International institutions and the carbon regime

Abstract

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) starts out with the acknowledgement that climate change and its adverse effects are a concern of humankind thus requiring an international treaty aimed at "the widest possible cooperation by all countries and their participation in an effective and appropriate international response" (UNFCCC 1992). Although Art. 2 which states the major objective of the UNFCCC refers to a stabilisation of the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere it may sound as if only atmospheric aspects of the climate problem were addressed. Already the preamble, however, makes clear that the role of terrestrial and marine ecosystems as sinks and reservoirs of greenhouse gases are important. The Kyoto-Protocol to the UNFCCC also recognises these interactions by including greenhouse gas emissions as well as sinks in the commitments that the industrialised countries should take in order to take a first step towards achieving the objective of Art. 2 UNFCCC. The Kyoto Protocol has not come into force since the United States have decided not to sign it and Russia is still discussing her signature which would render the Protocol into force. Nevertheless, with the Kyoto- Protocol coming into force or failing, a process has begun which establishes international and national institutions for the management of the carbon cycle. This process has surely not covered the whole of the carbon cycle, but atmospheric emissions are subject to controls in most countries. The research on atmospheric carbon flows has directed the attention towards the complete carbon cycle since there exist important interactions between the atmospheric, terrestrial, and marine carbon flows. The process of trying to understand these interactions is still under way. As a better knowledge about the complete carbon cycle emerges, the question arises as to whether this knowledge can and should be incorporated into the climate policy process and subsequently into the design of international institutions and conventions, which coordinate policy instruments for managing the carbon cycle. In the following a very brief description of the carbon cycle is introduced in order to identify the origins of human interference and to locate possible ways to manage the carbon cycle. This is followed by a short discussion of issues concerning an optimal management of the carbon cycle. From this "nirvana approach" practical steps are derived for the management of the carbon cycle under real world conditions, i.e. given institutional and political constraints but also constraints on the knowledge about the carbon cycle. Finally, some conclusions are drawn. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2006.