Climate Clubs and International Trade across the European and International Landscape

Abstract

This article provides a comprehensive examination of the greatest threat humanity faces today: climate change. It does so by looking at the legal, political, institutional, regulatory, and economic angles of climate change from the perspective of major emitters and the most relevant actors in the mitigation of climate change. The article offers a fresh understanding of the international trading system as a way to reach a prosperous, modern, and sustainable society that will help decarbonize the economy effectively. The article offers new ideas on the creation of a climate club linked to the international trade regime as an effective way to mitigate climate change. How should policies, regulations, laws, and agreements change to get us there? What incentives will be necessary to get there effectively? What has failed and why? We conclude that innovation and technology will be among the key elements of this equation, without which we will miss the goal.

Keywords: climate action, renewable energy, sustainability, storage, clean energy, technology, innovation, climate clubs, international trade

JEL Classification: K33