Global warming problem faced by the international community: international legal aspect

Abstract

Today, the world community is faced with one of the most significant challenges—climate change. Natural disasters, unpredictability of weather conditions, sea level rise etc. jeopardize life activity, increase the likelihood of natural disasters, and are the consequences of climate change, global in nature, and often of unprecedented scale. At the same time, the anthropogenic factor in climate change plays a key role. The latter relates both to the causes of climate change and to ways to counter it. The research is devoted to find out international legal acts in the field of global warming counteraction that can be subject to legislative changes, international political initiatives that may create preconditions for such changes, as well as an effect of these changes on national legislation of states. To achieve these research goals, the method of political and legal analysis and legal forecasting method are used in the study. The study reviews and analyzes political and legal trends in the scope of global warming counteraction at the international level. Namely, the authors considered an implementation of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Paris Climate Agreement, and the issue of the international legal status of “disappearing” states. Moreover, the authors reviewed recent developments concerning a consolidated approach in relation to obligations undertaken by states as part of the UN Climate Change Conferences.