In 2009 the US House of Representatives passed legislation requiring reductions in greenhouse gas emissions by 18 percent over the coming decade. Later that year, President Obama went to Copenhagen to sign a treaty requiring reductions by 50 percent over a two-decade period. The President came back with nothing: no firm commitment to reduce emissions and only a vague target to hold global temperature rises to under 2 C. How does a President who has a 75-vote majority in the House and a 19-vote majority in the Senate who has pre-approval for a treaty reducing greenhouse gas production by 18 percent not achieve a treaty with at least the minimum goal of 18 percent reductions by 2020?Others have answered the puzzle by looking at institutional designs or negotiation dynamics. This book articulates a multilevel process that starts with local politics to explain how they can influence international negotiations and why President Obama s efforts in Copenhagen were doomed to fail. Understanding the role of local private interests can help form strategies for overcoming national resistance to climate change legislation and ultimately international agreements that could change the environmentally self-destructive course we are on.

The most important climate agreement in history, the Paris Agreement on Climate Change represents the commitment of the nations of the world to address and curb climate change. Signed in December 2015, it entered into force on 4th November 2016. Countries are moving into implementation, and efforts at all levels will be needed to fulfill its ambitious goals. The Paris Climate Agreement: Commentary and Analysis combines a comprehensive legal appraisal and critique of the new Agreement with a practical and structured commentary to and social drivers behind it, providing an overview of the pre-existing regime, and tracking the history of the negotiations. It examines the evolution of key concepts such as common but differentiated responsibilities, and analyses the legal form of the Agreement and the nature of its provisions. Part II comprises individual chapters on each Article of the Agreement, with detailed commentary of the provisions which highlights central aspects from the negotiating history and the legal nature of the obligations. It describes the institutional arrangements and considerations for national implementation, providing practical advice and prospects for future development. Part III reflects on the Paris Agreement as a whole: its strengths and weaknesses, its potential for further development, and its relationship with other areas of public international law and governance. The book is an invaluable resource for academics and practitioners, policy makers, and actors in the private sector and civil society, as they negotiate the implementation of the Agreement in domestic law and policy.

Providing in-depth coverage of each article of the Paris Agreement, this Commentary offers a comprehensive, legal analysis of this most recent and important international instrument on climate change. This provision-by-provision textual analysis examines the commitments that parties to the Agreement have made to undertake ambitious efforts to combat climate change and adapt to its effects, whilst providing additional support to developing countries.

The agreement of the Bali roadmap charted a course for negotiations on a successor agreement to the Kyoto Protocol when it expires in 2012. But there remain uncertainties about the pace and eventual outcome of the negotiations. A post-2012 agreement will only be a success if it is guided by the science, which warns that developed countries must reduce emissions by 25-40 per cent by 2020 and 80-95 per cent by 2050. These figures only translate to a 50-50 chance of avoiding dangerous climate change, and the international community should aspire to even greater reductions. Most developing countries are not required to reduce emissions, but will need to commit to certain actions that will limit the growth of and eventually stabilise their emissions. The Committee believes that the targets for developed countries and commitment to actions by developing countries are the minimum that the UK and EU should accept in the negotiations. Diplomacy will be key in helping to reach agreement on the effort required. The Government will have to work closely with developing countries to explore the actions that they might be willing to commit to. The post-2012 agreement can be more flexible and creative than its predecessor in responding to the different needs of different countries. It is clear that substantial developed country financing will be required in order to shift developing countries onto a low-carbon path and also to encourage them to agree to mitigation actions.

Reaching Net Zero: What It Takes to Solve the Global Climate Crisis addresses the imminent need to fully understand the causes, effects, and evidence of global warming due to the large amount of climate disinformation and complexity of much of the available valid science. In this second edition, the authors broaden the understanding of global warming, bring new findings to light, and report on successes and failures when dealing with this global crisis. This book addresses the science of global warming in a concise, readable manner while providing an in-depth reference for readers who want more details or to study the sources of information. New topics will be covered in this second edition, such as the evolving role of hydrogen as a substitute for natural gas in transportation and industrial applications. In addition, a plan based on established and economically feasible current technology will be presented to decrease greenhouse gas emissions.• Provides a broad understanding of global warming and climate change, with easily understandable language, tables, and charts • Presents a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that is based on currently available technology that is well-established and economic • Discusses practical actions that need to be taken and past successes and failures to understand the complexity of addressing global warming • Offers a practical plan with recommendations covering the technical, economic, and public policy issues involved

Examines why some nations, but not others, have met their commitments to international climate treaties.

Written by some of the leading International Law scholars in the nation, International Law: Norms, Actors, Process: A Problem-Oriented Approach employs a unique problem-based approach to examining international issues. Using real-life case studies as teaching problems, the text explores the processes for making and applying international law, with an interdisciplinary approach that goes beyond mere doctrinal explanation. New to the Fifth Edition: An introduction to international law through the Julian Assange episode Presentation of state responsibility through the problem of cyber espionage and of the responsibility of international organizations through the problem of sexual assaults by UN peacekeepers Integration of new U.S. Supreme Court decisions on the Alien Tort Statute, jurisdiction, and other topics Analysis of the challenges that artificial intelligence and autonomous weapons pose to international humanitarian law Comprehensive treatment of the Paris Accord on Climate Change New cases and analysis on the role and legitimacy of international courts Professors and students will benefit from: Contemporary problems as a vehicle for learning international legal rules and processes Clear explanation of legal rules and institutions Interdisciplinary approach to international law with attention to the law’s relevance in global affairs Careful selection and editing of primary materials to produce a casebook of teachable dimensions Inclusion of maps, charts, and photographs Casebook website offering relevant texts and updates