Road to Paris COP21: Towards Soft Global Governance for Climate Change?

Renewable Energy Law and Policy Review, Vol. 5(2), pp. 130-135, 2014

6 Pages Posted: 2 Dec 2014 Last revised: 28 Dec 2014

See all articles by Rafael Leal-Arcas

Rafael Leal-Arcas

Alfaisal University

Luigi Carafa

College of Europe, Bruges

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: December 1, 2014

Abstract

This article explores recent climate policy developments in China, the United States (US), and the European Union (EU), as well as their implications for a new global climate regime, expected in December 2015 in Paris. The road to Paris is marked by a shift from global efforts to domestic actions on climate change mitigation, as well as a move from commitments to contributions to carbon emissions reduction. It is argued that the new regime is moving towards a voluntary national pledge and review system which deviates from the EU’s desire for a legally binding climate treaty, bringing any Paris deal closer to the US’s and China’s vision of soft global governance for climate change. This puts a big question mark on whether and how a soft regime could potentially achieve an atmospheric CO2 concentration below 450 parts per million in order to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius.

Keywords: COP21, Conference of the Parties, global governance for climate change mitigation, carbon emissions reduction

JEL Classification: K32, K33, N5, O13, Q2

Suggested Citation

Leal-Arcas, Rafael and Carafa, Luigi, Road to Paris COP21: Towards Soft Global Governance for Climate Change? (December 1, 2014). Renewable Energy Law and Policy Review, Vol. 5(2), pp. 130-135, 2014 , Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2532570

Rafael Leal-Arcas (Contact Author)

Alfaisal University ( email )

P.O. Box 50927
Riyadh, 11533
Saudi Arabia

Luigi Carafa

College of Europe, Bruges ( email )

Belgium

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