A Vermont Law School student delegation will attend the annual United Nations climate change conference, the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21), Nov. 30-Dec.11 in Paris, France, marking the fourth year that a VLS delegation will attend and report on the international summit.
The observer delegation is made up of juris doctor (JD) and master's program students enrolled in the school's COP21/CMP11 Observer Delegation Course, taught by Professor Tracy Bach. Students publish COP observations and analysis on their blog, "Substantial and Sustained" (vlscop.vermontlaw.edu), during and in the months leading up to the conference. Recent blog posts include "Empowering Women in the Fight for Global Food Security" and "Carbon Tax–More of the Same or Energy Miracle?"
"COP21 is a historic moment in the international climate change negotiations," said Bach. "All 196 parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change are determined to create a new global agreement to govern their individual and collective mitigation and adaptation actions post-Kyoto Protocol."
The Kyoto Protocol, which sets internationally binding emission reduction targets, ends in 2020. To replace the Kyoto Protocol, the UN's Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP) requires parties to "develop a protocol, another legal instrument or an agreed outcome with legal force under the Convention applicable to all Parties" by the end of 2015.
According to a recent Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report, developed countries are making progress on a $100 billion-per-year by 2020 climate financing goal. However, the negotiation text shows there is still plenty of bracketed language indicating disagreement about how to reach a final outcome.
"Vermont Law School students will have a unique opportunity to take it all in," said Bach. "And they will use their research and analysis to support a least developed country delegation, or LDC, engage in the negotiations. In this way, our students embody the VLS motto, 'law for the community and the world.'"
They and Bach will tweet from Paris via @ProfTBach and @VTLawSchool.
"The opportunity to participate as a member of the COP20 delegation truly opened my mind to the stark reality we face as individuals, as a nation, and as a global community facing the threats posed by climate change," said past COP delegate Rebecca Davidson '15, who earned a Master of Environmental Law and Policy (MELP) at VLS. "Yet, I have never been so inspired by the efforts of so many countries coming together to make meaningful and long-lasting decisions. The integrated learning we provided to the developing country, both to improve their understanding of the COP process and to build their capacity for action, provided a meaning to the class that went beyond the academic effort—an amazing opportunity."
COP21/CMP11 represents the 21st session of the United Nations Conference of the Parties and the 11th session of the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol. For more information about the conference, visit cop21.gouv.fr/en.
For more information about international programs at Vermont Law School, visit vermontlaw.edu/academics/specializations/international-comparative-law. For more information about environmental programs, visit vermontlaw.edu/ELC.
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Vermont Law School, a private, independent institution, is home to the nation's largest and deepest environmental law program. VLS offers a Juris Doctor curriculum that emphasizes public service; three Master's Degrees—Master of Environmental Law and Policy, Master of Energy Regulation and Law, and Master of Food and Agriculture Law and Policy; and four post-JD degrees —LLM in American Legal Studies (for foreign-trained lawyers), LLM in Energy Law, LLM in Environmental Law, and LLM in Food and Agriculture Law. The school features innovative experiential programs and is home to the Environmental Law Center, South Royalton Legal Clinic, Environmental and Natural Resources Law Clinic, Energy Clinic, Food and Agriculture Clinic, and Center for Applied Human Rights. For more information, visit www.vermontlaw.edu, find us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter.