The Climate Law and Governance Initiative is a consortium of partners in the climate law community working to build capacity and knowledge relating to law and governance approaches to address climate change. Ongoing research projects carried out by partner institutions support the hosting of events and specialized capacity building workshops in parallel with the annual climate negotiations under the UNFCCC. The focus of the initiative is the effective implementation of SDG 13 on Climate Change. CLGI events are officially endorsed events of the UNFCCC.
Events
Founded in 2014 and launched in the lead up to the COP21 negotiations in Paris, CLGI has roots in a range of events, conferences, and workshops dating back to the first meeting of the Kyoto Protocol, held in Montreal, 2005. Events over the preceding decade laid the groundwork for the Initiative.
The second CLGD was held at Université Privée de Marrakech in November 2016, and explored the development of the "Paris Rulebook". Discussions focused on how domestic climate instruments could be crafted, modalities to mobilize climate finance, issues of equity, and trends in climate litigation. Outcomes from CLGD 2016 were shared with delegates to COP22 in an official side event looking at climate vulnerable countries. COP22 also saw the first full day climate law specialization course offered to build capacity of delegates to utilize law and governance solutions to combat climate change.
Climate Law and Governance Day 2017
Held at University of Bonn, the third CLGD was opened by Hon Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum and centered on advancing law and governance contributions to global climate action. Key themes looked at how innovation could support the achievement of Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Agreement, the operationalization of climate obligations, advancing climate resilience, and enabling climate finance. Sessions for CLGD 2017 were informed by a pre-COP events held in Fiji in preparation for COP23. CLGI was recognized as an officially endorsed event of the COP23 Presidency. The second one-day specialization course was held in conjunction with United Nations University.
Climate Law and Governance Day 2018
CLGD 2018 was held during COP24 at the University Silesia, Katowice, Poland in December 2018. Discussions centered on the sharing of national experiences and best practices, knowledge exchange, and building a community of practice to support global capacity building efforts. Considerations for the day were developed through a roundtable held at the preceding inter-sessional meeting. Key participants included Christian Voigt, and Kamil Wyszkowski, President of The Global Compact Network for Poland, among many others.
