Second Generation Development-Based Net-Zero Pledges as the Vehicle to Achieve Paris-Goals - The Vienna Briefs on Decarbonization, Energy & Development

Abstract

The path to a successful energy transition lies not in the current wave of emission-based net zero pledges but in a second generation development-based net zero pledges. Global emission-based net-zero 2050 pledges are everywhere prior to the start of the 26th Conference of the Parties under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP26/ UNFCCC) in Glasgow. The UK, the president of COP26, has made net-zero 2050 pledges the first goal of the conference. This call is problematic: it is not within the scope of existing climate agreements. In fact, it threatens to upend the current governance consensus enshrined most recently in the Paris Agreement. Such a call would only be consistent with the current global climate regulation architecture if it were agreed to by all parties involved in the current consensus and if it furthers global development. This brief lays out how to build Paris Agreement compliant development-based net zero pledges.

Keywords: climate change, energy law, decarbonization, development, human rights, sustainable development goals, net zero pledges