The International Climate Change Regime: The Road from Copenhagen

Abstract

The failure of the Copenhagen conference to adopt a new legal agreement on climate change is blamed by some on poor chairing or other transitory factors. But the problems with the UN climate change negotiations are more fundamental and are unlikely to go away anytime soon. Rather than putting all of our eggs in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change basket or listening to the siren song of a new legal agreement, states should seek to address climate change in additional forums and through additional means. This essay for the Viewpoints Series of the Harvard Project on International Climate Agreements analyzes why the Copenhagen Conference was so difficult and assesses possible paths forward.

Keywords: Climate Change, International, Environmental, Kyoto, Copenhagen Conference, UNFCCC

JEL Classification: K33, K32, N40