Climate Change Negotiations: A Guide to Resolving Disputes and Facilitating Multilateral Cooperation

As the Kyoto Protocol limps along without the participation of the US and Australia, ongoing climate negotiations are plagued by competing national and business interests that are creating stumbling blocks to success. This book approaches the road blocks from five professional perspectives: a top policy maker, a senior negotiator, a leading scientist, an international lawyer and a sociologist who is observing the process. The authors identify the major problems including great power strategies (the EU, the US and Russia), leadership, the role of NGOs, capacity and knowledge building, airline industry emissions, insurance and risk transfer-instruments, problems of cost/benefit analysis, the IPCC in the post-Kyoto situation and verification and institutional design. They also identify and assess facilitation strategies designed to cope with different kinds of stumbling blocks with the goal of keeping climate discussions moving towards international agreement and long-term success.