PLEASE NOTE NEW LOCATION
Faculty of Law University of Toronto
Law, Governance and Global Environmental Change Workshop
presents
Michael Mehling
Ecologic Institute, Washington, D.C. and Georgetown University
From Kyoto to Copenhagen and Beyond:
The Evolution of International Climate Cooperation
Friday, February 4, 2011
12:30 – 2:00
CLASSROOM A (FLA), FLAVELLE HOUSE
78 Queen’s Park
For many observers, the international climate summit held in Copenhagen in 2009 marked a turning point in global cooperation on climate change. Aside from reflecting an emerging shift in the role of industrialized and developing countries, it also was seen by many as a testament to the failure of traditional multilateralism in the face of an issue as complex as climate change. And indeed, the outcome of that summit, the Copenhagen Accord, is a clear departure from the paradigm of a comprehensive and legally binding international treaty. What are the defining trends in this evolving approach to climate cooperation, what are its underlying causes and potential risks? Can mitigation and adaptation efforts be coordinated in the absence of a centralized international treaty, and if so, what forms of persuasion will take the place of traditional enforcement? Finally, as the international community regroups for the next round of negotiations, has multilateralism really emerged stronger from the latest climate summit in Cancun? These and other questions will be addressed in an attempt to capture a development with implications for broader international cooperation.
Michael Mehling is President of the Ecologic Institute in Washington DC, an environmental policy think tank with partner offices in Berlin, Brussels and Vienna, and an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University in Washington DC. He has led a range of research and advisory projects for government agencies as well as educational and civil society institutions in North America, Europe and the developing world. Michael also is the founding editor of the Carbon & Climate Law Review, a quarterly journal on climate regulation and the carbon market, and has taught and written on various aspects of international climate cooperation, comparative environmental policy, and capacity building for sustainable development. In 2007, he was awarded a John J. McCloy Fellowship in Environmental Affairs from the American Council on Germany for transatlantic research on climate policy. Michael is a German and American citizen.
A light lunch will be provided.
For more workshop information, please contact Nadia Gulezko at n.gulezko@utoronto.ca.
