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M. Wang
the European Community, and came into force in March 1994, thus laying an international institutional foundation for all countries to work closely to tackle climate
change.
The objective of the Convention is to “stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations at a
level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic (human induced) interference with
the climate system.” And it clearly stipulates that developed and developing countries
have “common but differentiated responsibilities.” In other words, all parties are
obliged to take action to deal with climate change, but developed countries have
historical and realistic responsibilities for climate change and should assume more
obligations, whereas developing countries whose primary task is to develop domestic
economy and eradicate poverty should also take measures to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions and pursue low-carbon development.
Since the Convention only sets general, non-legal binding targets of the greenhouse gas emission reduction, it is not possible to achieve its ultimate goal. The first
Conference of the Parties (COP) in 1995 decided to reach a legally binding protocol
through negotiation, and in the third COP, which took place in 1997 in Kyoto, Japan,
all parties adopted the Kyoto Protocol, a landmark treaty which extends the Convention. The Kyoto Protocol sets a legally binding quantitative emission reduction target
for Annex I countries (developed countries and economies in transition), and introduces three “flexibility mechanisms”: Emissions Trading (ET), Joint Implementation
(JI), and Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). In 2007, the 13th COP was held
in Bali, Indonesia, where the parties reached the Bali Action Plan that outlined
the roadmap and basic framework for the establishment of an international climate
system after 2012, and brought the United States, which was staying away from
international cooperation at the time, back to the negotiation table. In 2011, the 17th
COP was held in Durban, where all the parties reached the Durban mandate, which
opened the negotiation process of the international climate system after 2020, and
discussed how to put in more effort into reducing emissions before 2020. The 18th
COP, held in Doha in 2012, clearly launched the second commitment period of the
Kyoto Protocol. All parties, including the United States, agreed on emission reduction targets, adaptation mechanisms, financial mechanisms and technical cooperation
up to 2020, in addition to producing a package of documents on the long-term cooperative action working group. At the 2015 Paris Conference (the 21st COP), the Paris
Agreement, adopted through much effort from all parties including the United States
and China, basically clarified the institutional arrangements and cooperation model
for international climate governance from 2020 to 2030.
2 The Basic Pattern and Evolution of International Climate
Governance
From the UN’s launch of global climate change negotiations in the mid and late
1980s to the 2007 Bali Climate Change Conference, the international climate pattern
basically involved two camps: the developed countries, represented by the EU and
M. Wang
the European Community, and came into force in March 1994, thus laying an international institutional foundation for all countries to work closely to tackle climate
change.
The objective of the Convention is to “stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations at a
level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic (human induced) interference with
the climate system.” And it clearly stipulates that developed and developing countries
have “common but differentiated responsibilities.” In other words, all parties are
obliged to take action to deal with climate change, but developed countries have
historical and realistic responsibilities for climate change and should assume more
obligations, whereas developing countries whose primary task is to develop domestic
economy and eradicate poverty should also take measures to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions and pursue low-carbon development.
Since the Convention only sets general, non-legal binding targets of the greenhouse gas emission reduction, it is not possible to achieve its ultimate goal. The first
Conference of the Parties (COP) in 1995 decided to reach a legally binding protocol
through negotiation, and in the third COP, which took place in 1997 in Kyoto, Japan,
all parties adopted the Kyoto Protocol, a landmark treaty which extends the Convention. The Kyoto Protocol sets a legally binding quantitative emission reduction target
for Annex I countries (developed countries and economies in transition), and introduces three “flexibility mechanisms”: Emissions Trading (ET), Joint Implementation
(JI), and Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). In 2007, the 13th COP was held
in Bali, Indonesia, where the parties reached the Bali Action Plan that outlined
the roadmap and basic framework for the establishment of an international climate
system after 2012, and brought the United States, which was staying away from
international cooperation at the time, back to the negotiation table. In 2011, the 17th
COP was held in Durban, where all the parties reached the Durban mandate, which
opened the negotiation process of the international climate system after 2020, and
discussed how to put in more effort into reducing emissions before 2020. The 18th
COP, held in Doha in 2012, clearly launched the second commitment period of the
Kyoto Protocol. All parties, including the United States, agreed on emission reduction targets, adaptation mechanisms, financial mechanisms and technical cooperation
up to 2020, in addition to producing a package of documents on the long-term cooperative action working group. At the 2015 Paris Conference (the 21st COP), the Paris
Agreement, adopted through much effort from all parties including the United States
and China, basically clarified the institutional arrangements and cooperation model
for international climate governance from 2020 to 2030.
2 The Basic Pattern and Evolution of International Climate
Governance
From the UN’s launch of global climate change negotiations in the mid and late
1980s to the 2007 Bali Climate Change Conference, the international climate pattern
basically involved two camps: the developed countries, represented by the EU and