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CISDL News & Press Releases Montreal, Canada | 25 November, 2002 Centre for International Sustainable Development Law releases legal opinion on Kyoto As the debate on ratification begins to “heat up” in Parliament, the Centre for International Sustainable Development Law today released a Legal Brief entitled Canada’s International Legal Obligations with regard to Climate Change at a panel discussion at the McGill Faculty of Law. Co-authored by experts on international environmental law, international human rights law, international trade and investment law and climate change, the legal brief argues that Canada has clear international legal obligations to effectively address climate change. Specifically, the CISDL addresses human rights obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), climate change commitments under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) and trade obligations under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) that could be undermined by the effects of climate change. The CISDL argues that the effects of climate change will impinge on one’s right to an adequate standard of living and to the right to health, as established under the ICESCR. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts that climate change will result in a reduction in crop yields in most tropical and sub-tropical regions and will exacerbate water scarcity. These impacts will lead to an increase in disease and will reduce the access food of families that depend on farming, significantly affected their guaranteed rights under this treaty. “It is less whether or not we ratify Kyoto but how,” said Ashfaq Khalfan, Director of CISDL. “Unsustainable emissions levels could be considered a failure to respect international human treaties.” In addition, the CISDL legal brief argues that Canada’s legal obligations under various trade treaties do not conflict with climate change obligations. Current trade and investment law does not prevent a country from adopting Kyoto trade or investment measures. Markus Gehring, CISDL Lead Counsel on Sustainable Trade Law, points out that NAFTA specifically stipulates that parties are not prevented from undertaking investment measures in a manner that favours the environment. “If the implemetation of Kyoto is carefuly designed, it will not only hold up under review, but it will be found consistent with Canada’s human rights, environmental and economic legal obligations,” said Gehring. Professor Desiree McGraw of McGill University added that “Kyoto does not preclude us from developing a Made-in-Canada solution – in fact, it compels us to do so.” “Despite the United States’ reluctance to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, the innovate policies adopted by US states and cities have far surpassed their Canadian counterparts,” added Professor McGraw. Ratifying Kyoto will actually have the impact of narrowing the emissions gap with the US not widening it. It also indicates that the Canadian climate regime must be designed to be sustainable in terms of trade, investment and human rights law. Download the legal brief in PDF format (199k)
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