On the twentieth anniversary of the negotiation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the fifteenth anniversary of the negotiation of the Kyoto Protocol to the UNFCCC, it is time for the global community to reflect on the future of our system of global climate...

This paper will use the criteria outlined in Lavanya Rajamani's article 'Addressing the "Post Kyoto" Stress Disorder: Reflections on the Emerging Legal Architecture of the Climate Regime', as a template to determine how successful the Copenhagen Meeting was in achieving its stated goals. Thus,...

The Kyoto Protocol sets legally binding emission targets for industrialised countries without accounting for reductions carried out prior to 2008, the beginning of the first commitment period. There exists only one exception, the project-based Clean Development Mechanism where credits accrue...

This paper asks how countries can implement their commitments to limit the increase in the global average temperature under the recent Paris Agreement on Climate Change for agriculture. An initial examination of the relevant trade rules and case law indicates that they appear unable to legally...

With the growth of the developing world's population and economies, limiting their contribution to the global growth of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions has increased greatly in significance. The parties to the UN Climate Change Convention acknowledged this reality in the Bali Action Plan,...

This article explains why policy makers should seriously consider substantial early reductions in greenhouse gas emissions as a part of any post-Kyoto framework, and sets out suggested elements of a framework for early action in a post-Kyoto agreement. Substantial early reductions are needed...

This paper suggests that a mixture of measures may be needed to encourage renewable energy under the Kyoto Protocol. It explains that the goal of maximizing short term cost effectiveness tends to conflict with the goal of encouraging the long-term technological development that the world will...

“Preventing future calamity requires not only agreement but action. Governments and other responsible groups are usually accused of reacting to crises rather than foreseeing and preventing them. We have an opportunity here to show that experts, scientists, lawyers, and governments can foresee...

National energy security, parallel with the ultimate goal of emissions reductions, is of utmost priority for the Chinese government. In order to comply with the requirements set by the Kyoto Protocol, the Chinese government announced, on 25 November 2009, that 2020’s CO2 emissions would be...

Although “cap and trade” programs for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are often discussed as a viable program for the United States (U.S.), it is unlikely that any such program will be adopted in the near future, but there are other options available that President Obama and the...