Linking heterogeneous climate policies (consistent with the Paris Agreement)

Michael A. Mehling, Gilbert E. Metcalf, Robert N. Stavins

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article

Abstract

The Paris Agreement to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change has achieved one of two key necessary conditions for ultimate success – a broad base of participation among the countries of the world. But another key necessary condition has yet to be achieved – adequate collective ambition of the individual nationally determined contributions. How can the climate negotiators provide a structure that will include incentives to increase ambition over time? An important part of the answer can be international linkage of regional, national, and sub-national policies, that is, formal recognition of emission reductions undertaken in another jurisdiction for the purpose of meeting a Party’s own mitigation objectives. A central challenge is how to facilitate such linkage in the context of the very great heterogeneity that characterizes climate policies along five dimensions – type of policy instrument; level of government jurisdiction; status of that jurisdiction under the Paris Agreement; nature of the policy instrument’s target; and the nature along several dimensions of each Party’s Nationally Determined Contribution. We consider such heterogeneity among policies, and identify which linkages of various combinations of characteristics are feasible; of these, which are most promising; and what accounting mechanisms would make the operation of respective linkages consistent with the Paris Agreement.
LanguageEnglish
Article number1
Pages647-698
Number of pages52
JournalEnvironmental Law
Volume48
Issue number4
Publication statusPublished - 31 Jan 2019

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environmental policy
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
incentive
mitigation
climate
jurisdiction
policy
policy instrument
world
participation
emission reduction
accounting

Keywords

  • Paris Agreement
  • climate policy
  • linking
  • emissions trading
  • carbon pricing
  • carbon tax
  • environmental law

Cite this

Mehling, Michael A. ; Metcalf, Gilbert E. ; Stavins, Robert N. / Linking heterogeneous climate policies (consistent with the Paris Agreement). In: Environmental Law. 2019 ; Vol. 48, No. 4. pp. 647-698.
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Mehling, MA, Metcalf, GE & Stavins, RN 2019, 'Linking heterogeneous climate policies (consistent with the Paris Agreement)' Environmental Law, vol. 48, no. 4, 1, pp. 647-698.

Linking heterogeneous climate policies (consistent with the Paris Agreement). / Mehling, Michael A.; Metcalf, Gilbert E.; Stavins, Robert N.

In: Environmental Law, Vol. 48, No. 4, 1, 31.01.2019, p. 647-698.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article

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Mehling MA, Metcalf GE, Stavins RN. Linking heterogeneous climate policies (consistent with the Paris Agreement). Environmental Law. 2019 Jan 31;48(4):647-698. 1.

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