ABSTRACT
Climate change is a global environmental problem that for the most part does not seem to be regarded as a very pressingproblem. Because of the law-compliance link, an analysis of the compliance of states with the climate change treaties necessitates the prior identification and clarification of the rules of treaty law with which the state parties must comply. In the climate change regime, certain optional mechanisms, such as the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD), are mitigation mechanisms. 'Compliance' in the context of these mechanisms cannot be reduced to conformity with their technical rules only. Yet, majorities of voters in most countries perceive climate change as mostly a natural phenomenon and beyond human control. Increasingly dramatic changes in the Arctic, but also in the Antarctic and elsewhere, have drawn muted responses from the public. Ambitious policy on climate change means a policy that substantially raises consumer prices.
