Cinnamon Piñon Carlarne

This article analyzes the intersection between international trade and environmental regimes. Increasingly, multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) rely on trade measures to implement and enforce environmental obligations. Trade-related environmental measures accentuate the existence of tensions and the necessity of clarifying the relationship between free trade and environmental objectives, as embodied by the World Trade Organization (WTO) and MEAs, such as the Kyoto Protocol. The Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) exemplifies the inevitable intersection of environmental and trade objectives. Both the UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol address the causes and consequences of global climate change. The Kyoto Protocol, more than any existing MEA, is likely to impact state economies and international trade relations. The Kyoto Protocol promotes the UNFCCC goal of “stabilizing atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference in the climate system.” United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, art. 2, May 9, 1992, 31 I.L.M. 849. Limiting greenhouse gas emissions under Kyoto requires developed countries to modify primary economic structures, including transformations within energy, transportation, manufacturing, agriculture, and investment sectors. Therefore, although Kyoto does not directly implicate trade provisions or contravene WTO rules, it has the potential to impact key sectors of the economy and international trade. Accordingly, the Kyoto Protocol provides an appropriate context for analyzing fundamental tensions between international trade and environmental regimes. This article suggests that it is essential that the WTO develop a conceptually sound framework for managing such issues. To this end, the WTO should modify its “constitution” through the adoption of an interpretative clause that provides clear principles for defining the relationship between the WTO and MEAs.

Reconciling Tensions Between Free Trade & Environmental Objectives

The Kyoto Protocol & the WTO

Existing climate change governance regimes in the US and the EU contain complex mixtures of regulatory, market, voluntary, and research-based strategies. The EU has adopted an approach to climate change that is based on mandatory greenhouse gas emission reductions; it is grounded in 'hard' law measures and accompanied by 'soft' law measures at the regional and Member State level. In contrast, until recently, the US federal government has carefully avoided mandatory emission reduction obligations and focused instead on employing a variety of 'soft' measures to encourage - rather than mandate - greenhouse gas emission reductions in an economically sound, market-driven manner. These macro level differences are critical yet they mask equally important transatlantic policy convergences. The US and the EU are pivotal players in the development of the international climate change regime. How these two entities structure climate change laws and policies profoundly influences the shape and success of climate change laws and policies at multiple levels of governance. This book suggests that the overall structures and processes of climate change law and policy-making in the US and the EU are intricately linked to international policy-making and, thus, the long-term success of global efforts to address climate change. Accordingly, the book analyses the content and process of climate change law and policy-making in the US and the EU to reveal policy convergences and divergences, and to examine how these convergences and divergences impact the ability of the global community to structure a sustainable, effective and equitable long-term climate strategy.

EU and US Approaches

Climate Change Law and Policy

Kevin R. Gray

Richard Tarasofsky

Climate change presents one of the greatest challenges of our time, and has become one of the defining issues of the twenty-first century. The radical changes which both developed and developing countries will need to make, in economic and in legal terms, to respond to climate change are unprecedented. International law, including treaty regimes, institutions, and customary international law, needs to address the myriad challenges and consequences of climate change, including variations in the weather patterns, sea level rise, and the resulting migration of peoples. The Oxford Handbook of International Climate Change Law provides an unprecedented and authoritative overview of all aspects of international climate change law as it currently stands, with guidance for how it should develop in the future. Over forty leading scholars and practitioners set out a comprehensive understanding of the legal issues that surround this vitally important but still emerging area of international law. This book addresses the major legal dimensions of the problems caused by climate change: not only in the content and nature of the international legal frameworks, which need implementation at the national level, but also the development of carbon trading systems as a means of reducing the costs of meeting emission reduction targets. After an introduction to the field, the Handbook assesses the relevant institutions, the key applicable principles of international law, the international mitigation regime and its consequences, and climate change litigation, before providing perspectives focused upon specific countries or regions. The Handbook will be an invaluable resource for scholars, students, and practitioners of international climate change law. It provides readers with diverse perspectives, bringing together interpretations from different disciplines, countries, and cultures.

Cinnamon Piñon Carlarne

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