Under the 2015 Paris Agreement, a landmark international climate accord, nearly all participating nations submitted individual plans, known as 'nationally determined contributions,' to reduce their emissions. While the agreement's collective goal is to limit global warming to 1.5°C, it is widely regarded as a crucial foundation for ongoing international cooperation on climate change, despite facing significant challenges.

The Paris Agreement (2015)

Real-world climate negotiations are difficult and complex because each country prefers for others to bear the costs of emission reductions. This complexity is heightened as negotiations involve nearly every country, not just a few players, and the payoffs for action or inaction vary significantly for each nation. These strategic challenges add to other sources of divergent interests, such as a country's level of economic development, reliance on fossil fuels, and vulnerability to climate impacts. These differences lead to fundamental disagreements over sharing the costs of limiting emissions and the historical responsibility for past pollution.

Factors Causing Divergent National Interests in Climate Negotiations

There is a significant contrast between the successful outcome of the Montreal Protocol in protecting the ozone layer and the relative lack of progress in international negotiations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Examining this difference helps to explain why tackling climate change has proven so difficult.

Montreal Protocol Success vs. Climate Negotiation Stalemate

A crucial element in understanding the global response to climate change is examining the history of international negotiations that have taken place over the past three decades. This history tracks the efforts made by nations to collectively address the issue.

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For environmental challenges that transcend national boundaries, such as global climate change and the preservation of oceans, international agreements are necessary as the actions of single nations are often insufficient. While forging these agreements can be difficult, some have been remarkably successful in addressing global problems.

International Agreements for Environmental Protection

To cite the ebook, use The CORE Econ Team 2023 The Economy 2.0: Microeconomics Open access e-text https://core-econ.org/the-economy/.

To cite a unit, use The CORE Econ Team 2023 The Economy 2.0: Microeconomics Open access e-text https://core-econ.org/the-economy/ Unit [unit number] (url).

CORE Econ - The Economy 2.0: Microeconomics

History of Climate Change Negotiations (Last 30 Years)

The Montreal Protocol is a highly successful international treaty designed to safeguard the Earth's ozone layer. This was achieved by coordinating the phase-out of ozone-depleting substances, such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which were contributing to the layer's depletion and increasing public exposure to harmful ultraviolet radiation.

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