Interestingly, climate change can be deemed to be a result of human activities. Climate change is caused by among other things: generating power by burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas; manufacturing industry produce emissions mostly from burning fossil fuels to produce energy for making things like iron, steel, electronics, plastics and clothes; cutting down forests to create farms or pastured or for other reasons causes emissions since trees when cut release the carbon they have been storing; most cars, trucks, ships and planes as well run on fossil fuels thus making transportation a major contributor of greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide emissions; globally residential and commercial buildings consume over half of all electricity. As they continue to draw on coal, oil and natural gas for heating and cooling, they emit significant quantities of greenhouse gas emissions. These are but a few causes of climate change.
Of concern to this paper is to examine whether international economic law has a role in addressing climate change. By virtue that International Economic Law concerns matters of trade and investments as well as economic legal policies, there is most definitely an integral role international economic law can play to mitigate climate change.
- Introduction
Around the world, most members of the public believe global climate change is a pressing concern.[1] The causes of climate change include but are not limited to generating power, manufacturing goods, powering buildings, using various forms of transportation Generating electricity and heat by burning fossil fuels causes a large chunk of global emissions. Most electricity is still generated by burning coal, oil, or gas, which produces carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide – powerful greenhouse gases that blanket the Earth and trap the sun’s heat. Globally, a bit more than a quarter of electricity comes from wind, solar and other renewable sources which, as opposed to fossil fuels, emit little to no greenhouse gases or pollutants into the air.[2]
Manufacturing and industry produce emissions, mostly from burning fossil fuels to produce energy for making things like cement, iron, steel, electronics, plastics, clothes, and other goods. Mining and other industrial processes also release gases, as does the construction industry. Machines used in the manufacturing process often run on coal, oil, or gas; and some materials, like plastics, are made from chemicals sourced from fossil fuels. The manufacturing industry is one of the largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions worldwide.[3]
Most cars, trucks, ships, and planes run on fossil fuels. That makes transportation a major contributor of greenhouse gases, especially carbon-dioxide emissions. Road vehicles account for the largest part, due to the combustion of petroleum-based products, like gasoline, in internal combustion engines. But emissions from ships and planes continue to grow. Transport accounts for nearly one-quarter of global energy-related carbon-dioxide emissions. And trends point to a significant increase in energy use for transport over the coming years.[4]
Globally, residential and commercial buildings consume over half of all electricity. As they continue to draw on coal, oil, and natural gas for heating and cooling, they emit significant quantities of greenhouse gas emissions. Growing energy demand for heating and cooling, with rising air-conditioner ownership, as well as increased electricity consumption for lighting, appliances, and connected devices, has contributed to a rise in energy-related carbon-dioxide emissions from buildings in recent years.[5]
Producing food causes emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, and other greenhouse gases in various ways, including through deforestation and clearing of land for agriculture and grazing, digestion by cows and sheep, the production and use of fertilizers and manure for growing crops, and the use of energy to run farm equipment or fishing boats, usually with fossil fuels. All this makes food production a major contributor to climate change. And greenhouse gas emissions also come from packaging and distributing food.[6]
Effects of climate change are dire. As greenhouse gas concentrations rise, so does the global surface temperature. The last decade, 2011-2020, is the warmest on record. Since the 1980s, each decade has been warmer than the previous one. Nearly all land areas are seeing more hot days and heat waves. Higher temperatures increase heat-related illnesses and make working outdoors more difficult. Wildfires start more easily and spread more rapidly when conditions are hotter. Temperatures in the Arctic have warmed at least twice as fast as the global average.[7]
Climate change is changing water availability, making it scarcer in more regions. Global warming exacerbates water shortages in already water-stressed regions and is leading to an increased risk of agricultural droughts affecting crops, and ecological droughts increasing the vulnerability of ecosystems. Droughts can also stir destructive sand and dust storms that can move billions of tons of sand across continents. Deserts are expanding, reducing land for growing food. Many people now face the threat of not having enough water on a regular basis.[8]
The ocean soaks up most of the heat from global warming. The rate at which the ocean is warming strongly increased over the past two decades, across all depths of the ocean. As the ocean warms, its volume increases since water expands as it gets warmer. Melting ice sheets also cause sea levels to rise, threatening coastal and island communities. In addition, the ocean absorbs carbon dioxide, keeping it from the atmosphere. But more carbon dioxide makes the ocean more acidic, which endangers marine life and coral reefs.[9]
There are other effects of climate change that this paper hasn’t mentioned. The one’s mentioned above are but a few of the major effects of climate change. A keen look the effects reveal that all the effects are negative in nature; none is towards a positive lense. This is what has raised concerns among government, citizens and international bodies alike. The big question that this paper seeks to unravel is whether international economic law. Just from its name international economic law is keen on economies of states and how they relate with international bodies. This paper proceeds to lay out the various roles international economic law play in ensuring that climate change is bid bye.
- Decoding the interface between international economic law and climate
- Climate change as a concept
Kariuki Muigua in defining climate change looks at the individual words separately before adopting the meaning as per United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. He proceeds to note:
Climate is defined as the temperature and precipitation patterns and range of variability averaged over the long-term for a particular region. On the other hand, climate change has been defined as a long-term shift in the average weather conditions of a region, such as its typical temperature, rainfall, and windiness.[10]
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) defines “climate change” to mean a change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods.[11] Put simply, Climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. These shifts may be natural, such as through variations in the solar cycle. But since the 1800s, human activities have been the main driver of climate change, primarily due to burning fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas.[12]
So, what’s the cause of climate change? The Earth’s climate can be affected by natural factors that are external to the climate system, such as changes in volcanic activity, solar output, and the Earth’s orbit around the Sun. Of these, the two factors relevant on timescales of contemporary climate change are changes in volcanic activity and changes in solar radiation. In terms of the Earth’s energy balance, these factors primarily influence the amount of incoming energy. Volcanic eruptions are episodic and have relatively short-term effects on climate. Changes in solar irradiance have contributed to climate trends over the past century but since the Industrial Revolution, the effect of additions of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere has been over 50 times that of changes in the Sun’s output.[13]
Current climate change is mainly caused by human activities that release greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. The sun’s energy warms the Earth and the warmed Earth releases heat to the atmosphere. Certain gases in the atmosphere trap this heat and act like the glass of a greenhouse. Such gases are called greenhouse gases. The main greenhouse gases are water vapor, carbon dioxide and methane. Greenhouse gases absorb heat and radiate some of it back to the Earth, raising surface temperatures. This process is often called the greenhouse effect. The greenhouse effect is a natural process, but it is being intensified by human activities that increase greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere, especially carbon dioxide. Increasing greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere makes it more effective at trapping heat, resulting in the overall warming of the earth. Burning fossil fuels (coal, oil, gas) and some industrial processes are the main sources of carbon dioxide. Climate change caused by human activity is referred to as anthropogenic climate change.[14]
- Demystifying international economic law
Herdegen Mathias in ‘Principles of International Economic Law’ notes as follows while trying to decode International Economic Law, ‘The notion international economic law encompasses a complex architecture of rules governing international economic relations and transboundary economic conduct by states, international organizations and private sectors/actors. The term essentially refers to the regulation of cross border transactions in goods, services and capital, monetary relations and the international protection of intellectual property. To some extent, it also addresses the movement of companies and natural persons as well as aspects of international competition.[15]
[16]A narrow concept of international economic law only refers to the segment of public international law directly governing economic relations between states or international organizations, focusing on world trade law, international investment law and international monetary law. A broader understanding also reflects the role of private actors or hybrid entities administering public goods of major relevance to the international community and more adequately pays tribute to the interplay between international and domestic law in a transboundary economic context. This understanding of international economic law includes the norms of public international law addressing cross-border activities of private undertakings by international agreements as well as issues of jurisdiction of states[17].’
According to Uba Nnabue, ‘International economic law regulates the international economic relations of states enhancing their sovereign equality, promoting reciprocity and ensuring economic sovereignty. It encompasses activities in areas of trade, commerce, investment, and development.[18] Put differently,[19] international economic law, broadly conceived, is a field of international law that encompasses both the conduct of sovereign states in international economic relations, and the conduct of private parties involved in cross-border economic and business transactions. This includes, among other things, international trade law, law of international financial institutions (or what is known as international financial law and traditional private international law fields. Additionally, international economic law includes the following fields: Regional Economic Integration, such as the European Union, ASEAN and other regional trade organizations; International law and development; International commercial arbitration; International intellectual property law and International business regulation.[20]
The major areas of concern to international economic law include but not limited to: the law of regional integration, international monetary law; international investment law; and other bilateral or multilateral trade law. It also comprises areas related to trade and investment such as international commercial arbitration, double taxation agreements, and international intellectual or industrial property law as well as international competition law.[21]
The International Economic Law Interests includes the following non-exhaustive list of topics within the term ‘international economic law’: International Trade Law, including both the international law of the World Trade Organization and GATT and domestic trade laws; International Economic Integration Law; Private International Law, including international choice of law, choice of forum, enforcement of judgments and the law of international commerce; international Business Regulation, including antitrust or competition law, environmental regulation and product safety regulation; International Financial Law, including private transactional law, regulatory law, the law of foreign direct investment and international monetary law, including the law of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank; the role of law in development; International tax law; and International intellectual property law.[22]
International economic law is based on the traditional principles of international law such as: pacta sunt servanda; freedom; sovereign equality; reciprocity; economic sovereignty. It is also based on modern and evolving principles such as: the duty to co-operate; permanent sovereignty over natural resources; Inalienable right to choose and conduct its own economic self-determination and governance; rights of non-interference in its economic affairs through the threat or use of force; preferential treatment for developing countries in general and the least-developed countries in particular.[23]
The sources of international economic law are the same as those sources of international law generally outlined in Article 38 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice:
- The Court, whose function is to decide in accordance with international law such disputes as are submitted to it, shall apply: (a) international conventions, whether general or particular, establishing rules expressly recognized by the contesting states; (b) international custom, as evidence of a general practice accepted as law; (c) the general principles of law recognized by civilized nations; (d) subject to the provisions of Article 59, judicial decisions and the teachings of the most highly qualified publicists of the various nations, as subsidiary means for the determination of rules of law.[24]
- The interface between international economic law and climate change
International Economic Law is concerned with the governance of international economic relations between states as they affect individuals in a state, including in particular their relations inter se across national boundaries. As such, the principal preoccupations of IEL involve international trade, international investment, international monetary and financial law, and international development law.[25] Economics 101 deals majorly with the law of demand and supply. In trading, as indicated in the previous section, it must involve some goods which have been manufactured.[26]
Climate change presents risks and opportunities for the financial sector in both emerging and advanced economies. Financial institutions cannot afford to be outside of the transition path to low-carbon economies. Energy subsidies, emission standards, and carbon prices will all have a direct impact on the financial positions of these institutions’ clients, making climate risk an important element of any credit decision. Financial institutions will also need to understand the climate risks associated with their non-green assets and design measures to mitigate them. Yet there are also significant opportunities for financial institutions to provide innovative financing products for energyefficiency upgrades, renewable powergeneration, green buildings, green transport, and climate-smart agriculture and architecture. And there is a growing community of investors seeking new climate and environment friendly opportunities, which financial institutions can use to diversify their funding base and reduce their funding costs.[27]
According to International monetary Fund, Climate change has potential to do significant economic harm, and poses worrying tail risks. It is a global externality one country’s emissions affect all countries by adding to the stock of heat-warming gases in the earth’s atmosphere from which warming arises.[28] The process of climate change is set to have a significant economic impact on many countries, with a large number of lower income countries being particularly at risk. Macroeconomic policies in these countries will need to be calibrated to accommodate more frequent weather shocks, including by building policy space to respond to shocks. Infrastructure will need to be upgraded to enhance economic resilience. Elsewhere, climate change can entail significant risks to macro financial stability. Nonfinancial corporate sectors face risks from climate damages and stranded assets such as coal reserves that become uneconomic with carbon pricing and the disruption could affect corporate balance sheet quality.[29]
Kerstin Lysholm did observe as follows on how climate change affects investments:
Climate change will likely affect long-term investment returns. While it’s not possible to say how big the impact will be, we’re confident that the link is there: temperature increases and measures taken to limit global heating will translate into lower returns on at least some assets, including stocks and bonds. This is something that investors should take into account in their long-term investment planning. Put simply, climate change leads to conditions under which economies are less productive – and productivity growth is a key driver of economic growth, which drives the expected return on many financial assets.[30]
Climate change and its impacts across the globe will threaten the bottom line of businesses in a variety of ways. The frequency and intensity of extreme weather can damage factories, supply chain operations and other infrastructure, and disrupt transport. Drought will make water more expensive, which will likely affect the cost of raw materials and production. Climate volatility may force companies to deal with uncertainty in the price of resources for production, energy transport and insurance. And some products could become obsolete or lose their market, such as equipment related to coal mining or skiing in an area that no longer has snow.[31]
Swiss Re Institute sometime back presented a damning report which definitely wasn’t good music in the ears of an array of masses. In accordance with research done by the institute, ‘The global economy could lose 10% of its total economic value by 2050 due to climate change. However, it also warns that this figure could rise significantly to 18% of gross domestic product (GDP) by mid-century if no action is taken and temperatures rise by 3.2°C[32].’
- The place of international economic law in mitigating climate change
- Buoying up manufacturing and consumption of environmentally sound goods
World Trade Organization (WTO) members are free to eliminate trade barriers unilaterally, as long as the most favored nation (MFN) rule is observed, and bilaterally, regionally or plurilaterally, as long as they comply with the exceptions for regional trade agreements in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) Article XXIV and the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) Article V. In the case of climate change, however, the regime is less developed and there is greater uncertainty regarding the WTO compatibility of unilateral and regional approaches to mitigation and adaptation. It might be useful to add explicit provisions to the UNFCCC, to reduce the uncertainty regarding the consistency of unilateral, bilateral and plurilateral approaches to climate change regulation. Unilateral, bilateral and plurilateral approaches can complement multilateral approaches by pushing other countries to follow suit multilaterally. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) already incorporates the language of GATT Article XX regarding arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination between countries, but this is insufficient to address this issue.[33]
Condon and Sinha observe that:
[34]Regulatory capture creates risks that unilateral measures will serve as disguised restrictions on international trade rather than legitimate efforts to combat climate change. For this reason, unilateral measures should be designed and applied in accordance with GATT Article XX, to minimize the risk of unilateral measures that constitute arbitrary or unjustifiable discrimination or disguised restrictions on international trade. In this regard, it is helpful that this same language has been incorporated into international environmental law and the UNFCCC. The political and economic context that has led to multilateral negotiation paralysis means that unilateralism may represent the future of climate change regulation, at least in the short to medium term. However, this does not mean that we cannot use the multilateral consensus that has been achieved so far to regulate the use of unilateral measures.
The ongoing implementation of climate change policies could raise several issues in WTO law. GATT Article XX will play an important part in determining the WTO consistency of climate change measures. The scope of paragraphs (b) and (g) in GATT Article XX still needs to be defined in many aspects, as does the relationship between these two paragraphs. Multilateral environmental agreements on climate change will probably be relevant to determining the consistency of climate change measures with GATT Article XX and the provisions of the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT Agreement). However, it is unlikely that GATT Article XX will be applied to the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (SCM Agreement), the Agreement on Agriculture or the TBT Agreement. Its application to provisions in other multilateral agreements on trade in goods as per Annex 1A of the Agreement Establishing the WTO (WTO Agreement) will have to be analyzed on a case-by-case basis[35].
If processing and production methods are relevant to determining the issue of “like products” in GATT Articles I and III, the SCM Agreement, the Agreement on Implementation of Article VI of the GATT 1994 (Anti-dumping Agreement) and the TBT Agreement, then this may provide an alternative analytical approach to determine the WTO consistency of climate change measures. Again, this will have to be analyzed on a case-by-case basis in light of specific climate change measures. However, if environmental subsidies are designed so that they are not specific to certain enterprises, they will not be subject to multilateral action under Part III or unilateral action under Part V of the SCM Agreement. If the subsidies apply to agricultural products, they will have to comply with the commitments of members under the Agreement on Agriculture. In the case of export subsidies, compliance with the Agreement on Agriculture may shield subsidies on agricultural products from action under the SCM Agreement Article 3.1(a). However, opinion differs on this issue. In the case of subsidies contingent on the use of domestic products, it will be necessary to comply with the Subsidies Countervailing Measures Agreement and the Agreement on Agriculture,[36] as well as GATT Article III and the Agreement on Trade-Related Investment Measures (TRIMS).[37]
With respect to climate change, emissions from different fuels could be subject to different taxes where the different emissions pose different risks, for example due to the nature and quantity of GHG emissions for each fuel or the GHG emissions from their production processes. Different treatment of products, based on their processing and production methods, also might not constitute less favorable treatment, for example due to differences in their carbon footprint. The difficulty is that carbon footprints may be difficult to measure, and the design of carbon labeling programmes runs the risk of being distorted to benefit domestic industry lobbies. De facto discrimination, which creates incentives for private actors to choose domestic inputs over imported ones, could be incorporated into some element of the design of a regime of carbon taxes and border tax adjustments, for example where the taxes themselves do not discriminate but the reporting or filing requirements are more burdensome for the imported products.[38]
- Acquiring and implementing environmentally friendly technologies
Foreign investment is an important source of knowledge and technology diffusion, together with trade in goods and services. Thus, it is important to create adequate incentives for foreign investors to transfer best practices and technologies that can address climate change adaptation and mitigation. This means that governments must provide adequate protection to foreign investors, through international investment agreements and intellectual property rights (IPRs). If foreign investors’ rights are watered down in an effort to enhance access to technology, the effect could be to create disincentives to transfer technology and best practicesthrough foreign investment (although IP policies do need to vary with the technology). In addition, international investment agreements can lower regulatory and political risks for foreign investors, and thus lower the cost of and create incentives for foreign investment in clean energy or carbon mitigation technologies.[39]
- Embracing environmentally sound processes by foreign establishments
Countries also need to remove barriers to trade in clean energy technologies, rather than erect such barriers. WTO law does not require countries to apply countervailing duties; it merely permits this practice as long as it is done in accordance with the requirements of the SCM Agreement. Dissemination of clean energy technologies can also be facilitated by removing barriers to foreign investment and international trade in services.[40]
International investment agreements could prove problematic, not because of the substance but due to the lack of predictability in the outcomes of arbitrations. The language of international investment agreements is sufficiently flexible to accommodate climate change regulation. While international investment tribunals do not create precedent that is binding upon other tribunals, this jurisprudence does influence other tribunals. However, the approach of different international investment arbitrators to similar issues can vary considerably, which creates a degree of uncertainty regarding the outcome of international investment litigation. This introduces an element of litigation risk to the process of climate change regulation that affects foreign investors, including regulation that encourages the use of environmentally friendly processes by foreign establishments.[41]
- Conclusion
The world as of now is in a crisis sponsored by climate change. The ramifications of climate change can be seen worldwide. Various nations, states regional bodies and global bodies have initiated steps towards mitigation of climate change. By virtue that no nation is an island, nations interact with other nations while trading. As noted in the paper the production of various goods emit gases that are harmful and contribute to climate change. The effects of climate change are costly to the human race thus the concerns.
International Economic Law has a central role to play in ensuring that climate change is palliated at all costs. Acquiring environmentally sound technologies and financing climate-related diminution and adaptation will come in handy in addressing climate change. This will need the efforts of various states and global bodies alike. International economic law has an important role to play in the regulation of climate change, in particular with respect to technology diffusion and unilateral, bilateral, regional and plurilateral responses to multilateral negotiation failure. It has not been possible to reach multilateral agreements with respect to climate change finance IPRs for plant varieties, a multilateral investment agreement, or international trade in environmental goods and services. Multilateral progress in all of these areas would facilitate technology diffusion and diminish the need for unilateral action.[42]
Jerameel Kevins Owuor Odhiambo is a law student at University of Nairobi, Parklands Campus.
[1]Pew Research Centre, Concern about Climate Change and Its Consequences (5th November 2015) Available at https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2015/11/05/1-concern-about-climate-change-and-its-consequences/ Accessed on 19th January 2023
[2] United Nations, Causes and Effects of Climate Change. Retrieved from https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/science/causes-effects-climate-change Accessed on 19th January 2023
[3] Ibid
[4] Ibid
[5] Supra
[6] Supra
[7] United Nations, Causes and Effects of Climate Change. Retrieved from https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/science/causes-effects-climate-change Accessed on 19th January 2023
[8] United Nations, Causes and Effects of Climate Change. Retrieved from https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/science/causes-effects-climate-change Accessed on 19th January 2023
[9] Ibid
[10] Kariuki M, Combating Climate Change in Kenya for Sustainable Development. Retrieved from http://kmco.co.ke/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Combating-Climate-Change-for-Sustainable-Development-in-Kenya-Kariuki-Muigua-Ph.D-23rd-Jan-2021.pdf Accessed on 19th January 2023
[11] UN General Assembly, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change: resolution / adopted by the
General Assembly, 20 January 1994, A/RES/48/189
[12] United Nations, What Is Climate Change? Available at https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/what-is-climate-change#:~:text=Climate%20change%20refers%20to%20long,like%20coal%2C%20oil%20and%20gas Accessed on 19th January 2023
[13] Fouquet, D., and T. Johansson, 2005, “Energy and Environmental Tax Models from Europe and Their Link to Other Instruments for Sustainability: Policy Evaluation and Dynamics of Regional Integration.” Presentation at the Eighth Senior Policy Advisory Committee Meeting, Beijing, China, November 18.
[14] Frankel, J. 2003. “The Environment and Globalization.” NBER Working Paper 10090, National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, MA
[15] Mathias H, Principles of International Economic Law (Oxford University Press, 2013)
[16] Carreau D and Juillard B, Droit International economique (4th Edition, Librairie generale de droit et de jurisprudence 2010)
[17] Mathias H, Principles of International Economic Law (Oxford University Press, 2013)
[18] Uba N, Principles of International Economic Law, and the Right of Economic Development, vis-à-vis the Guiding Principles of Sustainable Development. Available at file:///C:/Users/DOS%20CHSS/Downloads/82381-Article%20Text-197837-1-10-20121018.pdf Accessed on 18th January 2023
[19] Subedi S, Evolution and principles of international economic law. Retrieved from https://www.london.ac.uk/sites/default/files/uploads/study-guide-postgraduate-laws-international-economic-law.pdf Accessed on 19th January 2023
[20] Joel T, The Economic Structure of International Law (Harvard, 2008).
[21] Ibid
[22] Ibid
[23] Supra
[24] Article 38 of ICJ Statute
[25] Asif Q, International Economic Law. Available at https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/display/document/obo-9780199796953/obo-9780199796953-0092.xml Accessed on 19th January 2023
[26] Ibid
[27] “Li, Wenxin; Nguyen, Quyen Thuc; Narayanaswamy, Meera. 2016. How Banks Can Seize Opportunities in Climate and Green Investment. EMCompass,no. 27;. International Finance Corporation, Washington, DC. © International Finance Corporation. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/30353 License: CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGO.”
URI
[28] Felli R, “Cosmopolitan Solutions ‘From Below’: Climate Change, International Law and the Capitalist Challenge.” In Ethics and Global Environmental Policy. Edited by Paul G. Harris. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2011.
[29] International Monetary Fund, Climate and Economy. Available at https://www.imf.org/en/Topics/climate-change/climate-and-the-economy Accessed on 19th January 2023
[30] Nordea, How climate change will affect the return on your investment (10th June 2021) Available at https://www.nordea.com/en/news/how-climate-change-will-affect-the-return-on-your-investments Accessed on 19th January 2023
[31] Renee Cho, How Climate Change Impacts the Economy (20th June 2019) Retrieved from https://news.climate.columbia.edu/2019/06/20/climate-change-economy-impacts/ Accessed on 19th January 2023
[32] World Economic Forum, This is how climate change could impact the global economy (28th June 2021) Available at https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/06/impact-climate-change-global-gdp/ Accessed on 19th January 2023
[33] Condon, B. J. and T. Sinha (2005), “Global diseases, global patents and differential treatment in WTO law: Criteria for suspending patent obligations in developing countries”, Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business (26)1: 1-42
[34] Condon, B. J. and T. Sinha (2005), “Global diseases, global patents and differential treatment in WTO law: Criteria for suspending patent obligations in developing countries”, Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business (26)1: 1-42
[35] Ibid
[36] Condon, B. J. (2013), “Climate change and intellectual property rights for new plant varieties”, Journal of World Trade (47)4: 897-923
[37]Bradly J and Tapen S, The role of international economic law in addressing climate change. Retrieved from https://www.wto.org/english/res_e/booksp_e/cmark_chap8_e.pdf Accessed on 19th January 2023
[38] Ibid
[39] Boute, A. (2012), “Combating climate change through investment arbitration”, Fordham International Law Journal (35)3: 613
[40] United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) (2010), World investment Report 2010: Investing in a low-carbon economy, Geneva, United Nations. Retrieved from http://unctad.org/en/Docs/wir2010_en.pd Accessed on 19th January 2023
[41] Ibid
[42] Bradly J and Tapen S, The role of international economic law in addressing climate change. Retrieved from https://www.wto.org/english/res_e/booksp_e/cmark_chap8_e.pdf Accessed on 19th January 2023
He is a law student at University of Nairobi, Parklands Campus.
