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Legal Response Initiative
Introduction
The Legal Response Initiative (LRI) is a pro bono initiative designed to assist and support least developed countries (LDP) with legal advice and legal capacity-building services during U.N. climate change negotiations. It strives to establish equity between the wealthier countries that have better access to legal resources and LDPs that are burdened by limited legal resources and are also the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. The LRI was launched in 2009 in a joint initiative between WWF-UK and Oxfam GB, and has successfully created a network of highly qualified international lawyers to provide rapid response to legal queries submitted by delegates from LDPs and NGOs during climate negotiations. Aside from its real-time assistance during climate negotiations, the LRI has begun to provide additional services between negotiations, producing legal papers and hosting legal training workshops.
The Columbia Center for Climate Change Law (CCCL) is proud to announce its partnership with the LRI. CCCL will serve as the North American hub, volunteering the expertise of its legal scholars. CCCL is currently recruiting pro bono attorneys to assist with LRI’s efforts surrounding the upcoming climate negotiations in Durban, South Africa in the two weeks after Thanksgiving, as well as work afterwards. Lawyers with expertise in a variety of fields will be needed, including public international law, the governance of international institutions, international trade and the WTO, and carbon trading. The work would be done in the lawyers' home cities (it does not require travel to South Africa). Attorneys intested in assisting in these efforts should complete and submit the LRI Volunteer Form below.
Issue Introductory Papers
- Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs)
- Green Climate Fund (GCF)
- Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRV)