ABSTRACT
In late 2006, a comprehensive report on the economics of climate change concluded that, in terms of policy proposals to stabilize the stock of greenhouse gases (GHGs), such as carbon dioxide, in the global atmosphere: ‘the benefits of strong and early action far outweigh the economic costs of not acting’ (Stern et al. 2006: xiii). The most recent assessment of Working Group I of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC 2007) has continued to build on the scientific foundations that underpin current concerns about climate change. Nevertheless, while tentative steps have been taken, a robust political response in the face of this evidence base has been slow to evolve. This is only partly due to lingering uncertainties about the climate change problem and its likely future impacts. A more telling consideration is that a truly global problem is likely to require a global solution. This, in turn, necessitates genuine cooperation between numerous sovereign nations each with competing political and economic interests that might militate against the fulfilment of bold objectives. Yet where cooperation has been brokered, the formal ‘glue’ that holds it together is typically some form of international environmental agreement. This chapter provides a brief overview of some of the main issues that have characterized ongoing efforts to construct international responses, in particular, to global environmental problems.