Make a Submission
Vol. 43 (2023)
General Articles

How to Respond to UN Governance Hailures? Lessons from Europe’s Economic and Environmental Constitutionalism

PDF
  • Ernst-Ulrich Petersmann
Ernst-Ulrich Petersmann
Law Department, European University Institute, Italy

Published 2024-06-25

Keywords

  • climate change mitigation,
  • constitutional economics,
  • constitutionalism,
  • EU,
  • sustainable development,
  • UN,
  • WTO
    • ...More
    Less

How to Cite

How to Respond to UN Governance Hailures? Lessons from Europe’s Economic and Environmental Constitutionalism. (2024). Polish Yearbook of International Law, 43, 43–69. https://doi.org/10.24425/pyil.2024.152293

Abstract

How should citizens respond to UN governance failures with respect to preventing climate change, wars of aggression, global health pandemics, and violations of human rights like access to food and public health protection? Europe’s multilevel constitutionalism has enabled the European Union (EU) to exercise a leadership role for realizing the universally agreed “sustainable development goals” (SDGs), including in the external relations of the EU. But democratic constitutionalism – as a political and legal strategy for protecting rights of citizens and supporting rules-based, democratic governance – remains contested by governments prioritizing authoritarian and neo-liberal policies. As an analytical research method, constitutionalism explains “market failures”, “governance failures” and “constitutional failures” – as well as related remedies – more convincingly than alternative methods like “realism” and “welfare economics”. The more power politics impedes UN and WTO reforms, the more necessary become second-best plurilateral governance reforms which make membership conditional on promoting human rights and rules-based, multilevel private-public partnerships for realizing the SDGs. Europe’s economic and “environmental constitutionalism” illustrates how constitutionalism can also facilitate sustainable development reforms in the UN, WTO and the plurilateral governance of global public goods, like climate change mitigation and transnational rule-of-law.

PDF

References

  1. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement, 30 November to 12 December 2023, FCCC/PA/CMA/2023/L.17.
  2. Popper K., The Open Society and its Enemies, Princeton University Press, Princeton: 1994.
  3. Petersmann E.U., International Economic Law in the 21st Century, Hart Publishing, Oxford: 2012.
  4. Dercon S., Gambling on Development: Why Some Countries Win and Others Lose, Hurst & Co., London: 2022.
  5. Acemoglu D., Robinson J., Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity and Poverty, Profle Books, London: 2013.
  6. Petersmann E.U., Multilevel Constitutionalism for Multilevel Governance of Public Goods – Methodology Problems in International Law, Hart Publishing, Oxford: 2017.
  7. Loughlin M., Against Constitutionalism, Harvard University Press, Cambridge: 2022.
  8. Petersmann E.U., Teaching International Economic Law in the 21st Century, in: P. Hilpold, G. Nesi (eds.), Teaching International Law, Brill–Nijhoff, Leiden: 2023, pp. 349–379.
  9. Petersmann E.U., Neoliberalism, Ordoliberalism and the Future of Economic Governance, 26(4) Journal of International Economic Law 836 (2023), pp. 836–842.
  10. Bacchus J., China’s Economic System Isn’t ‘Incompatible’ with WTO Rules, Cato at Liberty Blog, 13 December 2023, available at: https://www.cato.org/blog/yes-china-violates-wto-rules-doesnt-mean-itssystem-incompatible-wto (accessed 30 August 2024).
  11. Georgieva K., Leyen U. von der, Okonjo-Iweala N., No more business as usual: the case for carbon pricing, Financial Times, 3 December 2023, available at: https://www.ft.com/content/921381a8-48a4-4bb9-9196-b1d49f871bb7#:~:text=Carbon%20pricing%20must%20be%20a%20transparent (accessed 30 August 2024).
  12. Rawls J., A Theory of Justice, Harvard University Press, Cambridge: 1999.
  13. Voigt S., Constitutional Economics: A Primer, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge: 2020.
  14. Petersmann E.U., Transforming World Trade and Investment Law for Sustainable Development, Oxford University Press, Oxford: 2022.
  15. Petersmann E.U., Steinbach A., Constitutionalism and Transnational Governance Failures, Brill–Nijhoff, Leiden: 2024.
  16. Grégoire G., Miny X. (eds.), The Idea of Economic Constitution in Europe. Genealogie and Overview, Brill–Nijhoff, Leiden: 2022.
  17. Petersmann E.U., Steinbach A., Neo-liberalism, State-capitalism and Ordo-liberalism: ‘Institutional Economics’ and ‘Constitutional Choices’ in Multilevel Trade Regulation, 22 Journal of World Investment and Trade 1 (2021), pp. 1–40.
  18. Wolf M., The Crisis of Democratic Capitalism, Penguin Press, New York: 2023.
  19. Ziccardi Capaldo G., Facing the Crisis of Global Governance – GCYILJ’s Twentieth Anniversary at the Intersection of Continuity and Dynamic Progress, Global Community Yearbook on International Law and Jurisprudence 5 (2020), pp. 5–14.
  20. Dupuy P.M., The Constitutional Dimension of the UN Charter Revisited: Almost One Quarter of a Century Later, 25(1) Max Planck Yearbook of United Nations Law 89 (2022), pp. 89–114.
  21. Bossche P. van den, Can the WTO Dispute Settlement System be Revived? Options for Addressing a Major Governance Failure of the World Trade Organization, in: E.U. Petersmann, A. Steinbach (eds.), Constitutionalism and Transnational Governance Failures, Brill–Nijhoff, Leiden: 2024, pp. 308–335.
  22. Marceddu L., EU and UN Proposals for Reforming Investor-State Arbitration, in: E.U. Petersmann, A. Steinbach (eds.), Constitutionalism and Transnational Governance Failures, Brill–Nijhoff, Leiden: 2024, pp. 336–361.
  23. Bradford A., The Brussels Effect: How the European Union Rules the World, Oxford University Press, Oxford: 2020.
  24. Regulation (EU) 2021/1119 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 June 2021 establishing the framework for achieving climate neutrality and amending Regulations (EC) No 401/2009 and (EU) 2018/1999 (European Climate Law) [2021] OJ L 243/1.
  25. EU Commission, 70 Years of EU Law. A Union for its Citizens, Publications Ofce of the European Union, Brussels: 2023, available at: https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2880/543607 (accessed 30 August 2024).
  26. European Commission, Commission communication – The European Green Deal, 11 December 2019, COM(2019) 640 final, available at: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/en/ALL/?uri=CELEX:52019DC0640 (accessed 30 August 2024).
  27. Reinforcing the EU’s Green Deal Diplomacy, 4 College of Europe Policy Brief 1 (2023), pp. 1–7.
  28. State of the Netherlands v. Stichting Urgenda [Supreme Court of the Netherlands], judgment of 31 January 2019, NL:HR:2019:2007.
  29. Eckes C., Constitutionalising Climate Mitigation Norms in Europe, in: E.U. Petersmann, A. Steinbach (eds.), Constitutionalism and Transnational Governance Failures, Brill–Nijhoff, Leiden: 2024, pp. 107–144.
  30. Friends of the Irish Environment CLG v. The Government of Ireland, Ireland and the Attorney General [Supreme Court of Ireland], judgment of 31 July 2020, Appeal no. 205/19.
  31. Neubauer and Others v. Germany [German Federal Constitutional Court], judgment of 24 March 2021, 1 BvR 2656/18, 96/20, 78/20, 288/20, 96/20, 78/20.
  32. Commune de Grande-Synthe v. France [Conseil d’Etat], judgment of 1 July 2021, No. 427301.
  33. Notre Affaire à Tous and Others v. France [Paris Administrative Court], judgment of 3 February 2021, No. 1904967, 1904968, 1904972, 1904976/4-1.
  34. VZW Klimaatzaak v. Kingdom of Belgium & Others [Brussels Court of First Instance], judgment of 17 June 2021, 2015/4585/A.
  35. R (oao Friends of the Earth) v. Secretary of State for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy [England and Wales High Court], decision of 18 July 2022, EWHC 1841.
  36. Plan B Earth and Others v. Secretary of State for Transport [Supreme Court], judgment of 16 December 2020, EWCA Civ 214.
  37. Nature and Youth Norway and others v. Norway [Supreme Court of Norway], judgment of 22 December 2020, HR-2020-24720P.
  38. Klimatická žaloba ČR v. Czech Republic [Supreme Administrative Court in Czech], judgment of 20 February 2023, 9 As 116/2022-166.
  39. Greenpeace Nordic and the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation v. Finland [Supreme Administrative Court of Finland], judgment of 6 June 2023, FI:KHO:2023:62.
  40. KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz and Others v. Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications [Supreme Court in Switzerland], judgment of 5 May 2020, 1C_37/2019.
  41. ECtHR, KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz and Others v. Switzerland (App. No. 53600/20), 26 November 2020.
  42. Schayani K., No Global Climate Justice from this Court, Volkerrechtsblog, 15 April 2024, available at: https://voelkerrechtsblog.org/no-global-climate-justice-from-this-court/ (accessed 30 August 2024).
  43. ECtHR, Duarte Agostinho and Others v. Portugal and 32 Other States (App. No. 39371/20), 1 December 2020.
  44. European Commission, EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), available at: https://climate.ec.europa.eu/eu-action/eu-emissionstrading-system-eu-ets_en (accessed 30 August 2024).
  45. Flett J., The EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism. A Transnational Governance Instrument Whose Time Has Come, in: E.U. Petersmann, A. Steinbach (eds.), Constitutionalism and Transnational Governance Failures, Brill–Nijhoff, Leiden: 2024, pp. 172–205.
  46. Trade Policy Tools for Climate Action, World Trade Organization, Geneva: 2023
  47. Esty D., Remy J.Y., Trachtman J., Villars Framework for a Sustainable Global Trade System, Remaking Trade for a Sustainable Future, 7 September 2023, available at: https://shridathramphalcentre.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Villars-Framework-2.0.pdf (accessed 30 August 2024).
  48. Silvano G., Giannotti D., De Republica Fiorentina, Droz, Geneva: 1990.
  49. Petersmann E.U., The EU’s Cosmopolitan Foreign Policy Constitution and its Disregard in Transatlantic Free Trade Agreements, 21(4) European Foreign Affairs Review 449 (2016), pp. 449–468.
  50. Plato, The Laws, Book I, Harvard University Press, London: 1968, available at: https://topostext.org/work/484 (accessed: 30 August 2024)
  51. Cremona M. (ed.), Structural Principles in EU External Relations Law, Hart Publishing, Oxford: 2018.
  52. Bradford A., Digital Empires: The Global Battle to Regulate Technology, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge: 2023.
  53. Galeotti M., The Weaponisation of Everything: A Field Guide to the New Way of War, Yale University Press, New Haven: 2022.
  54. Lamy P., Reforming International Governance: Multilateralism or Polylateralism?, in: E.U. Petersmann, A. Steinbach (eds.), Constitutionalism and Transnational Governance Failures, Brill–Nijhoff, Leiden: 2024, pp. 238–242.
  55. Denton J., Transnational Governance Failures – a Business Perspective and Roadmap for Future Action, in: E.U. Petersmann, A. Steinbach (eds.), Constitutionalism and Transnational Governance Failures, Brill–Nijhoff, Leiden: 2024, pp. 243–250.
  56. Council Decision of 17 February 2005 on the conclusion, on behalf of the European Community, of the Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters [2005] OJ L 124/1.
  57. UNGA resolution of 25 September 2015, Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Doc. A/RES/70/1.
  58. Our Common Agenda. Report of the Secretary-General, 1 November 2021, A/75/982.
  59. ECtHR, Carême v. France (App. No. 7189/21), 7 June 2022.
  60. Decision 19/CMA.5 of 13 December 2023, review of the functions, work programme and modalities of the forum on the impact of the implementation of response measures, midterm review of the workplan and report of the forum.

Similar Articles

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.