Climate Change Negotiations: A Report from the Field.

The proposed paper examines global negotiations on future climate change policy. The current international treaty, the Kyoto Protocol, expires in 2012. Negotiations on the successor agreement are currently under way and are proceeding in two parallel processes, one of which aims to renegotiate policy commitments of industrialized countries. The paper explores the political dynamics in the first year of these negotiations. Based on the author’s direct participation in international climate negotiations, the study examines the interplay of economic considerations and environmental concerns in shaping state preferences. It analyzes country positions and the configuration of political camps behind competing climate policy proposals. The recent declaration by the European Union of unilateral and ambitious policy commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emisisons is theory-relevant. The argument is that dramatic differences between negotiating positions of European and North American countries are conditioned by differences in their approaches to economic planning and cost-benefit analysis. Long-term economic benefits motivate European countries to pursue strong climate policy. These countries are shifting the dominant discourse, and now emphasize business opportunities and the economic reasons for combating climate change. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]