UN Climate Governance from the Kyoto Protocol to Paris Agreement

ABSTRACT: The legal and political architecture of UN climate governance has evolved rapidly from the 1997 Kyoto Protocol to the 2015 Paris Agreement. Mechanisms to advance ambition on mitigation, climate finance, and adaptation have shifted from a differentiated or legally binding approach to one that has greater flexibility.  This seminar discussion provides a descriptive account of the history of climate negotiations spanning twenty years. In doing so, the seminar investigates two questions. What does the new, 21^stcentury negotiation regime mean for achieving the global goal of keeping the global average temperature to well below 2 °C? Second, what emerging and complementary models can enhance the effectiveness of this new post-Paris approach?

BRIEF BIO: Joanna Dafoe graduated from Yale Law School and the Yale School of Management focusing on international and domestic climate change policy – including legal and market mechanisms that accelerate mitigation action. During her time at Yale Law School, she worked on the Yale Climate Dialogue to identify ways for non-Party actors to formally engage in the Paris Agreement. In December 2017, she served in the first cohort of the Rule of Law Clinic focusing on U.S. environmental litigation. Previously, she held positions with the International Institute for Sustainable Development and Stockholm Environment Institute. She graduated from the University of Toronto with a degree in environmental policy in 2010. She currently serves as the Senior Policy Advisor to the Canadian Ambassador for Climate Change.