Towards a Workable and Effective Climate Regime

This year, for the first time ever, nearly all of the world’s countries are making pledges to help limit future climate change. As of 1 October, 147 countries (representing about 85% of global emissions) have submitted their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions. These pledges, if carried out in full, are expected to lower emissions relative to the ‘business as usual’ forecast. However, they are not expected to prevent emissions from increasing above today’s level through 2030. To meet the global goal of limiting mean global temperature change to 2°C relative to the pre-industrial level, much more will need to be done after 2030. Eventually, emissions will have to fall to zero worldwide – either that, or countries will need to remove carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere. This article introduces a new Vox eBook that looks into what needs to be done to build a climate regime that is both workable and effective.