A Global Federalist Perspective on Climate Change: Reflections on the Last Conference of the Parties in Brazil

The fight against climate change is the great challenge of our time, the one on which our survival depends. We now live in the so-called Anthropocene, an era in which it is no longer possible to ignore the active role humanity plays in the Earth ecosystem, because human beings have become one of the main actors disrupting the planet’s climatic balance.

The increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration — unequivocally attributable to human activity — has reached levels that make almost inevitable an increase of at least two degrees Celsius in the global average temperature compared to pre-industrial levels. The devastating effects of climate change on the world’s population are evident.

In spite of these alarming figures, the international community is struggling to provide effective responses. The Conferences of the Parties (COPs) are certainly the most important opportunity to agree on a strategy that is as global as possible to counter the effects of climate change and achieve the goals set in Paris in 2015. However, since a consensus-based decision-making mechanism continues to be chosen on every meeting – , without providing for binding instruments-the COPs prove unable to establish a true international order on climate matters, with particularly serious consequences for the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), whose effective representation is further hindered by the high costs of attending these meetings.