Leaders of China and the U.S. announced today that their countries will work hard alongside other nations to produce a substantive international climate agreement at a major United Nations climate conference next month.
Last week’s climate talks brought into relief the complex mix of politics and policies that countries are grappling with heading into COP-15 next month.
Climate change is a global issue
that requires action from all
countries. As the U.S. Congress
develops a domestic climate
and energy package, the United
States seeks assurance that
other countries will also act and
a means to track the progress of
commitments by verifying that
actions have been implemented.
This table indicates some of the benefits and risks associated with strengthening and weakening an international agreement’s legal character, content, and review procedures designed to promote imple
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.
WRI examines current insurance proposals under discussion in the UNFCCC and considers options for a global agreement in promoting insurance as a climate change solution.
In deciphering U.S. climate policy, it is important to understand the limitations of the president’s powers and the distinct processes that all legislation follows in the two chambers of the United States Congress.
This working paper seeks to ground the debate on climate finance in an objective analysis of ongoing efforts to finance mitigation and adaptation in developing countries.
