Sustainable Finance Law: The EU Paradigm and the Way Forward

E-print/Working paper (2021)

MRV of Emissions and Mitigation Action: the Paris Agreement and Financial Support for Transparency- Related Capacity Building in Developing Countries

in Climate Law (2020), 10(3-4), 308-334

This article examines the role of the Paris Agreement in enabling developed-country financial contributions aimed at building transparency-related capacity in developing countries. It first analyses the ... [more ▼]

This article examines the role of the Paris Agreement in enabling developed-country financial contributions aimed at building transparency-related capacity in developing countries. It first analyses the legal means and institutional arrangements utilized by the Agreement to support developing countries in building transparency-related capacity. It then argues that even though the Agreement adopts certain legal and institutional means to foster transparency-related capacity building in developing countries through financial support, it does so in a way that risks undermining the meaningful and accountable use of climate finance, while softening the bindingness of the Agreement’s provisions. The lack of accountability obligations on climate finance for developing countries, the principle of flexibility, and the challenges intrinsic to climate finance, combine to weaken the climate-finance obligation, while calling into question the effectiveness of the Agreement. [less ▲]

Climate Finance: The case of developing States and legal readiness towards a transition to climate resilience

Presentation (2019, December 11)

Refining transparency and responsible investment?: The case of EIB and sustainable finance

E-print/Working paper (2019)

On 8 January 2019, an action was brought before the Court of Justice of the European Union (hereafter CJEU) by an environmental law charity, ClientEarth (hereafter applicant) against a multilateral ... [more ▼]

On 8 January 2019, an action was brought before the Court of Justice of the European Union (hereafter CJEU) by an environmental law charity, ClientEarth (hereafter applicant) against a multilateral development bank (hereafter MDB) and European institution, the European Investment Bank (hereafter EIB). The case concerns the financing by the bank of a biomass energy generating project in Northern Spain – Galicia -, of the cost of 60 million euros, followed by the bank’s refusal to refine its decision to finance the aforementioned investment, regardless the applicant’s request for an internal review of this decision on April 2018. The applicant bases the request for an internal review on alleged ‘errors in the assessment of the financing combined with the provision of minimal information regarding the funding decision’. The main claim brought by the applicant involves the annulment of EIB’s refusal to conduct an internal review and subject its decision to scrutiny, as requested under Article 10 of the Aarhus Regulation (hereafter Regulation), bringing into discussion implementation issues of both International and European law. [less ▲]

Mapping the climate finance architecture and the key legal challenges

Presentation (2019, May 21)

COP 24 and Climate Finance: A Stepping Stone or a Blurred Line?

E-print/Working paper (2019)

In December 2018, the 24th Conference of the Parties (COP 24) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), took place in Katowice, Poland. The main objective of those ... [more ▼]

In December 2018, the 24th Conference of the Parties (COP 24) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), took place in Katowice, Poland. The main objective of those negotiations was to finalize the so called ‘Paris Rulebook’ [the Paris Agreement Work Programme (PAWP)], which would constitute a set of rules to implement and operationalize the Paris Agreement. The issues at stakes varied from mitigation, adaptation and loss and damage, to more technical issues, such as transparency, climate finance and carbon market mechanisms under the Paris Agreement. This post focuses on the progress made on the issue of climate finance based on an analysis of the COP 24 decision on the relevant issues. [less ▲]

Climate Finance:Dispute Settlement and Enforcement in a post-Paris Agreement Era

Poster (2018, May 02)