IELRC.ORG - Global Warming
 

 

 
 
 
 

 
 

Global Warming

Global warming is one of the most debated environmental issues at the international level. Negotiations for the development of a binding legal regime to reduce harmful emissions have been marred by a number of controversies since the late 1980s.

Firstly, the scientific consensus found in the series of reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has not yet provided the basis for the implementation of effective strategies applied by all States.

Secondly, the contributions of different states to global warming over time is strongly linked to their present level of economic development.

Thirdly, for most developing countries, global warming sometimes remains a less urgent problem than a host of other environmental problems whose impacts threaten lives and livelihoods today.

The evolving global warming legal regime reflects these varied and often conflicting considerations. In particular, the Climate Change Convention and Kyoto Protocol both provide for different commitments for developed and developing countries. The climate change regime is also noteworthy for its attempt to use market-based implementation mechanisms. These include emissions trading and the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) both of which aim at lowering the cost of compliance for developed countries.

The following publications focus on the legal and policy implications of the development of the climate change regime. They focus in particular on issues of equity, the relationship between natural resource management and climate change and the identification of opportunities for cooperation between developed and developing countries in the implementation of the convention in particular in the context of the CDM.

 

Selected Publications on Climate Change

 

Cultural Legitimacy and Regulatory Transitions for Climate Change - A Discursive Framework
author(s): Thoko Kaime
source: Carbon and Climate Law Review (3/2011), p. 321-28.
date: 2011
publication: academic
abstract full text 165 [KB]
 

The Kyoto Protocol and vulnerability: human rights and equity dimensions
author(s): Philippe Cullet
source: in Stephen Humphreys ed., Human Rights and Climate Change (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010), p. 183-206.
date: 2010
publication: academic
abstract full text 81 [KB]
 

Forest Carbon Offsets and International Law: A Deep Equity Legal Analysis
author(s): David Takacs
source: 22 Georgetown International Environmental Law Review 521 (2010)
date: 2010
publication: academic
abstract full text 202 [KB]
 

The Global Warming Regime After 2012 – Towards a Focus on Equity, Vulnerability and Human Rights
author(s): Philippe Cullet
source: 43/28 Economic and Political Weekly (12 July 2008), p. 109.
date: 2008
publication: academic
abstract full text 175 [KB]
 

Liability and Redress for Human-Induced Global Warming - Towards an International Regime
author(s): Philippe Cullet
source: 43A Stanford Journal of International Law (2007), p. 99-121.
date: 2007
publication: academic
abstract full text 111 [KB]
 

Equity and Flexibility Mechanisms in the Climate Change Regime: Conceptual and Pratical Issues
author(s): Philippe Cullet
source: 8/2 Review of European Community and International Environmental Law (1999), p. 168
date: 1999
publication: academic
abstract full text 228 [KB]
 

Joint Implementation and Forestry Projects - Conceptual and Operational Fallacies
author(s): Philippe Cullet, Patricia Kameri-Mbote
source: 74/2 International Affairs (1998), p. 393
date: 1998
publication: academic
abstract full text 153 [KB]
 
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