Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol: The Role of Institutions and Instruments to Control Global Change

The Kyoto Protocol was a milestone event in the process of getting global climate change on to the political agenda and taking the first tentative steps towards internationally coordinated action. This book brings together researchers from the disciplines of law, economics, political science and sociology to analyze the instruments which have been set up to manage climate change and the institutional shifts that are required for the reduction of greenhouse gases (GHGs). The authors highlight the need for an adequate implementation structure and well designed flexible instruments to enable emissions targets to be achieved. They discuss the level of international coordination which is required for the smooth operation of flexibility mechanisms and the importance of ensuring these instruments fit within existing national structures. In some countries, there are concerns that the introduction of cap and credit trading programs may require an overhaul of existing environmental legislation. Technical innovations will also have a critical role to play in preparing the ground for increasingly ambitious controls of GHGs. The authors emphasize the need for an evolutionary development of instruments to support such innovations and the potentially vital roles of firms and governments to help their quick diffusion. This book presents an unusual, fascinating and highly instructive mixture of approaches which will be readily accessible to a broad array of readers from a variety of scientific backgrounds. It will prove invaluable to economists, political and social scientists, lawyers, practitioners and decision-makers involved with climate change policy and international environmental law.