Topic: climate change

A Copenhagen agreement on climate change will likely take a legally binding form, but one that provides for a range of commitments by countries. This Working Paper clarifies a complex set of issues around the legal character of commitments and weighs the potential risks and benefits to countries of expressing their “nationally appropriate mitigation actions” (NAMAs) in a legally binding form.

Cap-and-trade programs are designed to increase the economic efficiency of emissions reductions and lower costs beyond command-and-control approaches alone. Cap-and-trade programs often incorporate features that add flexibility and/or increase price certainty to help address cost concerns. This fact sheet describes several common examples of cost containment mechanisms.

This issue brief evaluates five approaches to account for state-achieved reductions and address the state-to-state “leakage” problem under a federal cap-and-trade program.

This report discusses the successes and challenges to effective regulation in China. It also addresses U.S. competitiveness concerns in relation to the introduction of U.S. cap-and-trade policies, and specific opportunities for enhanced climate change cooperation between the two countries.