740
M. Wang
3 The Structure and Mechanism of International Climate
Governance
Response to climate change and control of greenhouse gas emissions may, to some
extent, limit a country’s development and negatively affect its economic and political interests, but also may become an important area of international cooperation.
The world must rationally mitigate climate change through international institutional arrangements, clarify the responsibilities that all countries should take, and
promote international cooperation to achieve a win–win situation between advancing
human society and protecting global climate. From 1979 when the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) convened the first World Climate Conference calling
for protecting the global climate to 1990 when international climate negotiations
were kicked off, global response to climate change entered an institutional and
legal track. International cooperation mechanisms to address climate change now
mainly include two categories: the climate convention mechanisms and non-climate
convention mechanisms that are regular, irregular, international, regional, industry,
and professional. All of these mechanisms have played different roles in international
cooperation on climate change because of their different positioning and functions.
The climate convention mechanisms. The Convention was passed and open for
signature in Rio, Brazil in 1992. On March 21, 1994, the Convention went into effect
and became an important legal basis for international climate governance. Its ultimate
objective is to “stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations at a level that would prevent
dangerous anthropogenic (human induced) interference with the climate system.”
And it states that “such a level should be achieved within a time-frame sufficient to
allow ecosystems to adapt naturally to climate change, to ensure that food production
is not threatened, and to enable economic development to proceed in a sustainable
manner.” The 1997 Kyoto Protocol, the 2009 Copenhagen Accord, the 2012 Doha
Resolution, and the 2015 Paris Agreement made important achievements, which
clarified the goals of cooperation in global climate governance in different periods
as well as the international institutional framework and pointed out the direction for
global cooperative action. While carried out by the Convention parties with varied
views who were trying to arrive at some compromise, the negotiation process of the
international climate system moved forward with difficulty, eventually becoming the
core platform for advancing international climate governance and forming the legal
basis for international cooperation. Response to climate change requires the joint
efforts of all countries, and it is necessary to uphold and improve the cooperation
platform of the Convention, so that the international climate governance plays a
leading role in achieving global emission reduction targets and ensuring climate
security.
The non-climate convention mechanisms. To promote the negotiation of the
Convention, the parties also carried out a variety of activities and practices outside the
convention system, or cooperative mechanisms supplementing the convention mechanism, which played a positive role in enhancing mutual understanding and reaching
a consensus. In terms of their nature, these mechanisms can be divided into three
M. Wang
3 The Structure and Mechanism of International Climate
Governance
Response to climate change and control of greenhouse gas emissions may, to some
extent, limit a country’s development and negatively affect its economic and political interests, but also may become an important area of international cooperation.
The world must rationally mitigate climate change through international institutional arrangements, clarify the responsibilities that all countries should take, and
promote international cooperation to achieve a win–win situation between advancing
human society and protecting global climate. From 1979 when the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) convened the first World Climate Conference calling
for protecting the global climate to 1990 when international climate negotiations
were kicked off, global response to climate change entered an institutional and
legal track. International cooperation mechanisms to address climate change now
mainly include two categories: the climate convention mechanisms and non-climate
convention mechanisms that are regular, irregular, international, regional, industry,
and professional. All of these mechanisms have played different roles in international
cooperation on climate change because of their different positioning and functions.
The climate convention mechanisms. The Convention was passed and open for
signature in Rio, Brazil in 1992. On March 21, 1994, the Convention went into effect
and became an important legal basis for international climate governance. Its ultimate
objective is to “stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations at a level that would prevent
dangerous anthropogenic (human induced) interference with the climate system.”
And it states that “such a level should be achieved within a time-frame sufficient to
allow ecosystems to adapt naturally to climate change, to ensure that food production
is not threatened, and to enable economic development to proceed in a sustainable
manner.” The 1997 Kyoto Protocol, the 2009 Copenhagen Accord, the 2012 Doha
Resolution, and the 2015 Paris Agreement made important achievements, which
clarified the goals of cooperation in global climate governance in different periods
as well as the international institutional framework and pointed out the direction for
global cooperative action. While carried out by the Convention parties with varied
views who were trying to arrive at some compromise, the negotiation process of the
international climate system moved forward with difficulty, eventually becoming the
core platform for advancing international climate governance and forming the legal
basis for international cooperation. Response to climate change requires the joint
efforts of all countries, and it is necessary to uphold and improve the cooperation
platform of the Convention, so that the international climate governance plays a
leading role in achieving global emission reduction targets and ensuring climate
security.
The non-climate convention mechanisms. To promote the negotiation of the
Convention, the parties also carried out a variety of activities and practices outside the
convention system, or cooperative mechanisms supplementing the convention mechanism, which played a positive role in enhancing mutual understanding and reaching
a consensus. In terms of their nature, these mechanisms can be divided into three