Architecture of the Kyoto Protocol and Prospects for Public Climate Policy

Options for government’s future climate policy are discussed as a function of the architecture of the present regime; the latter is anchored in the Kyoto Protocol, which is aimed at reducing the human impact on climate change. We describe the basic tenets of this agreement, and explain how it was realised despite the widely divergent interests. The strengths and weaknesses of the Kyoto regime, and related future opportunities and threats, are presented. The degrees of collective decision-making and international participation were the basis for exploring four scenarios (local market, local collectivity, global market, and global collectivity) and concomitant policy instruments and actors. The possibilities of enhancing participation by linking issues and creating bandwagons are discussed. We conclude that the main flaw of the Kyoto regime is its lack of appropriate incentives. To realise a more effective regime, future climate policy should be geared towards making participation more attractive and rendering compliance self-enforcing.