By Gbatemah S.K. Senah
Student, Cuttington University Graduate School of Global Affairs and Policy
Introduction
Climate change is the most urgent multilateral challenge confronting international law in the 21st century. The Paris Agreement (United Nations, 2015) established the first truly universal framework for environmental cooperation, addressing global warming through principles such as equity, sustainable development, and Common but Differentiated Responsibilities and Respective Capabilities (CBDR-RC). For developing countries, and particularly African states such as Liberia, these principles reflect deeper struggles over climate justice and global economic inequality. Although Africa contributes the least to greenhouse gas emissions, it bears a disproportionate share of climate impacts and economic losses (Sumaworo, 2022). Within this global context, Liberia has begun to reform and strengthen its domestic institutions for climate governance, most recently through the establishment of the Carbon Markets Authority (CMA) in November 2025.
This paper examines Liberia’s climate governance architecture in relation to the Paris Agreement, international climate law, and Africa’s broader climate injustice. It highlights the significance of the Carbon Markets Authority and integrates the findings of Sumaworo (2022), who argues that Africa remains the victim of a climate crisis it did not cause. The paper argues that Liberia’s institutional reforms offer a model for developing countries striving to convert international climate commitments into national development opportunities.
The Paris Agreement and the Evolution of International Climate Law
The Paris Agreement represents a major shift in international climate law, replacing the rigid top-down structure of the Kyoto Protocol with a cooperative model built on voluntary Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). As Rajamani and Werksman (2018) explain, the Paris framework blends binding and non-binding norms to reconcile state sovereignty with global climate goals. Rather than imposing mandatory emission caps on developing states, the Paris Agreement invites states to define their own mitigation and adaptation plans.
This hybrid legal design is critical for developing countries. The system acknowledges inequalities in capacity and historical responsibility, embedding CBDR-RC into the governance structure (Bodansky, 2016). As Okereke (2010) notes, the climate regime has long reflected structural imbalances between wealthy industrial emitters and low emitting vulnerable countries. The Paris Agreement’s flexible architecture therefore provides a more inclusive form of global climate governance.
For Liberia, the Paris Agreement creates opportunities for climate financing, technology transfer, and capacity building (UNFCCC, 2021). Yet, as with many developing nations, these opportunities are constrained by persistent inequities in the global climate system.
Africa’s Climate Injustice in International Law
The Modern Ghana article by Dr. Mory Sumaworo (2022) provides one of the clearest articulations of Africa’s disproportionate burden in the global climate crisis. Africa contributes less than 3% of cumulative greenhouse gas emissions but is among the most vulnerable regions to climate impacts. The continent currently spends 2%–5% of its GDP annually on climate-related losses, an enormous burden for countries already struggling with poverty and debt (Sumaworo, 2022).
Sumaworo’s central argument is that Africa is being forced to bear the cost of damage overwhelmingly caused by industrialized nations. This injustice is reflected in the persistent shortfall in global climate finance. Although Africa requires USD 2.8 trillion by 2030 to meet its climate obligations, it received only USD 30 billion in 2020, representing barely 12% of annual needs (Sumaworo, 2022). The implications are dire as seven of the ten most climate-vulnerable countries are African, including Liberia’s neighbors, Sierra Leone and Nigeria.
African leaders, including Liberia’s former President George M. Weah, have repeatedly highlighted these inequities in global forums such as COP27. President Weah emphasized that low emitting, high forest countries like Liberia face unfair expectations to conserve ecosystems without receiving proportional financial returns (Sumaworo, 2022).
This context is essential for understanding Liberia’s domestic climate institutions: the country must manage global obligations while addressing profound local vulnerabilities and resource constraints.
Climate Finance and Legal Barriers to Technology Transfer
Article 9 of the Paris Agreement obligates developed countries to provide climate finance to developing states. This principle aligns with CBDR-RC and acknowledges that wealthy economies bear a higher historical responsibility for the current crisis (United Nations, 2015). Institutions such as the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF) support developing countries with grants, concessional loans, and capacity-building programs (Green Climate Fund, 2023).
Liberia has benefited from projects such as the Liberia Renewable Energy Access Project and coastal resilience initiatives (World Bank, 2022). However, Liberia faces challenges accessing climate funds due to limited technical capacity, complex application procedures, and weak domestic governance structures. These structural barriers mirror the broader African experience, where climate finance flows fall far short of needs (Sumaworo, 2022).
Another important obstacle is the intellectual property system embedded in the WTO’s TRIPS Agreement. As Okereke (2010) explains, the patent regime has constrained African states’ access to affordable green technologies, thereby deepening technological dependency on the Global North. For Liberia, advancing climate adaptation requires not only financing but also technology transfer and capacity development.
Global Climate Governance and Liberia’s Participation
Under the Paris Agreement, states must strengthen transparency, monitoring, and reporting systems. The Global Stocktake conducted every five years, assesses collective progress and guides the enhancement of NDCs (Rajamani & Werksman, 2018). The country’s updated 2021 NDC prioritizes renewable energy, forest conservation, sustainable agriculture, and improved environmental governance (UNFCCC, 2021).
Regionally, institutions such as the African Union and ECOWAS reinforce Liberia’s alignment with continental climate strategies (African Union, 2015). Domestically, the country has improved cross-ministerial coordination, environmental awareness, and policy mainstreaming, yet significant institutional gaps remained until very recently.
Liberia’s National Implementation: The Carbon Markets Authority (CMA)
A breakthrough came in November with the issuance of Executive Order No. 155, establishing the Carbon Markets Authority (Government of Liberia, 2025). The CMA is Liberia’s first comprehensive national institution for carbon markets, climate finance, and implementation of commitments under the Paris Agreement.
Its mandate includes overseeing carbon credit generation and transactions, supervising national reporting on treaty compliance, coordinating forestry, agriculture, waste management, and renewable energy sectors, ensuring institutional transparency and anti-corruption compliance, and managing digital monitoring systems
Two major instruments will anchor Liberia’s participation in global carbon markets. They are the National Carbon Registry (NCR), a digital platform to record carbon credits, project data, and Internationally Transferred Mitigation Outcomes (ITMOs) under Article 6, and the Liberia Carbon Investment Fund (LCIF), a national trust fund for climate-related financing, public-private partnerships, and development projects such as clean water, reforestation, and rural electrification.
The CMA transforms Liberia’s climate governance by professionalizing climate finance management, reducing corruption risk, and enhancing transparency—areas long identified as structural weaknesses. It also positions Liberia to monetize its vast forest resources while adhering to environmental safeguards.
Crucially, the CMA helps address the inequalities identified by Sumaworo (2022), by allowing Liberia to pursue climate finance on its own terms rather than depending exclusively on insufficient external flows.
Conclusion
International climate law, particularly the Paris Agreement, represents a significant evolution in global governance. Its hybrid structure, such as combining voluntary NDCs with binding financial commitments, offers new pathways for developing countries to balance sovereignty with shared responsibility. Yet, climate injustice remains deeply entrenched. As Sumaworo (2022) argues, Africa continues to suffer the consequences of a crisis it did not cause, burdened with inadequate climate finance and unrealistic expectations from the global community.
Liberia’s creation of the Carbon Markets Authority is an important step in turning global commitments into national development opportunities. By institutionalizing climate governance, improving transparency, and capitalizing on carbon markets under Article 6, Liberia provides an emerging model for climate justice in the Global South. To fully realize these opportunities, however, developed nations must honor their obligations under international law, financially, technologically, and morally.
Note: This essay was part of the International Law course’s activities taught by Mory Sumaworo (Ph.D) at Cuttington University Graduate School of Global Affairs and Policy.
References
African Union. (2015). Agenda 2063: The Africa we want. Addis Ababa.
Bodansky, D. (2016). The legal character of the Paris Agreement. Review of European, Comparative & International Environmental Law, 25(2), 142–150.
Government of Liberia. (2025). Executive Order No. 155 establishing the Carbon Markets Authority. Executive Mansion, Monrovia.
Green Climate Fund. (2023). Country portfolio: Liberia.
Okereke, C. (2010). Climate justice and the international regime: A critical perspective. Geoforum, 41(6), 958–966.
Rajamani, L., & Werksman, J. (2018). The legal architecture of the Paris Climate Agreement. Journal of Environmental Law, 30(3), 405–433.
Sumaworo, M. (2022). Africa: The victim of the climate crisis without negligible cause. Modern Ghana.com.
United Nations. (2015). Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
UNFCCC. (2021). Liberia’s updated Nationally Determined Contribution. Bonn: UNFCCC Secretariat.
World Bank. (2022). Forest Carbon Partnership Facility framework document. Washington, D.C.
