The Redefined And Restructured Principle Of Common But Differentiated Responsibilities In Global Climate Protection

The principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities”(CBDR) was first formally announced in the “United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change”(UNFCCC) in 1992. According to the principle of CBDR, states were classified into different groups at the United Nations Conference based on their respective social capabilities and economic conditions. It mainly reflected on the differed green house gases reduction obligations of developed countries and developing countries as well as their different roles in funding and transfer of technology. As a basic principle of international environmental law in UNFCCC, the principle of CBDR was accepted by most of the nations as a guiding principle to tackle global climate issues. Although promising at the beginning, climate change negotiations came into dilemma. In the past decades disputes at the United Nations Conferences became more and more frequent, as global climate agreements on reduction obligations and funding could not be reached. To address this problem, the definition of the principle of CBDR needs to be redefined in this new era after over thirty years since it was first brought up to adequately serve the purpose of global climate protection.This study focuses on the development of United Nations Climate Change Conference and the dilemma of negotiations. It analyzes the reason of existence of the negotiation dilemma by contrasting the standpoints and attitudes of different groups of nations and by triangulating those findings with relevant academic research from various countries. Furthermore, the disadvantages and the dynamic structure of the principle of CBDR’s will be analyzed in order to then put forward a new understanding and application of this principle suitable for the current era. This new understanding’s key component is the concept of “proportional responsibilities” instead of the previously used “responsibilities” and “non-responsibilities”. Lastly, the new system’s structures for the new meaning of the principle of CBDR will be drafted.