Legal Aspects of Implementing the Kyoto Protocol Mechanisms
Making Kyoto Work
Published on 3. February 2005
Book
Hardback
696 pages
978-0-19-927961-6 (ISBN)
Description
The first protocol to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was adopted in Kyoto in 1997 and entered into force in February 2005. It is a unique international law instrument which sets legally binding targets for the reduction of emissions of greenhouse gases which contribute to climate change. The targets are unprecedented in an environmental agreement and will involve substantial financial commitment in virtually all industrialized country parties to the protocol. The Kyoto Protocol is also the first international agreement to include economic instruments which are designed to involve private sector entities and assist parties to meet their targets. These economic instruments, known as the Kyoto or flexible mechanisms, are Joint Implementation (JI), the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), and International Emissions Trading.
The Kyoto Protocol defined these mechanisms but did not set out the details necessary for their operation. After protracted negotiations, detailed rules were finalized at the Seventh Session of the UNFCCC Conference of the Parties held in Marrakech in 2001. The Marrakech Accords run to almost 250 pages but still leave many important practical issues unaddressed. As the 2008-2012 commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol draws close more and more projects under CDM and JI are being developed to take advantage of the Kyoto mechanisms and the key issues and problems are now becoming more apparent.
Drawing on the emerging body of expertise in this complex area, this book conveys a knowledge of what is becoming known as 'Carbon Finance'. It thereby aims to contribute to the development of the market for carbon emission reductions - one of the objectives of the Kyoto mechanisms.
The Kyoto Protocol defined these mechanisms but did not set out the details necessary for their operation. After protracted negotiations, detailed rules were finalized at the Seventh Session of the UNFCCC Conference of the Parties held in Marrakech in 2001. The Marrakech Accords run to almost 250 pages but still leave many important practical issues unaddressed. As the 2008-2012 commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol draws close more and more projects under CDM and JI are being developed to take advantage of the Kyoto mechanisms and the key issues and problems are now becoming more apparent.
Drawing on the emerging body of expertise in this complex area, this book conveys a knowledge of what is becoming known as 'Carbon Finance'. It thereby aims to contribute to the development of the market for carbon emission reductions - one of the objectives of the Kyoto mechanisms.
Reviews / Votes
...a remarkable single volume containing cutting-edge, state of the art knowledge on the implementation of the Kyoto mechanisms, domestic emissions trading schemes and transactions of emission reduction credits... I would highly recommend this book ... The editors deserve much credit for this invaluable contribution towards the literature on the Kyoto regime. * Jolene Lin, Singapore Year Book of International Law *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Lawyers, international and national civil servants, ministries of environment and foreign affairs, scholars and postgraduate students of international environmental law and policy.
Illustrations
numerous tables and figures
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 42 mm
Weight
1198 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-927961-6 (9780199279616)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Dr David Freestone is Deputy General Counsel at the World Bank, Washington, D.C.
Dr Charlotte Streck is Senior Counsel at the World Bank in Washington, D.C.
Dr Charlotte Streck is Senior Counsel at the World Bank in Washington, D.C.
Content
I. INTRODUCTION ; 1. The International Climate Change Legal and Institutional Framework: An Overview ; II. GENERAL ISSUES ; 2. Legal Ownership and Nature of Kyoto Units and EU Allowances ; 3. Accounting for Emission Reductions: From Costless Activity to Market Operations ; 4. Trade and Investment Implications of Carbon Trading for Sustainable Development ; 5. Linking of Emissions Trading Schemes ; 6. Private Actors in International and Domestic Emissions Trading Schemes ; III. THE KYOTO PROTOCOL MECHANISMS ; 7. International Emissions Trading and Green Investment Schemes ; 8. Taking Stock of Joint Implementation ; 9. The Practicalities of Contracting JI Transactions ; 10. CDM and the Role of the UNFCCC Secretariat ; 11. Trying to catch up with the Executive Board - regulatory decision-making and its impact on CDM performance ; 12. Interpreting the Additionality of CDM Projects: Changes in Definitions and Regulatory Practices over Time ; 13. Responsibility for the Environmental Integrity of the CDM: Judicial Review of Executive Board Decisions ; 14. Carbon Contracting ; 15. The Secondary Market for Emissions trading: Balancing Market design and Market Based Transactions ; IV. CARBON TRADING OUTSIDE KYOTO: REGIONAL SCHEMES ; 16. The European Union Emissions Trading Scheme ; 17. Emissions Trading before the European Court of Justice: Market Making in Luxembourg ; V. CARBON TRADING OUTSIDE KYOTO: NATIONAL AND SUB-NATIONAL SCHEMES ; 18. Emissions Trading in the US: Legal Issues ; 19. Off-set provisions in emerging US Cap and Trade Programmes ; 20. Carbon Markets and Policy in Australia: Recent Developments ; 21. Canada's Experience in Emissions Trading and Related Legal issues ; 22. Carbon Law and Practice in China ; VI.VOLUNTARY MARKETS ; 23. The Voluntary Carbon Market: Its Growth and Outstanding Legal and Policy Issues ; VII. POST KYOTO: MOVING TOWARDS COPENHAGEN ; 24. What might a Future Global Climate Change Deal look like? ; 25. The Role of Project-Based Mechanisms in a Future Carbon Market ; 26. A Post-2012 Vision for the Clean Development Mechanism ; 27. International Market Solutions to Protect Tropical Rainforest ; Aviation and Climate Change Regulation ; 28. VIII. SUMMARY AND OUTLOOK ; 29. Summary and Outlook