The interactions between trade rules and climate change policy were explored in great depth following the Stern Report in 2006.1 The discussion peaked just as the economic boom of the 2000s was coming to a crashing halt in the global financial crisis of 2008-2009. [...] The next section briefly summarizes the progress in the multilateral process on climate change, the unresolved issues and stumbling blocks to concerted action, and the current understanding of climate change trends and risks. [...] However, emissions have continued more or less unabated (save for the recession- induced decline in 2009) and the 400-ppm mark was reached on a weekly average basis in May 2013.17 The feasibility of keeping within the 450-ppm threshold is diminishing rapidly and the commitments on the table in the COP process will not come close to achieving this result. [...] The discussion in this thread serves to crystallize some of the assumptions that generate the divergence between quantified and subjective views on the size of climate change risks and the appropriate level of response. [...] The glut stems from the global economic crisis in 2008-2009 and has been exacerbated by the availability of international allowances that serve as credits within the system, and by an expansion of the supply of allowances in the transition to the system’s third trading phase, which runs from January 1, 2013 to December 31, 2020.
Authors
- Pages
- 58
- Published in
- Ottawa, Ontario
