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24 Rev. Eur. Comp. & Int'l Envtl. L. 1 (2015)

handle is hein.journals/reel24 and id is 1 raw text is: RECIEL 24 (1) 2015. ISSN 2050-0386 Editorial Future scholars studying the history of international environmental law are likely to point to the year 2015 as an important milestone. Various developments this year will yield insights into the effectiveness of inter- governmental processes established to cope with global environmental problems. One of these processes, the United Nations (UN) process for disaster risk reduc- tion, led to an outcome in March, when countries adopted the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 - the successor to the 2005 Hyogo Framework for Action. This non-binding frame- work aims to reduce deaths and economic losses from disasters, and established seven (non-quantitative) targets and four priority areas for action. In September, another UN summit will be held - this time with a view to adopting a post-2015 development agenda, including a set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The 17 proposed SDGs, comprised of 169 more specific targets, were the result of a long and intensive consultation process, involving a wide range of countries as well as interactions with nongovern- mental stakeholders. The broadly - and ambitiously - formulated goals address a range of social, economic and environmental issues, including ending poverty; achieving food security; ensuring sustainable manage- ment of water; achieving access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all; taking action to tackle climate change and its impacts; halting biodiver- sity loss; and so on. In December 2015, parties to the UN Framework Con- vention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) are expected to adopt a new international agreement in Paris on how to address climate change in the post-2020 period, appli- cable to all countries. Although negotiations have pro- gressed since their launch in Durban in 2011, with a negotiating text being adopted in February in Geneva, many contentious issues - including the exact legal form of the agreement and the extent to which devel- oped and developing country parties will be treated dif- ferently - remain undecided. The developments in these areas will be important for at least three reasons. First, they form a test case of whether the international community is actually able to reach agreement on new governance frameworks in the field of international environmental law. Specifi- cally, reaching agreement on the SDGs and the 2015 climate change agreement will be difficult, as both processes signify how 'environmental' issues are deeply intertwined with broader economic and social challenges. The processes will thus also provide an indication of the extent to which States are willing to cede national sovereignty. Second, the outcomes of the three processes will likely offer insights into the role of 'hard' law in international environmental governance. The Sendai Framework is non-binding, and the SDGs - like their predecessors, the Millennium Development Goals - are also likely to be non-binding, but it still remains to be seen to what extent a 2015 climate change agreement will be in the form of a legally binding treaty (the language thus far specifies that it will be 'a protocol, another legal instru- ment or an agreed outcome with legal force under the Convention'). However, more important than the precise legal form is whether the outcomes show a certain degree of precision and obligation: Will they contain language that somehow binds States or will they instead contain hortatory and vague provisions that grant States significant leeway? At present, the latter seems more likely. Third, the processes will show to which extent coordi- nation is (im)possible within the UN system. The con- sultations on the SDGs, for instance, have already showed how difficult it was to reach agreement on a specific goal related to climate change at a time when the negotiations under the UNFCCC were gathering steam. Given that the SDGs need to be agreed a few months before Paris, this problem is likely to return. Similarly, there will be ongoing discussion on how to connect the framework for disaster risk reduction (which also covers natural disasters) to the discussions on adaptation and loss and damage under the UNFCCC (which are primarily concerned with human-induced disasters). At this stage, the outcomes and impacts of all three processes remain uncertain - and some even wonder whether agreement is possible at all. Yet international environmental diplomats have shown a remarkable ability to agree on texts even in the face of major diver- gences in positions. The question that future scholars may rather ask themselves is: Did such agreements matter? Only time will tell how States will implement the agreements. This issue of RECIEL tackles a range of emerging issues in international and European environmental law. The issue starts with an analysis by Nadia SAnchez Castillo on the notion of permanent sovereignty. In an insight- ful analysis, she argues that this notion needs to be @ 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Maiden, MA 02148, USA. 1 DOl: 10.1111/reel.12108

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