Policy Briefs & Reports

Making Climate look like Trade? Questions on Incentives, Flexibility and Credibility


Arunabha Ghosh

Centre for Policy Research

March 15, 2010

Will the global climate regime resemble the trade regime? If so, what would such a development imply for the governance of climate change? Both before and certainly in the aftermath of the Copenhagen climate conference, a debate has been underway on whether the architecture of the climate regime needs to change or not. In brief, the argument suggests moving away from a top-down ‘targets and timetables’ approach towards a bottom-up structure that allows countries to promise actions that are consistent with their domestic politics and economic priorities.