Abstract
Climate change has become a major global concern that can only be resolved by the collective actions of all stakeholders influenced by climate change impacts. International law might play an important role in resolving the impacts of climate change by regulating legal relationships among individual countries. The role of China is critical for the success of the global response to climate change and the development of international climate change law. However, there is currently a lack of comprehensive research regarding China’s interactions with the normative role of international climate change law based on its negotiation position, international commitments and domestic practices. This thesis aimed to investigate China’s interactions with international climate change law by clarifying the normative role of international climate change law in China and the role of China in promoting the normativity of international climate change law. This thesis aimed to answer the following three interrelated questions: (a) What is the normativity of international law? (b) How does international climate change law exert its normative forces on individual countries? (c) What does China perceive the normativity of international climate change law, and how does China promote the normative qualities of international climate change law?This thesis starts by making clear the conceptual foundation of the normativity of international law and setting out an analytical framework to delimit the basic parameters, components and processes through which the normativity of international law is generated and developed. The thesis then evaluates the status of the normativity of international climate change law in the United Nations’ climate regime and explores China’s perceptions and practices of the normative qualities of international climate change law based on its negotiation position and domestic actions on climate change. Finally, the thesis envisages the possible contributions of China to further promote the normative qualities of international climate change law.
| Date of Award | 3 Feb 2021 |
|---|---|
| Original language | English |
| Supervisor | Vai Io Lo (Supervisor) & Michael Weir (Supervisor) |