Regulation

Parts of the answer 2: Regulation


Climate change policy and regulation is about both addressing some of the shortfalls of technical solutions, and creating a favourable environment to encourage technical innovation.  The 2008 UK Climate Change Act commits the country to reducing emissions by 80% by 2050.  The EU's climate change package will influence member states' policies on emissions cuts, renewables, and energy efficiency.  Federal climate change regulation is increasingly seen as inevitable in the US, and several individual states have enacted laws, and neighbouring Mexico is the first emerging market to set binding targets. 

But enacting national legislation is a slow process, especially when diverse interest groups have opposing views.  Moreover, it can be hampered by an 'I will if they will' mentality as countries what to see what their competitors are prepared to sign up to.  Nowhere is this more apparent than in the pursuit of a new international agreement to succeed the Kyoto Protocol in 2012.  A lot of energy is being put into getting the best possible agreement at the Copenhagen conference in December 2009.  But the run up meetings in Poznań then Bonn have been disappointing, and raise questions about whether a realistic agreement can be reached.  The 2008 Poznań conference of parties to the UN's Framework Convention on Climate Change, for instance, did not make progress on carbon capture and storage, nuclear power, or deforestation.  With such important issues booted into the long grass, it's fair to ask if no agreement at Copenhagen might not be a better outcome than a bad agreement.

There is a role for an international process, but regional agreements (e.g. between EU, NAFTA, or ASEAN members) may prove a more effective way of setting targets and strategies, and smaller groupings such as the business-scientist-government Copenhagen Climate Council could be better forums for tackling the details of climate change policy.



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