CiR2P Option 9 | Threaten or apply economic sanctions

DISCUSSION:

Any country or group of countries can threaten or apply economic sanctions. Economic sanctions involve measures such as comprehensive or selective trade embargos, the freezing or dissolution of trade agreements, withdrawal of investments, or the withdrawal of World Bank or IMF support.

Western governments impose trade sanctions on a long list of countries. Trade restrictions involve controls on the export or import (transfer) of technology, services, and or personnel, among other things.

Technology transfer has been an important topic of international climate change negotiations since the adoption in 1992 of the UNFCCC in which the parties committed themselves to “promote and cooperate in the development, application and diffusion, including transfer, of technologies” (UNFCCC, article 4.5). This mostly involves North-to-South technology transfers, since technologies have so far been mostly developed in industrialised countries.

Some Western programs facilitate access to mitigation technology such as large and small scale renewable electricity sources, low emission transport systems and fuels, emerging low emission options for heavy industry production processes (steel and cement production for example), and consumer options such as energy efficient appliances; as well as a range of adaptation technologies. They also provide regular information through training and support personnel.

The transfer of Western climate mitigation and adaptation technology and associated personnel could be suspected to countries that are marching towards an egregious violation of human rights. This suspension may be particularly effective when focused on mitigation activities because energy, transport, heavy industry sectors in fragile states are generally owned and operated by regime officials and associates. Suspending support for adaptation technologies may cause unnecessary direct harm on an already highly vulnerable population to climate impacts and regime violence.

Western governments could also withdrawal from investing in overseas fossil fuel projects, which would be a low-risk position to take domestically, while delivering potentially significant adverse impacts on target regimes.

A less desirable option because of its potential to impact on the population at large, would be to threaten or withdraw funding to multilateral climate-related funds that have been established to assist developing countries prepare for climate disasters and develop low emissions economies. For most of these countries, the loss of multilateral funding would significantly reduce the capacity to pursue low emissions development pathways and targets.