Intragenerational equity : a key concept in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

Intragenerational equity' concerns equity issues occurring within a generation and this equity can occur within states and between states. Global climate protection will not succeed without the support of both developed and developing countries and in order to achieve cooperation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the future, it is important to focus upon the role of equity in international environmental law and in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). At international law the principle of equity remains controversial however equity enables states to take into account the consideration of justice and fairness in the operation of a rule of international law. In this paper there is an examination of the equitable concept, 'common but differentiated responsibilities' of states as it is elaborated in the provisions of the UNFCCC. This is followed by a review of the obligations and commitments of parties to the UNFCCC taking into account the role of transfer of financial resources and technology by developed countries to developing countries. The focus in this paper is on intragenerational equity as it is elaborated in the UNFCCC and one of the main environmental concepts of equity, which has emerged from the concept of equity at international law. This concept is set out in Principle 7 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development (Rio Declaration) where states have 'common but differentiated responsibilities' to combat environmental degradation.