INTEGRATING SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL SAFEGUARDS IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PARIS AGREEMENT'S SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT MECHANISM.

• Author: Puno, Railla Veronica D.

1. Introduction 206 II. The Sustainable Development Mechanism. 209 A. History--CDM to SDM. 209 B. Risks Associated with SDM 211 C. Status of Negotiations 213 III. Social and Environmental Safeguards. 214 A. Safeguards for SDM 214 B. REDD+Safeguards. 215 C. Green Climate Fund Safeguards 217 D. Best Practices on Safeguards 219 IV. Conclusion 221 I. INTRODUCTION

   Climate change, and what we do to address it, will, undoubtedly, define this and generations to come. In the United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meeting on Climate and Sustainable Development, held March 28, 2019, General Assembly President Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces of Ecuador said that "we are the last generation that can prevent irreparable damage to our planet." (1) We have no choice but to face this challenge head-on--there is no time to waste.

   The impacts of climate change are already being felt all over the world. These impacts have wide-ranging implications on both the environment and on various socio-economic sectors, and we must take unprecedented and ambitious steps if we are to have any hopes of slowing them down. (2) In fact, the 2019 United Nations Environment Programme Emissions Gap Report states that, even if all the current conditional and unconditional national commitments on greenhouse gas reductions are met, we are still headed toward a minimum trajectory of a 3[degrees]C average temperature rise and an emissions reduction gap of about thirty gigatons of equivalent carbon dioxide (Gt[CO.sub.2]e) from the 1.5[degrees]C pathway. (3) This is alarming given that a special report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on the impacts of global warming of 1.5[degrees]C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways states that risks are significantly lower at 1.5[degrees]C compared to 2[degrees]C. Moving past 1.5[degrees]C will result in increases in: mean temperature in most land and ocean regions, hot extremes in most inhabited regions, heavy precipitation in several regions, and probability of drought and precipitation deficits in some regions. (4) Global warming at 1.5[degrees]C will also lower impacts on terrestrial, freshwater, and coastal ecosystems and retain more of their services to humans compared to 2[degrees]C. (5) The difference between 1.5[degrees]C and 2[degrees]C, while incremental, will mean that several hundred million more people will be exposed to climate-related risks and be susceptible to poverty by 2050. (6)

   In light of the distressing scientific data, and in recognition of the significant amount of work left to do following the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and subsequent 1997 Kyoto Protocol, a new universal and legally binding agreement in 2015 called the Paris Agreement was adopted by the Parties to the UNFCCC. (7) Under this Agreement, all Parties seek to hold "the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2[degrees]C above pre-industrial levels and pursu[e] efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5[degrees]C above pre-industrial levels, recognizing that this would significantly reduce the risks and impacts of climate change." (8) To this end, Parties are to undertake and communicate ambitious efforts that show progression over time through nationally determined contributions (NDCs). (9) The Paris Agreement is considered a triumph for environmental multilateralism, being the first agreement on climate change with binding universal emission reduction targets. (10) Since 2015, the Parties have been negotiating on the rules, modalities, and procedures that guide the Parties for the first implementation period which began in 2020. (11)

   To aid Parties in the implementation of their mitigation targets, cooperative mechanisms are provided for in the Paris Agreement under Article 6. Article 6.4 in particular provides for a new type of measure, dubbed the Sustainable Development Mechanism (SDM), which aims:

   (a) To promote the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions while fostering sustainable development;

   (b) To incentivize and facilitate participation in the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions by public and private entities authorized by a Party;

   (c) To contribute to the reduction of emission levels in the host Party, which will benefit from mitigation activities resulting in emission reductions that can also be used by another Party to fulfill its nationally determined contribution; and

   (d) To deliver an overall mitigation in global emissions. (12)

   At present, the rules, modalities, and procedures for the implementation of the SDM have yet to be finalized. (13) Based on the latest draft adopted by the Parties, social and environmental safeguards--a set of policies, standards, and guidelines that ensure protection from social and environmental risks (14)--will not even be considered until 2028. (15) This puts into question the ability of the SDM to meet its goal of fostering sustainable development, given that global sustainability is dependent on environmental protection and social development. (16) The SDM must also ensure that its projects abide by the principles that guide the implementation of the Paris Agreement such as ecological integrity, respect for human rights, and climate justice. (17) This Essay will first look into the Clean Development Mechanism, the SDM's predecessor, to determine the risks associated with similar mechanisms and identify opportunities for improvement. It will then explore the use of social and environmental safeguards within the REDD+ framework and the Green Climate Fund and identify best practices that could be replicated for the implementation of the SDM.

2. THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT MECHANISM

   1. History--CDM to SDM

      The Sustainable Development Mechanism of the Paris Agreement has its roots in the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol. The CDM allows countries with emission-reduction commitments under the Protocol to implement mitigation projects in developing countries in order to earn Certified Emission Reduction credits that are counted toward their own targets. (18) This system paved the way for Kyoto countries to meet their targets at a lower cost, while providing sustainable development gains to developing countries. (19) As of 2018, the UNFCCC registered 7,803 projects under the CDM, involving 140 countries and accounting for almost 2 billion tons of carbon dioxide equivalent reductions. (20) The CDM also accounted for $303.8 billion in invested financing for climate and sustainable development projects, and $200 million contributed to the Adaptation Fund. (21) Aside from these direct emissions and financial benefits accounted from the CDM, many sustainable development achievements were also observed. These include the creation of employment and greater involvement of the private sector in the climate crisis, greater stakeholder engagement, improved transportation systems, and wider access to a reliable energy supply. (22)

      However, feedback from the implementation of the CDM is not all positive. The CDM has been heavily criticized for failing to respect a number of procedural human rights, such as the right of participation, access to information, prior and informed consent, and equal protection in the project development process. (23) Substantive human rights have also been affected, such as indigenous peoples' rights and the right to property. (24) In fact, it has been determined that displacements as a result of climate change mitigation and adaptation activities negatively affect several million people a year. (25) Another criticism of the CDM is its prioritization of financial gains over sustainable development benefits. (26) Given that it is primarily a market mechanism, proponents tend to prioritize financial return rather than sustainability, (27) and it is therefore not surprising that projects that score high on sustainable development indicators--such as renewable energy and energy efficiency--are not competitive in the CDM market. (28) Many have also questioned the CDM's overall contribution to climate change mitigation due to a weak policing on "additionality," thereby casting doubt on the ecological integrity of the entire mechanism. (29) "Additionality" is a term used for projects with mitigation benefits that would have happened anyway, despite of its categorization as a CDM project. (30)

      The Paris Agreement's drafters sought to address the CDM's shortcomings in the SDM. A close comparison between the CDM and SDM reveals the Paris Agreement more greatly emphasizes sustainable development and overall global emissions mitigation. (31) In addition, Article 6.5 of the Paris Agreement can also be interpreted as a preliminary barrier to "double counting," the accounting of a GHG emission reduction twice leading to an inaccurate report of progress toward meeting both national pledges and international targets. (32) These supplemental provisions were deemed necessary considering the risks associated with the mechanism, as was observed in the implementation of CDM. (33) These risks are further discussed in the next subpart.

   2. Risks Associated with SDM

      To ensure that the SDM is aligned with the overall goals of the Paris Agreement, it is imperative that the mistakes of the CDM are fixed rather than repeated. Given that the SDM will serve all Parties to the Agreement, there is a bigger risk of overlooking double counting. (34) The wider scope of the SDM may also increase the risk of additionality, considering that Parties from the global South will also need to meet their own mitigation targets as indicated in their NDCs. (35) Ineffective additionality tests for the SDM will further reduce available finance for legitimate mitigation and adaptation projects. (36)

      As mentioned, Article...