Bringing the Copenhagen Global Climate Change Negotiations to Conclusion

48 Pages Posted: 20 Nov 2008

See all articles by John Whalley

John Whalley

University of Western Ontario - Department of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute); Centre for International Governance and Innovation (CIGI)

Sean Walsh

Centre for International Governance and Innovation (CIGI)

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Date Written: November 2008

Abstract

In this paper we discuss the global negotiations now underway and aimed at achieving new climate change mitigation and other arrangements after 2012 (the end of the Kyoto commitment period). These were initiated in Bali in December 2007 and are scheduled to conclude by the end of 2009 in Copenhagen. As such, this negotiation is effectively the second round in ongoing global negotiations on climate change and further rounds will almost certainly follow. We highlight both the vast scope and vagueness of the negotiating mandate, the many outstanding major issues to be accommodated between negotiating parties, the lack of a mechanism to force collective decision making in the negotiation, and their short time frame. The likely lack of compliance with prior Kyoto commitments by several OECD countries (some to a major degree), the effective absence in Kyoto of compliance/enforcement mechanisms, and growing linkage to non-climate change areas (principally trade) all further complicate the task of bringing the negotiation to conclusion. The major clearage we see that needs to be bridged in the negotiations is between OECD countries on the one hand, and lower wage, large population, rapidly growing countries (China, India, Russia, Brazil) on the other.

Keywords: climate change, global negotiation

JEL Classification: F13

Suggested Citation

Whalley, John and Walsh, Sean, Bringing the Copenhagen Global Climate Change Negotiations to Conclusion (November 2008). CESifo Working Paper Series No. 2458, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1303382 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1303382

John Whalley (Contact Author)

University of Western Ontario - Department of Economics ( email )

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CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute)

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Sean Walsh

Centre for International Governance and Innovation (CIGI) ( email )

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Waterloo, Ontario N2L 6C2
Canada

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