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TWN Info Service on Health Issues (Jan23/04)
27 January 2023
Third World Network

Zoom webinar

“Common but differentiated responsibility”? Expectations related to the application of the CBDR principle in the field of international health and pandemic preparedness, prevention and response

In the week before the 152nd Session of the WHO Executive Board, a series of public policy debates and civil society strategy meetings organized by the Geneva Global Health Hub (G2H2) and its members will provide spaces for sharing, assessing and debating health policy and governance challenges that go beyond the items covered by the formal agenda of WHO EB, bridging from health policies to people’s realities, addressing determinants of health and promoting democratic governance. The panel on CBDR principle in the field of International health and pandemic preparedness, prevention and response to be held on 27th is the last in the series.

The 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change formalized, for the first time, the essential compromise between the global North and South, wherein the richer industrialized nations agreed to undertake higher obligations to combat environmental challenges. This agreement was further developed into a system of caps on carbon emissions in the Kyoto Protocol. This is called the Common But Differentiated Responsibility (CBDR), which is now also finding applications beyond international environment law in various naval treaties and trade agreements (reference).

Based on the initiative of some countries of the global South, the concept of CBDR has made its way into the “conceptual zero draft” of a new WHO convention, agreement or other international instrument on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response (INB, “pandemic treaty” process). The policy dialogue shall allow participants to explore and debate the use of the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and related capabilities in the field of international health law, and the proposed pandemic treaty.

Programme

  • Welcome, introduction
    Eolann Mac Fadden, Frontline AIDS
  • The concept of CBDR and its applicability to international health law
    Vicente Paulo Yu, International Climate Law Expert, & G77 Coordinator, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
    Matiangai Sirleaf, Nathan Patz Professor of Law at the University of Maryland School of Law
    Nirmalya Syam, Senior Programme Officer, South Centre
    KM Gopakumar, legal advisor and senior researcher, Third World Network
  • Discussion (panel and plenary)
    Is it (legally) possible to introduce/apply the CBDR principle in a WHO instrument?
    Does it (conceptually) make sense to do so? Relevance and advantages?
    Is it (practically, politically) feasible/wise to do so?
  • Outlook and closure

The session will be moderated by Priti Patnaik, Geneva Health Files

References

Responsibility and CBDR in epidemics

CBDR principle: Origins and Scope

  • The Principle of Common But Differentiated Responsibilities: Origins and Scope
    CISDL brief, 2002
  • Differential Treatment in International Law & Global Risks from Pandemics and Climate Change
  • Bradly J. Condon 2022 via SSRN
    (WTO context: “special and differential treatment provisions”)
  • Rio+20: “Common but differentiated responsibilities” debate takes a turn
    TWN Rio+20 Update, 2022
  • Different Perspectives on Differentiated Responsibilities
    Pieter Pauw et al. IDOS 2014

More about this session

  • Policy debate organized by Frontline AIDS, Medicus Mundi International Network (MMI), and Third World Network (TWN)
  • Language: English
  • Contact: Thomas Schwarz, MMI Network
  • Register here (Zoom) for all public sessions

For more information https://g2h2.org/posts/january2023/

 

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