De zoektocht van het VN-klimaatregime: Tussen twijfels over rechtmatigheid en een heroverweging van de materiele inhoud

The dissertation examines the development of the UN climate regime. It follows two storylines that through mutual interaction shaped the legality and substance of the regime – differentiation and decarbonisation. These concepts embody the debates about differentiation of treaty parties’ commitments and the conceptualisation of decarbonising economic activity to mitigate climate change. The dissertation presents the evolution of the UN climate regime in a novel theoretical framework, by deploying the interactional legal theory, as developed by Brunnée and Toope, as well as constructivist theories, which help to investigate the changes in the global political economy and the electricity sector in particular. This theoretical framework facilitates a comprehensive consideration of the main research question of how experiences from domestic climate and energy legislation contribute to a substantive bottom-up reconstruction of the UN climate regime and how this reconstruction relates to the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities (CBDR), one of the core principles of the UN climate regime. The dissertation argues that a meaningful reconstruction of the UN climate regime relies on the input of national legislative and policy approaches. Furthermore, as it contributes to the bottom-up interaction of the states parties, the CBDR principle functions as a principle of good global environ¬mental governance and preserves the legality of the UN climate regime. The dissertation provides an in-depth legal assessment of the Paris Agreement and the decisions of the Katowice Rulebook, guiding the reader to the main findings in an accessible way.