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Climate Change:
Impacts and Responses
Topic 9:
Climate Change
Policy and Regulation
Topic outline
 Introduction
 Policy instruments
 International climate
change agreements
 Recent negotiations and
developments
Image: UN Photo, Frank Leather
Learning outcomes for this topic
 Describe a variety of policy
instruments for enabling globally
equitable climate change
mitigation and adaptation
 Describe the operations of the
United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC) and the Kyoto protocol
 Explain the steps forward that have
been made by the UNFCC
 Give an account of the problems
and barriers that have been
encountered
 Discuss recent developments in
climate change negotiations
Section 1:
Introduction
Outline:
Introduction
 Why do we need global policy
frameworks?
 Key features of global climate change
policy
Why do we need a global policy framework?
Opening of the UN climate change conference in Durban (COP 17)
Image: UN Photo, Jan Golinski
Key features of global climate change policy
 United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change, negotiated in Rio 1992
 Three key principles:

Equity and common but
differentiated responsibilities

The precautionary principle

Sustainable development
Section 2:
Types of policy instruments
Outline:
Types of policy instruments
 Regulations and standards
 Taxes and charges
 Tradable permits
 Voluntary agreements
 Subsidies and financial incentives
 Research and development programmes
 Information instruments
Regulations and standards
 Technology standards specify
methods of production or
methods for pollution
abatement
 Performance standards specify
environmental outcomes, but
polluting firms have greater
choice about how to reach
them.
Image: UN photo, Rick Bajornas
Taxes and charges
Image: UN photo, Kibae Park
Emissions taxes, charges or fees are paid by emitters per
unit of emissions. Schemes can be effective but do not
ensure a particular emissions level is reached.
Tradable permits
Image: www.economist.com
Voluntary agreements
 Agreements negotiated between governments and
groups of companies
 Preferred by companies as they enable leadership on
decisions around emission reduction strategies
Subsidies and financial incentives
 Politically popular
 Widely used by
governments around
the world to support
national industries
 Fossil fuel industries
continue to be highly
subsidized
 Renewable energy
subsidies can help a
market get
established
Image: UN photo, Pasqual Gorriz
 Subsidies should
eventually be
phased out
Research and development programmes
Information instruments
Image : Iyzadanger and Diliff
 Product labelling
 Disclosure programmes
 Public awareness campaigns
How effective are policy instruments?
 Environmental effectiveness
 Cost-effectiveness
 Distributional considerations
 Institutional feasibility
Section 3:
International climate change
agreements
Outline:
International climate change agreements
 The landscape of climate agreements and institutions
 What is the UNFCCC and who is included?
 A brief history leading up to the UNFCCC
 How does the UNFCCC operate?
 What is the Kyoto Protocol?
 Parties to the Kyoto Protocol
 Mechanisms
 Successes and failures
The landscape of climate agreements and
institutions
IPCC AR5 WGIII, 2014; Fig 13.1
The United Nations Framework Convention
on Climate Change
Aims to:
“stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level
that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the
climate system. Such a level should be achieved within a time frame
sufficient to allow ecosystems to adapt naturally to climate change, to
ensure that food production is not threatened and to enable economic
development to proceed in a sustainable manner”
- Article 2, UNFCCC
A brief history leading up to the UNFCCC
 1972 – UNEP
 1979 – 1st World Climate Conference
 1988 – IPCC
 1990 – IPCC 1st Assessment Report
 1991 – International Negotiating
Committee
 May 1992 – INC adopts the UNFCCC text
 June 1992 – Rio Earth Summit: UNFCCC
opened for signature
 1994 – UNFCCC “entered into force”
 1995 – 1st Conference of the Parties (COP1)
to the UNFCCC
Operations of the UNFCCC
 The Conference of the Parties (COP) – supreme decision
making body
 Parties:
• Annex I – industrialised countries and countries with
economies in transition)
• Annex II – as Annex I, but excluding countries with
economies in transition
• Non-Annex I – mostly developing countries
 Other bodies to support the UNFCCC have been set up
The Kyoto Protocol
Opening of COP 3, Kyoto, Japan, 1997
UN Image – Frank Leather
Parties to the Kyoto Protocol
Signatories of the Kyoto Protocol
Image: L. Tak
The mechanisms of the Kyoto Protocol
 Emissions Trading – trading emissions permits to meet targets
 Joint Implementation – investing in emission reduction projects in other
Annex I countries
 Clean Development – investing in emission reduction projects in
developing countries
How successful has the Kyoto Protocol been?
Australian Prime Minister Ratifies the
Kyoto Protocol in 2007
UN Image: Evan Schneider
Section 4:
Recent negotiations and developments
Outline:
Recent negotiations and developments
 Bali Road Map
 COP Copenhagen
 Cancun agreements
 Durban outcomes
 Doha climate gateway
 The future: COP 2015 Paris
COP 13 - Bali Road Map, Indonesia (2007)
Ambitious plan for a new global climate deal is launched
Image: UN Photo, Evan Schneider
COP15 - Copenhagen, Denmark (2009)
Hopes for a new climate deal were dashed at Copenhagen
Image: UN photo, Mark Garten
COP 16 - Cancun agreements, Mexico
(2010)
Expectations were reduced and some progress was made
Image: UN Photo, Paulo Filgueiras
COP17 - Durban outcomes, South Africa
(2011)
New global deal to be ready by 2015, to come into force in 2020
Image: UN photo, Mark Garten
COP18 0 Doha Climate Gateway, Qatar
(2012)
Kyoto Protocol extended
Image: UN photo, Mark Garten
The future: COP21 Paris, France (2015)
Image: F. de la Mure/ MAE
Summary
 “Common but differentiated responsibility”
 Types of policy instruments
 The UNFCCC
 The Kyoto Protocol
 Recent negotiations and progress in reaching a
global climate change deal
References
IPCC (2014). Summary for Policymakers In: Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate
Change. Contribution of Working Group III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Edenhofer, O., R. Pichs-Madruga, Y.
Sokona, E. Farahani, S. Kadner, K. Seyboth, A. Adler, I. Baum, S. Brunner, P. Eickemeier,
B. Kriemann, J. Savolainen, S. Schlömer, C. von Stechow, T. Zwickel and J.C. Minx (eds.)].
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA.
IPCC (2007). Summary for Policymakers In: Climate Change 2007: Mitigation.
Contribution of Working Group III to the Fourth Assessment Report of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [B. Metz, O.R. Davidson, P.R. Bosch, R.
Dave, L.A. Meyer (eds)], Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and
New York, NY, USA.
Metz B. (2010). Controlling Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge,
UK.
(2007) The Kyoto Protocol Mechanisms: International Emissions Trading, Clean
Development Mechanism, Joint Implementation. Available at:
Http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/publications/mechanisms.pdf
http://unfccc.int/2860.php
https://www.iea.org/co2highlights/co2highlights.pdf
Thank you!
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Climate Change:
Impacts and Responses
Image: UN Photo, Jan Golinski