Economic Development

Recent exchanges hosted on EJIL:Talk! on climate action and how to go about "mainstreaming" it (see here and here) provide a microcosmic view of the ongoing challenges of State policies to transition and transform economies to reach treaty commitments under the Paris Agreement, including States' commitments as indicated in their publicly registered nationally determined contributions.  International lawyers making pledges of personal and professional climate actions and prescribing specific climate actions themselves, encounter resistance from others who contest what the professional responsibilities of lawyers are, and whether such prescriptions are consistent with notions of professional responsibility and ethics.  What is really at the source of the dispute there, is no different than the source of the dispute between and within States on who has the authority to decide what climate action, in particular, should be taken.  Whether it is the current logjam in the United States' efforts to reach agreement on a multi-trillion infrastructure spending bill which certain progressives want to be conditioned on climate change and social protection measures; the most recent Intergovernmental…