Conference Background and Overarching Questions
Even though shipping contributes about 3% to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the industry’s carbon footprint has remained largely unregulated until very recently. In the summer of 2023, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has revised its Initial Greenhouse Gas strategy with the overall ambition to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. However, the exact means of reaching this target are not defined yet. Among the different ways to tackle this problem, market-based measures and a fuel standard are considered. In parallel to these IMO efforts, the European Union has decided to include shipping into its Emission Trading Scheme. The implementation of this EU policy raises several legal and commercial questions, including the interaction with the measures eventually adopted by the IMO.
Besides the discussions on GHG emissions, the climate impacts of Arctic shipping are gaining traction in the political agenda. In particular, black carbon pollution, which is the second largest climate forcer after carbon dioxide, is especially relevant in the context of shipping through the Arctic. However, the legal and regulatory framework on this topic is yet to be fully developed.
While states play the main roles in these regulatory processes at international and regional levels, non-state actors are becoming increasingly important. Therefore, it is also important to explore international law-making processes in this context.
The conference ‘International law-making: Actors in shipping and climate change’ aims to explore current developments in the regulation of shipping related climate impacts, including the law-making processes at the international level, the role of actors and the implementation and enforcement of regulatory outcomes.
This conference marks the final milestone of the research project InterAct (International law-making: Actors in shipping and climate change), funded by the Carlsberg Foundation. At the conference, key findings of the project will also be presented.
Conference Sessions
The conference is organized around six thematic sessions addressing the following topics:
- Science-law interface in shipping and climate change
- Understanding the role of non-state actors in international law-making
- Shipping and GHGs at the IMO
- Shipping and GHGs at the EU
- Arctic shipping regulation and climate change
- Exploring interactions with other relevant legal regimes (trade, environment, human rights, finance, etc.)
This conference is open to scholars from all disciplines, as well as industry representatives, civil society, government representatives and others with an interest in shipping, climate change and international law-making. The conference will include papers presented by invited participants as well as authors selected through this call for abstracts. We aim to cover a diverse range of perspectives on and approaches to the conference theme, while ensuring a balanced representation of gender and levels of seniority. For that reason, we especially encourage early career researchers (ERCs) to submit proposals.
Submission of Proposals
Proposals should address specific questions related to the overall theme of the conference, specifying to which thematic session the paper relates.
All proposals should include:
- An abstract (max. 350-words) with a title, the author(s)’s name(s) and affiliation(s)
- A short biographical note / CV
- Contact information
- Please indicate what session of the conference your paper addresses
- Please indicate if you need financial support
Proposals should be submitted by the 15th of March 2024 to [email protected].
Authors will be informed of the final decision by the 31st of March 2024.
Financing
There is no registration fee for the conference. Meals, coffee, and refreshments will be provided for participants during the conference. Presenters and discussants will also be invited to the conference dinner.
Travel costs and accommodation in Copenhagen could be covered for speakers upon request and depending on the availability of funds. Please indicate if you need financial support when submitting your paper proposal.
The conference is supported by the Carlsberg Foundation through the Research Project International Law-Making: Actors in Shipping and Climate Change (InterAct)
Contact
Beatriz Martinez Romera ([email protected])
Associate Professor of Environmental and Climate Change Law
Center for Climate Change Law and Governance (CLIMA)
Faculty of Law – University of Copenhagen
Karen Blixens Plads 16
DK-2300 Copenhagen S
