Global Climate Policy : Why and How to Change Course

Climate negotiations have largely failed, so a change of course is required. This requires that a sizable group of experts recommend a small, clear set of policy guideposts that lead to a more cooperative treaty. This papers proposes a set of three guideposts and derives them from an analysis of the current policy failure. That failure is often blamed on insufficient “political will.” But the real problem is that international cap and trade prevents the harnessing of self interest. However, a treaty that specifies a global carbon price can harness self interest, and will therefore result in cooperation and a higher carbon price than under cap and trade. Nations that commit to the global price can comply by using either taxes or cap and trade programs. A Green Fund would be used to fairly adjust the burden of a uniform price commitment