ABSTRACT
This book explains how the European Union (EU) learned and established its policies. Climate policy in the EU started in the 1990s with its active involvement in the relevant international processes, such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The EU has useful experience when it comes to differentiation of efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. A considerable number of its Member States have wealth per capita similar to many developing countries, or emerging economies. When the EU prepared domestic policies to deliver on its Kyoto Protocol obligations, sufficient differentiation between the efforts being asked of each Member State was a condition for agreement. The EU has acquired considerable expertise in differentiating effort between diverse EU Member States so as to ensure fairness. Cost-effectiveness considerations and flexibilities in implementation are key. This is being done within the internationally agreed accounting framework of the direct emissions approach.
