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2016 | OriginalPaper | Chapter

6. US and International Climate Change 2.0 Emerges

Author : Richard H. Rosenzweig

Published in: Global Climate Change Policy and Carbon Markets

Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan UK

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Abstract

Rosenzweig summarizes the new era of policy-making, climate change 2.0. In the US, this consists of regulations targeted to reduce GHG emissions from the transportation and power sectors and other modest measures. At the international level, Rosenzweig summarizes the key events that led to the Paris Agreement, including important decisions in the international negotiations and bilateral arrangements among the US, China, and other developing countries, which provided important momentum to the negotiations. He reviews the key provisions of Paris that combine Nationally Determined Contributions (a bottom-up approach to mitigation) with top-down elements and a new market mechanism, while providing his views on its prospects for success.

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Footnotes
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5
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31
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32
The administration has communicated that the efficiency standards finalized by 2015 are estimated to avoid more than 2.2 billion MT of carbon emissions by 2030. See Executive Office of the President. President Obama’s Climate Action Plan, 2nd Anniversary Progress Report, The White House. 2015. P. 8.
 
33
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34
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35
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36
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37
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38
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39
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40
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41
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43
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44
It is important to note that the US estimates that policies implemented and planned would reduce GHG emissions 22–27 % below 2005 levels by 2025 which is lower than the 26–28 % goal established for this year. The planned policies include proposed rules which have not yet been completed. For a description of these issues see Chapter four of the United States Climate Action Report 2016.
 
45
US Department of State. United States Climate Action Report 2014. P. 129.
 
46
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47
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48
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49
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50
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55
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56
This appears to be the case regarding CO2 emissions. See IEA (2011), CO 2 Emissions From Fuel Combustion 2011, www.​iea.​org/​statistics © OECD/IEA, Paris, IEA Publishing. Licence: www.​iea.​org/​t&​c.
 
57
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58
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59
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60
In an interview with Jeffrey Goodell in the Rolling Stone edition 8 October 2015, President Obama described the dysfunction in Copenhagen when he arrived and the difficulty in completing the Copenhagen Accord that ensured the participation of key countries including China and India in future efforts.
 
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62
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63
Report of the Conference of the Parties on its seventeenth session, held in Durban from 28 November to 11 December 2011, Establishment of an Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action. Decision 1/CP.17. United Nations. 2012.
 
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66
Report of the Conference of the Parties on its twentieth session, held in Lima from 1 December to 14 December 2014, Lima Call for Climate Action. Decision 1/CP.20. United Nations. 2015
 
67
For some background on these topics, see R. Leal-Arcas, Top-down and Bottom-up Approaches in Climate Change and International Trade (2012) and D. Victor, Global Warming Gridlock (2011).
 
68
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Metadata
Title
US and International Climate Change 2.0 Emerges
Author
Richard H. Rosenzweig
Copyright Year
2016
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-56051-3_6