GAME OF TONES: A TWAIL-ANALYSIS OF THE EVOLUTION AND IMPACTS OF THE UNITED NATIONS FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER REGIME IN AFRICA.

Abstract

The 1992 Rio Outcome articulates what is arguably, to date, the most ambitious North–South environmentally sound technology (EST) transfer aspirations. Yet, 26 years post-Rio, Africa remains at the lowest rung of the global EST deployment totem. Departing from talking-points like the connection of EST transfer and intellectual property rights, this research focuses on the normative underpinnings of the history, processes and dynamics of UNFCCC’s EST transfer regime. Using a ‘reconsidered’ Third World Approach to International Law approach and its accompanying historical research methodology, the thesis seeks to track landmarks in UNFCCC’s EST transfer regime evolution and the impacts of a globally commodified climate change structure on EST transfer in Africa. It further considers how previous trends are being reproduced and reiterated in the current regime under the Paris Agreement. It concludes by framing a five-point research agenda for the reformation of the UNFCCC-led global EST development and transfer regime.