The Right to Carbon Emission: A New Right to Development

Abstract

For the past few years, the international community has regarded the right to carbon emission as a new right to development. The legal basis of this mainly includes “the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change”, “the Kyoto Protocol” as well as the sustainable development principle, the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and the principle of fairness and justice, etc. The distribution of the right to carbon emission of the post-Kyoto age should consider the need of development, population, historical responsibility, the principle of fairness and justice and other factors. As a dominant country of greenhouse gas emission, on the premise of sticking to “the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities”, China should achieve the transformation from the “difference principle” to “common responsibilities” progressively. Meanwhile, in strengthening coordination with developing countries, China should appropriately support the requests of the Alliance of Small Island States and the least developed countries and attach importance to the issue of the right to development in the distribution of the right to carbon emission.