GVPT 306 Lecture Notes - Lecture 13: 2011 United Nations Climate Change Conference, Kyoto Protocol, Copenhagen Accord
21 Oct 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Climate Politics: Paris
Evaluating the Copenhagen Accord
• Countries like Tuvalu, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Cuba, Venezuela, Sudan, and Pakistan opposed the
Accord on principle with many criticizing its format
• Criticisms of the Accord:
o The Accord is non-binding
o Its legal status is ambiguous, as it is not technically an agreement
o The list of countries who must join is not specified
o There is no aggregated emissions target
• Strengths of the Accord:
o Participation was broader than Kyoto
o There was self-differentiation (countries could select their own goals)
o Its goals were shared among many countries
o It started the process of public and private organizations financing climate adaptation
and mitigation
o It promoted learning and communication
Proposed Process Changes
• New venues
o G20?
o Major Emitters Forum (MEF)?
o Bilateral deals?
• Proposed Changes to UNFCCC
o Mexico suggested redefining consensus; this proposal failed (2010)
o Papua New Guinea proposed requiring a three-fourths majority (2011)
o Russia proposed reclassifying Annex I and Annex II countries (2011)
After Copenhagen
• Durban Platform (2011): Break down the “firewall” of the Kyoto Protocol
• Article 2:
o “Also decides to launch a process to develop a protocol, another legal instrument or an
agreed outcome with legal force under the Convention applicable to all Parties,
through a subsidiary body under the Convention hereby established and be known as
the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action;”
• Ostrom et al. (1999): “Norm-building” on climate change
o Social pressure
o Sharing of information
• “We need to focus much more on the real power of creating norms and expectations as
distinguished from rigid rules. There is certainly a role for rules, standards, and obligations in
this agreement. But an agreement that is animated by the progressive development of norms
and expectations rather than by the hard edge of law, compliance and penalty has a much
Document Summary
Evaluating the copenhagen accord: countries like tuvalu, nicaragua, bolivia, cuba, venezuela, sudan, and pakistan opposed the. Accord on principle with many criticizing its format: criticisms of the accord, the accord is non-binding. It started the process of public and private organizations financing climate adaptation and mitigation. There is certainly a role for rules, standards, and obligations in this agreement. American domestic politics (2010: bargaining dynamics, there was a bipartisan senate coalition of john kerry (d), joseph lieberman (d), and. Lindsey graham (r) in support of a cap-and-trade bill: the anti-cap-and-trade tea party began to mobilize, leading republicans to fear facing and losing tea-party candidates in elections, reasons for failure, public opinion, economy, parties. 2030, relative to 2005 levels: process, the epa develops state goals; the states develop plans to comply with these goals, options. Increased efficiency in coal power plants: more effective use of natural gas power plants.
