SINGAPORE: Singapore on Wednesday (Dec 11) called for greater clarity on international legal frameworks regarding climate action.
At a public hearing in The Hague held by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Singappore’s Ambassador for International Law Rena Lee highlighted the country’s vulnerabilities and called for a unified global response to climate change.
While Singapore has taken steps to reduce greenhouse emissions, Mrs Lee said, the country’s size and lack of attributes like strong winds, near-surface geothermal resources and major river systems meant that it is at a disadvantage regarding alternative energy.
“As such, our ability to achieve our decarbonisation targets will depend on technological maturity and effective international cooperation, such as through collaboration with other countries on clean energy trade, regional power grids, and carbon capture and storage opportunities. We also seek the fulfilment by all States of their obligations in respect of climate change,” said Mrs Lee.
“Singapore therefore looks to the Court for an advisory opinion to provide critical guidance on the current state of international law and to provide impetus for further climate action by all states.”
KEY ISSUES
While the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its Paris Agreement are “central pillars” of states’ climate change obligations, Mrs Lee said that these treaties do not exclude the application of other international obligations.
“Nothing in the UNFCCC or Paris Agreement suggests that they were intended to be exclusive or exclusionary in nature. The obligations of states to protect the climate system from greenhouse gas emissions can therefore also arise under customary international law and other treaties,” she said.
Singapore supports coordinating obligations on climate change, emphasising that the UNFCCC and Paris Agreement should inform the interpretation and application of customary international law and related treaties, said Mrs :ee.
Another issue is how environmental impact assessment obligations in climate change require evaluating the greenhouse gas emissions of planned activities and their effects on achieving national climate targets.
“Participants generally agree that the prevention principle includes a procedural obligation to conduct an environmental impact assessment of planned activities having potential significant adverse impact on the environment,” Mrs Lee said.
She added that while Singapore agrees with the conclusion, the ICJ should elaborate on how the obligation is carried out in “practical terms”.
“This is because, in the climate change context, it would only be on rare occasions that a single planned activity, when measured against the sheer magnitude of cumulative impacts caused by anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions globally, could itself produce environmental effects significant enough to make a difference to overall greenhouse gas levels.”
The third issue Mrs Lee addressed was that states are obligated to cooperate to protect human rights and the environment from impacts of greenhouse gas emissions.
While customary international law and treaty provisions on cooperation may address particular objectives, she noted that there are common obligations regarding how to pursue the objectives, particularly relating to climate change.
“Cooperation must be continuous, meaningful and in good faith … While the duty to cooperate is not an obligation of result, good faith lies at the heart of this duty. States must conduct themselves in good faith in relevant consultative and cooperative processes.”
The last issue brought up was the scope of common but differentiated responsibilities and capabilities, considering national circumstances, and whether they cover historical responsibility for emissions.
Mrs Lee said there has been “considerable divergence” between participants on what the common but differentiated responsibilities (CBDR) in the UNFCCC and Paris Agreement entail.
“Some participants have argued that historical responsibility was never the basis of CBDR. Others have argued that with the addition to CBDR of the words ‘respective capabilities’ and ‘in the light of different national circumstances’, the UNFCCC and Paris Agreement moved on from historical responsibility.
“The inclusion of the additional terms ‘respective capabilities’ and ‘in the light of different national circumstances’ therefore cannot be interpreted as excluding historical responsibility.
“Instead, their inclusion makes it clear that considerations in addition to historical responsibility are also taken into account in defining the relevant obligations,” she said.
The public hearing at The Hague comes after Singapore’s participation in a group of countries that prepared a resolution requesting an advisory opinion from the ICJ on the obligations of states in respect of climate change in March 2023, said Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement on Wednesday.
In March the following year, Singapore presented a written statement to the ICJ on the questions submitted to the court, alongside 90 written statements from other states and organisations.
