The new dynamics of conflict in Climate Change International Negotiations

Abstract

The paradigm under which the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change operates based on an a priori precautionary and mitigation scheme has become obsolete. With the Durban Platform, we are transiting to a new phase of a posteriori negotiations, in which the unavoidable consequences of climatic change will exacerbate and escalate political disputes to international conflicts through the following dynamics: with regard to mitigation and emission reduction; with regard to liability for damages, losses and compensation; in terms of the new geopolitical dynamics caused by climate change, as in the case of the Arctic; and finally, with regard to environmental security, at the national, regional and global level.

The purpose of this research is to analyze these four dynamics of conflict in order to explore ways of mediation that the UNFCCC will need to take to address the situation.