Determined Contributions.

COP26, Glasgow (2021)

COP26 took place in October 2021 , in Glasgow Scotland .

One of its main outcomes was the Glasgow Climate Pact. A goal was also made to ‘phase down’ the use of coal and ‘inefficient fossil fuel subsidies’

Successes at COP26, Glasgow (2021)

• COP26 presidency established the Glasgow FInancial Alliance for Net Zero - a coalition of currently 500 plus financial instiutions to coordinate efforts across the financial system to accelerate the transition to a net zero economy

• US $8.5 billion South Africa Just Energy Partnership was established

• Countries committed to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030.

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

The IPCC was created to provide policymakers with regular scientific assessments on climate change , its implications and future risks

Established in 1988, members are governments who are also members of the UN Environment Programme and the World Metrological Organisation

Significance of the IPCC

The IPCC is the most authoritative international source on the causes and potential consequences of climate change

Role of the IPCC

Produces special reports and assessment reports by experts in its member countries who review the existing evidence and research.

* IPCC First Assessment Report was published in 1990 and Sixth Assessment Report is being published in four volumes between 2021 and 2022