Letting go of Kyoto

Abstract

With the start of the Kyoto negotiations 16 years ago, the international community decided that legally binding commitments were the answer to climate change. [...] the 2020 pledges are too weak to put countries on track towards limiting global warming to 2 °C, the goal set in Copenhagen and affirmed in Cancún. Beyond that, the operational elements of Cancún - including a new Green Climate Fund for developing countries, stronger reporting and scrutiny of countries' actions, and new adaptation and technology mechanisms - are mere shells, with a raft of details still to be agreed on.